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Cross-border workforce compliance trends 2025
Explore key tendencies in cross-border employment and employee mobility, including business travel, workations, assignments and other scenarios from 500+ employers and industry experts

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Posted Worker Compliance: Guide to registration requirements and digital transformation

Posted Worker Compliance: Guide to registration requirements and digital transformation
The management of posted worker compliance is at a critical turning point. As cross-border work continues to grow across Europe and the world, employers face mounting pressure to effectively manage their posting compliance. The stakes are high – Luxembourg's recent enforcement actions resulting in €9M in fines for employer non-compliance in just one year demonstrate authorities' increasingly serious approach to enforcement1.
The European Commission has recently proposed the adoption of a unified posted worker portal that signals both an opportunity and a warning. While promising to reduce the administrative burden of posted worker notifications by up to 73%, the new digital system will create unprecedented transparency and opportunity of enforcement for authorities. Organizations managing cross-border work face a clear choice: modernize their compliance approach now or risk exposure in an increasingly digital enforcement landscape.
This article examines how the posted worker compliance landscape is changing, what these changes mean for HR and global mobility teams, and why waiting to adapt is not an option. Most importantly, it provides a clear path forward for organizations looking to turn this challenge into an opportunity for efficient, future-proof compliance management.
1 Centre commun de la securite sociale (2023). Rapport Annuel 2023.
1. What is a Posted Worker notification?
A posted worker notification is a mandatory registration requirement for employees working temporarily in EU or EEA countries. Required by the Posted Workers Directive (“PWD”), these notifications inform local authorities when workers enter their jurisdiction, enabling them to monitor compliance with local labor laws and protect workers' rights. Not all business trips require such a notification to be submitted. However, generally, this is triggered by a cross-border service provision. Please note that each country defines at the national level what is considered as a “service provision”, therefore activities are treated differently in each country and different exemptions might apply. As an example, Belgium even requires a PWD notification to be submitted for workations. Further, some countries only require a PWD notification to be submitted if the posting company is based in the EU, while in other countries it is required even for companies based in third countries. Employers must register their employees through country-specific portals before the trip begins. With different procedures and requirements across national legal systems, and significant penalties for non-compliance, these notifications have become a crucial consideration for any organization managing cross-border work in the EU and beyond.

2. The current reality of Posted Worker management
2.1. The purpose and importance of Posted Worker notifications
For labor authorities, posted worker notifications serve as a crucial enforcement tool that enables them to protect both workers and fair market competition. These notifications provide authorities with essential visibility into cross-border work activities, allowing them to:
- Monitor compliance with local employment conditions, ensuring workers receive proper working conditions, notably including wages and appropriate working hours
- Verify social security coverage remains valid during the posting period
- Prevent social dumping and maintain fair competition in local labor markets
- Ensure posted workers receive all entitled protections in the destination country
- Track proper documentation for tax and legal purposes
2.2. Complexity of Posted Worker registration systems
HR and global mobility managers in global organizations face a daunting task: managing posted worker notifications across 31 different systems2 throughout Europe. For each destination, HR teams must learn to navigate a different notification portal, understand specific local requirements, maintain separate login credentials, and manage distinct submission processes. This creates a nearly impossible task without dedicated resources or technological support.
To illustrate this complexity, let's examine three national systems that demonstrate the varying levels of difficulty HR teams face in the image below. Germany stands out with an easy-to-use system to register posted workers, while Greece provides medium-level complexity, and Norway – highly complex posted worker registration process.

