It’s a question that not many employers with locations in Europe (EU/EEA/Switzerland) are able to answer, but they should be!
A Posted Worker is an employee who is sent by their employer with the intention to work in a European country for a short period of time. The emphasis on short term is not solely based on a duration but also the purpose of activity and if the posted worker is providing a service in the host country.
Equality across Europe
The EU has been steadily building on the requirements and enforcement of its posted workers directive, to ensure that employees being sent to work abroad benefit from the same labour conditions as their colleagues in the destination location. The aim is to implement a fair and equitable treatment of employees by preventing social dumping. Social dumping occurs when employers attempt to use cheaper labour than what is usually available in the country they are providing a service in.
The core rights in the destination country that employees are entitled to are:
What happens if the labour conditions are actually better in the home country? The aim of the directive is to ensure fairness so even if the labour conditions are more favourable in the home country, a Posted Worker registration will still be required for the host country to review and confirm.
Enforcement
Enforcement of the directive has influenced countries to co-operate with one another for better information exchange on Posted Workers. For example, a certificate of coverage application in one country without a posted worker registration in the destination is likely to start being identified as the EU steps up its cooperation and enforcement practices.
The impact of doing nothing
If a company fails to comply with the directive, both the local and foreign company could be subject to fines. Trade unions or parties that protect the rights of workers are also encouraged to file complaints if the directive is not respected. Plus, if an employer continues to fail in filing a registration for a Posted Worker, the country can issue a short term ban to refuse entry.
Countries such as Switzerland are also naming and shaming employees that fail to follow the directive and issuing sanctions (fines of up to 30,000 CHF) to criminal sanctions if companies are profiting as a result of not complying ( with fines up to 1,000,000 CHF and seizure of unlawful profit and assets).
How to be compliant?
Since each country applies the posted worker directive according to their own legislation, registration requirements vary widely. Even after determining whether a registration is required, each country has their own way of submitting details, ranging from online forms to posting paper forms. The result is an administrative headache for many HR teams to keep up with the paperwork.
How can technology help?
The PinPoint Posted Worker App is a global compliance and workflow app that provides an easy way to identify, manage and track posted workers. With up-to-date registration rules and forms for each country included, the app automatically identifies if a registration is required, collects the data needed and prepares the registration for submission. The benefit of having all registrations tracked and reportable in one place helps management reporting and mitigates the risk of non-compliance.
To learn more about what our Posted Worker App can do for you, click here to request a demo now.
Interested in our Posted Worker App? Click here to request a demo now!
