Temporary remote workers do not qualify as Posted Workers in the meaning of the European Posted Workers Directive

What we cover

This position paper discusses the treatment that temporarily remote workers should receive when working from overseas and tackle the question of whether temporary remote workers qualify as “posted workers” in the sense of the EU Posted Worker Directive PWD?

In this paper we will evaluate: 

(1) Both concepts in detail.

(2) The aim of the Posted Worker Directive.

(3) Potential grey areas. 

As a result, in this report you will discover why we argue temporary remote workers do not qualify as posted workers. We have come to this conclusion based on both the PWD itself, as well as on the national member states’ regulations. For the countries where the regulations were somewhat ambiguous, we reached out to have our position confirmed by local authorities. 

Authors

Gonzalo is Associate Tax & Trust at WorkMotion. He is a Spanish law graduate, specialising in international tax. He enjoyed his international education in Spain, France and the Netherlands. He has working experience in both France and Belgium, where he started his career with Deloitte. Gonzalo is currently enrolled in a Legal Practice Master’s program to obtain a certification as a lawyer in Spain. 

Pieter is WorkMotion´s Head of Trust & Employer Compliance. He is a Dutch certified tax lawyer specialising in compliance around modern mobility. Pieter has 13 years of professional experience with PwC in the Netherlands and Germany. He was Director responsible for the PwC Germany´s Remote Work proposition prior to joining WorkMotion in January 2022.