2 27 EU member countries and 4 EFTA countries (Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland)
2.3. Administrative burden of registering Posted Workers
This complex landscape translates into significant administrative burdens for employers. Current studies indicate that businesses typically spend between €150-200 per posting on administrative costs alone, with processing times varying dramatically by country - from 21 minutes in Estonia to 61 minutes in Italy and up to 87 minutes in Greece per posting.
The administrative workload breaks down into three main categories:
- Data collection (17%)
- Data entry (33%)
- Document management (51%)
To put this in perspective, the German mechanical engineering industry, with its 205,000 registered postings annually, spends a minimum of €31 million yearly on administrative costs alone.
2.4. Compliance risks and consequences of ignoring Posted Worker registration requirements
Despite the significant administrative burden, companies cannot afford to ignore these requirements. The consequences of non-compliance can be severe. Luxembourg recently demonstrated authorities' serious approach to enforcement by imposing €9M in fines for non-compliance in just one year.
The severity of consequences varies by country:
- Some countries initially provide warnings
- Others have strict regulations with immediate economic sanctions
- Fines for missing or late notifications (e.g. Switzerland imposes up to €5,000)
- Additional sanctions for working condition violations can exceed €50,000
- Service bans can prevent business operations for up to five years
- Companies may be published on shared labor authority lists, affecting reputation
- Practical consequences include workplace access denial, particularly in Scandinavian countries
- Reputational damages as an employer and as a company (e.g. in Switzerland major infractions will be published in an openly accessible online list)
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3. The European Commission's new Posted Worker portal initiative
3.1. Why is the Posted Worker registration portal proposed
The growing complexity of managing 31 different notification systems has not gone unnoticed by European institutions. In recognition of the significant administrative burden this place on businesses, while also acknowledging the challenges it creates for effective enforcement, the European Commission has proposed a unified solution: a single portal for all posted worker notifications across the EU. It is crucial to emphasize that this is a proposal and therefore it is not guaranteed at all yet, whether it will be adopted or not. Further, we must notice that the proposal only concerns the notification system. Specific national legislations will still be applicable even if such a proposal will be adopted. This notably concerns sanctions and consequences in case of violations, as well as particular requirements, meaning whether a notification will be required or not for specific activities performed by employees temporary working abroad. The Commission's proposal aims to streamline the process for businesses while simultaneously enhancing authorities' ability to protect workers' rights and ensure compliance.
Key features of the portal will include:
1. Single multilingual platform
- Access in all EU official languages
- Standardized terminology across countries
- Unified interface for all submissions
2. Standardized processes
- Common data entry formats
- Unified submission procedures
- Standardized documentation requirements
- Consistent notification timelines
3. Data storage and reuse
- Information retained for future submissions
- Employee data stored securely
- Company details saved for repeated use
- Historical posting records maintained
4. IMI System Integration
- Connection to Internal Market Information System
- Enhanced data sharing between authorities
- Streamlined verification processes
- Integrated compliance checking
3.2. Benefits and their implications: The two sides of Posted Workers' digital transformation
The Commission's proposed portal promises significant efficiency gains, but each improvement comes with new considerations for organizations managing posted worker compliance.
Streamlined data entry and enhanced visibility
The new system promises a 73% reduction in submission time through standardized forms and simplified processes. This will have as an immediate practical consequence, the creation of unprecedented transparency. Therefore, authorities will have immediate access to standardized, comparable data across all postings, making pattern recognition and compliance monitoring more effective than ever.
Centralized data storage and cross-border sharing
The ability to store and reuse information will eliminate duplicate data entry and reduce administrative burden by 25%. This centralization also means that authorities across countries can easily share and cross-reference information through the Internal Market Information System (IMI), enabling coordinated enforcement actions.
Standardized documentation and increased scrutiny
The elimination of country-specific documentation requirements will significantly simplify the submission process. Increased standardization also means that compliance gaps become immediately apparent, as authorities can more easily compare documentation across different postings and organizations.
Cost reduction and enforcement efficiency
While the elimination of administrative fees and reduced processing time will lower costs for businesses, it also reduces barriers for authorities to conduct systematic compliance reviews. What previously required manual investigation and coordination will become automated and instantaneous.
This digital transformation means that organizations must approach their posting management with new considerations. Those that have historically struggled with compliance, underestimated its value, relied on manual processes, or taken a decentralized approach may find themselves exposed in this new transparent environment. The efficiency gains of the proposed portal could be significant, if at all introduced, but they will come with the expectation of higher compliance standards and more rigorous enforcement.
4. Preparing for the digital transition of Posted Worker registrations
4.1. A timeline for change
The European Commission's proposal marks a significant step forward, but at the moment it is a simple proposal that might not lead to any new legislation. In any case, even if adopted, the transition will be gradual. While a specific launch date is yet unknown, we can expect a 13-month adoption process followed by a 2-3 year implementation period. With voluntary adoption by member states, organizations will likely need to manage both the new unified portal and existing national systems until at least mid-2026. Furthermore, it remains unclear how EFTA countries will engage with the proposed changes.
However, this implementation timeline presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While the unified portal is still some time away, the shift toward digital enforcement is already underway. Organizations that wait for full implementation before modernizing their approach risk falling behind in two critical areas:
- Managing current compliance requirements across 31 systems
- Preparing for the increased transparency of the future digital landscape
4.2. Building Future-Ready Compliance
While organizations would appreciate the unified portal, compliance obligations demand attention today and will continue to do so in the future. Organizations must continue to navigate complex requirements across multiple jurisdictions. As discussed previously, the proposal only concerns the notification modality, but does not affect at all any other aspect related to PWD compliance:
Documentation management
Beyond basic notifications, organizations must maintain comprehensive records of employment contracts, posting agreements, social security certificates, and other essential documentation. These records must be readily accessible for potential audits and meet specific national requirements.
Local law compliance
Each posting must comply with host country regulations, notably including:
- Equal pay requirements
- Working time regulations
- Health and safety standards
- Industry-specific requirements
Multiple system management
During the transition period, organizations will need to manage both existing national systems and the new unified portal, creating additional complexity in documentation and compliance tracking.
The key to managing these obligations, while preparing for the digital future lies in automation. Modern compliance management systems can help organizations:
- Handle current multi-system requirements efficiently
- Build digital-ready processes for the future
- Ensure consistent compliance across jurisdictions
- Create audit-ready documentation trails
4.3. Automation in action: The WorkFlex approach
WorkFlex's solution demonstrates how automation can transform posted worker management from a burdensome manual process into a streamlined, future-ready operation. The system integrates seamlessly with existing business travel processes to:
- Automatically assess the applicability of notification requirements when travel is booked
- Generate and submit required notifications
- Manage documentation across jurisdictions
- Ensure compliance before travel begins
- Maintain comprehensive audit trails
This automated approach not only addresses current challenges but positions organizations for success in the coming digital enforcement landscape. By implementing such solutions now, organizations can:
- Reduce current administrative costs
- Ensure consistent compliance across systems
- Build digital-ready processes
- Prepare for increased transparency
- Create scalable, future-proof compliance management
The transition to digital enforcement is inevitable. Organizations that act now to modernize their compliance approach will not only manage current requirements more efficiently but will be well-positioned for success in the increasingly digital future of posted worker management.
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Assignment Compliance 101: A Guide to Effective Expat Management

Assignment Compliance 101: A Guide to Effective Expat Management
Are expat assignments giving your HR team headaches? Between immigration paperwork, tax compliance, and social security requirements, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Let us show you how automation can change that.
We invite you to join our webinar "Assignment Compliance 101: A Guide to Effective Expat Management" where our expert panel will share insights on streamlining your assignment management process.
📣 Speakers:
- Pieter Manden LLM MBA – Co-founder WorkFlex
- Dorothee Schweigard – Director Compliance Research Center, WorkFlex
- Anna Luisa Grebe – Lead Visa & Assignment, WorkFlex
In this session, our experts will:
✔️ Break down essential compliance requirements for expat assignments
✔️ Share proven strategies to overcome common challenges
✔️ Demonstrate how automation transforms assignment management
Plus, you'll see WorkFlex in action through a live demonstration and have the opportunity to get your questions answered during our interactive Q&A session.

Is your work-from-anywhere policy compliant?

Is your work-from-anywhere policy compliant?
➡️ What does it take for a company to remain fully compliant when employees go on work-from-anywhere trips? Is an A1 certificate and visa enough? What measures should HR and travel teams take to ensure the employer's duty of care is fulfilled when employees travel?
Our experts, Pieter Manden, LLM, MBA, Co-founder of WorkFlex, and Brock Dale, Senior WorkFlex Consultant, guide you through the critical aspects of compliant work-from-anywhere policy management.
In the session, you learn about key things to consider when creating and managing your work-from-anywhere policy. 🧐

Cross-border workforce compliance trends for 2025

Cross-border workforce compliance trends for 2025
As 2025 approaches, it’s crucial to stay ahead of the evolving cross-border compliance landscape. 💡
Join us for an insightful webinar where global mobility experts will share findings from a comprehensive survey of 300 companies, shedding light on emerging trends in cross-border workforce compliance.
➡️ Key topics to be covered:
- Emerging trends in cross-border employment and employee mobility, including business travel, workations, commuters, matrix managers, expatriates, virtual assignments, and remote work.
- In-depth analysis of business travel trends and associated compliance challenges.
- Best practices and insights on the most widely adopted work-from-anywhere policies and their impact on global mobility
➡️ Speakers:
- Christine Kraft, Senior Manager Global Mobility, Vialto Partners
- Paul Bennett, Co-founder and CEO, PerchPeek
- Pieter Manden LLM MBA, Co-founder WorkFlex
Stay informed and gain practical insights to optimize your global mobility programs for 2025 and beyond. 🌎

Compliance for work-from-anywhere trips: Why an A1 certificate is not enough

Compliance for work-from-anywhere trips: Why an A1 certificate is not enough
Do you think that an A1 certificate is all you need for a compliant workation? Let us prove you wrong!
In our exciting webinar, we uncover the hidden risks that many overlook. Dorothee Schweigard, our compliance expert and head of the Compliance Research Center at WorkFlex, and Sandro Günaltay, our Senior WorkFlex consultant, will explain the most important factors that are essential for a safe and compliant workation.
Find out why an A1 certificate is just the beginning and how you can protect your employees comprehensively when they go on work-from-anywhere trips. Join us and delve deep into the world of workation compliance!
🗣️ Language: German

Insights from 10.000+ Remote Work Stays in over 200 Companies

Insights from 10.000+ Remote Work Stays in over 200 Companies

Balancing flexibility and compliance: Pantheon's strategic approach to work from abroad

Balancing flexibility and compliance: Pantheon's strategic approach to work from abroad
🔎 ABOUT PANTHEON
A need for structured flexibility in a post-pandemic workplace
During the pandemic, Pantheon, a leading private markets investor firm, achieved extraordinary business results over two years of largely remote operations, demonstrating that remarkable performance is possible even in a fully remote setup. This success highlighted the potential of flexible work arrangements. In response to the evolving workplace dynamics post-COVID, Pantheon sought to formalize its approach to hybrid home working and international remote work.
Headquartered in the UK and with a significant presence in the US and Asia, the firm wanted a solution that aligned with its hybrid working philosophy and effectively addressed the complexities of international remote work arrangements.
🔥 CHALLENGE
Balancing employee flexibility with regulatory compliance
Pantheon faced several key challenges in implementing their work from abroad program:
- Post-pandemic adaptation: A number of employees had been working from abroad during COVID, there was increasing demand for continued international work flexibility, particularly for family visits and extended stays in holiday destinations.
- Managing regulatory complexity: The company needed to address permanent establishment risks, payroll risk, tax implications, and compliance and regulatory requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
- Cost of legal consultation: Experience showed that obtaining individual legal, compliance and tax advice for each work from abroad request at scale would be financially unsustainable.
🎉 SOLUTION
Implementing WorkFlex as a foundation for the work from abroad program
Pantheon took a proactive approach by identifying WorkFlex as their solution before launching their work from abroad program. The platform was chosen for its:
- Comprehensive risk assessment: The intuitive risk reports help identify potential issues across different jurisdictions.
- Cost-effective compliance management: The platform provides a scalable solution for managing the compliance of work from abroad arrangements without the need for case-by-case legal consultations.
- Streamlined processes: Integration of single sign-on capabilities and an intuitive user experience of the platform have created an efficient approval workflow between employees, managers, and HR.
The risk reports that we get from the system are really intuitive and easy to follow. It makes it easy to understand where the risk flags are. It just makes life easier for us on the HR side.
James Conradi, Head of HR, EMEA & APAC at Pantheon Ventures
🎯 RESULTS
Enhanced employee experience and operational efficiency
The implementation of WorkFlex has delivered significant benefits for Pantheon:
- Improved work-life balance: Employees can extend stay in holiday destinations or spend more time with family abroad while maintaining their work responsibilities.
- Strong Employee Value Proposition (“EVP”) enhancement: The program has become a valuable addition to Pantheon's EVP of hybrid working in a sector that is typified by more rigorous requirements for increased office attendance .
- Risk mitigation: The platform provides peace of mind through comprehensive risk assessments and insurance coverage.
WorkFlex has a relatively low cost for the kind of impact it can have. In the market, from an engagement and retention perspective, the work-from-abroad program, paired with our established hybrid working model, is a really valued benefit. It’s been really impactful at Pantheon.
James Conradi, Head of HR, EMEA & APAC at Pantheon Ventures

Simplifying Visa Processing: Quest One’s Journey with WorkFlex

Simplifying Visa Processing: Quest One’s Journey with WorkFlex
🔎 ABOUT QUEST ONE
Quest One: A global leader in aerospace procurement with international operations
Quest One streamlines aerospace procurement by providing purchasing departments worldwide with essential industry-standard and OEM parts, including rare and hard-to-source components. Known for reliability and efficiency, Quest One is a trusted partner for aerospace companies globally.
With a diverse & growing team representing 35 nationalities and extensive international travel, Quest One is dedicated to managing these activities in a legally compliant and efficient manner. This commitment makes WorkFlex services for seamless handling of visas for business trips and workations a smart solution for Quest One.
🔥 CHALLENGE
Solving last-minute visa processing needs rapidly
Ensuring legally compliant travel arrangements for employees is a top priority for Quest One. Each visa application must be assessed and processed individually, and the need for quick availability often leads to resource bottlenecks within the team. Complicated short-term visa applications can disrupt employees’ travel plans and affect their roles and responsibilities on projects, ultimately impacting their career progression. Additionally, navigating changes in entry regulations presents further challenges.
All of these factors made visa processing a time-intensive pain point for Quest One, where WorkFlex stepped in with an efficient solution.
In today’s fast-paced business world, last-minute travel is the reality. When a Russian business traveler unexpectedly needed to head to China for an urgent meeting, the tight timeline made the visa process challenging. Typically, obtaining a Chinese visa can take time, with various steps involved, including document preparation, in-person appointment, application submission, and approval.
That’s where WorkFlex stepped in. Leveraging a streamlined approach and strong partnerships, WorkFlex managed to expedite the entire process, ensuring that the traveler's visa was issued in just three days. By handling all the complexities and coordinating with consular offices, WorkFlex provided peace of mind and a smooth experience, allowing the traveler to focus on the task at hand without worrying about delays.
WorkFlex aims to remove the stress from last-minute travel, promising a reliable, on-time visa solution, even under the tightest deadlines – without charging additional express fees.
🎉 SOLUTION
Implementing WorkFlex for effective and compliant travel management
With WorkFlex by Quest One’s side, the company is now confident in a safe travel future. Managing workations, business trips, and visa requests through one platform simplifies their processes and enhances operational efficiency.
WorkFlex provides Quest One with:
- Fast visa request processing: WorkFlex streamlines the process of obtaining travel visas quickly and effortlessly, relieving employers and employees of administrative burdens so they can focus solely on their roles.
- Secure services: Acknowledging the high sensitivity of visa application data, WorkFlex prioritizes utmost confidentiality. Our WorkFlex software is ISO-certified, ensuring industry-leading protection.
- Compliance: WorkFlex visa solution is designed to support global operations while maintaining legal compliance for both the organization and workationers or business travelers.

Empowering global talent: London & Partners' work-from-anywhere policy

Empowering global talent: London & Partners' work-from-anywhere policy
🔎 ABOUT LONDON & PARTNERS
A need for compliance and process management tool for work-from-anywhere policy implementation
In 2022, London & Partners, the growth agency for London, introduced a policy allowing employees to temporarily work from anywhere, also known as "workations." This change arose during the Covid pandemic when many international employees expressed a desire to spend more time with their families abroad while continuing to work. To support this initiative and ensure compliance with tax and social security regulations, London & Partners sought a solution that would streamline these processes. WorkFlex provided the ideal solution to make this possible.

🔥 CHALLENGE
Compliance worries and the need for a thought-through policy
With the increasing demand for temporary work abroad, London & Partners encountered several challenges:
- No clear policy for work-from-anywhere: The surge in requests for working from abroad made it clear that an official policy was necessary to prevent "hush trips," where employees worked from abroad temporarily without informing the company. These unapproved trips can lead to significant compliance risks, as well as operational challenges.
- Lack of managerial oversight: Managers needed to know the whereabouts of their employees to ensure smooth operations.
- Compliance complexities: London & Partners required a solution that could address the complexities of tax, social security, and other compliance risks associated with employees working from different countries.
🎉 SOLUTION
Implementing WorkFlex for effective and compliant work-from-anywhere management
To address the challenges of unmanaged compliance and lack of oversight on employee trips, London & Partners adopted WorkFlex to manage their employee workations. London & Partners chose WorkFlex for its:
- Thorough risk assessment: The platform provides detailed assessments for destinations worldwide, ensuring compliance with local and international regulations.
- User-friendly interface: The intuitive design makes it easy for both employees and managers to navigate.
- Efficient policy management: WorkFlex simplifies the management of work-from-anywhere policies, providing transparency on where employees are working from.
🎯 BENEFITS
Employee satisfaction, autonomy, and improved candidate attraction
London & Partners employees greatly appreciate the opportunity to work from anywhere.
The feedback (about the work-from-anywhere policy) has been excellent. People feel like we’re a company that indeed offers flexible working. It’s very much welcomed by everyone. Our CEO has used WorkFlex, which is great! We promote it because we feel it has benefits for employees, provides greater work-life balance, and relieves stress.
– Linda Adams-Avornyo, HR Business Partner at London & Partners
The workplace flexibility has contributed to:
- Improved employee satisfaction: Employees report higher satisfaction levels and better work-life balance.
- Mutual trust and autonomy: The ability to work flexibly fosters a sense of trust and autonomy that is important for employee engagement.
- Candidate attraction: The HR team frequently hears from candidates that the workflexing benefit has been a significant factor in their decision to apply.
When we ask candidates what attracted them to London & Partners, they say—your benefits! Because you use WorkFlex. So the word is going around!
– Linda Adams-Avornyo, HR Business Partner at London & Partners
London & Partners' HR team and employees are highly satisfied with the benefits and the WorkFlex solution chosen to enable them. With WorkFlex in place, they feel assured that workations are managed properly, compliance risks are mitigated, and that employees, managers, and the HR team can all feel secure.

How forto offered 100% compliant short-term remote work abroad in over 45 countries

How forto offered 100% compliant short-term remote work abroad in over 45 countries
About forto
forto is a company that specializes in digital supply chains. The technologies of the forto platform cover the entire process flow, from quotation, booking, document management, tracking and tracing to proactive exception handling and analysis. Headquartered in Berlin, the company currently has employees in 17 locations in Europe and Asia, with offices in Milan, Ho Chi Minh City, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. forto has around 800 employees worldwide with 62 nationalities. German, Chinese and Indian are the most common.
Since Corona, the company has offered its employees the opportunity to work flexibly from different locations - even temporarily abroad.
forto’s „Remote Work“ Policy:
forto emphasizes that remote work and vacation are separate concepts, which is why forto uses "remote work" or even - to match the tool -"workflexing" instead of the term workations.
forto currently allows"workflexing" for 20 working days per calendar year in countries that have a maximum time difference of plus or minus four hours from Berlin, so that people are still reasonably present during regular working hours. If the home country is a little further away than these four hours, there are also exceptions in consultation with the manager. All employees who are employed in European countries can use WorkFlex - including interns and working students.
🔥 Challenge
Since the pandemic, forto has offered mobile working abroad, so that its employees can work safely from their home countries - but only within the European Union. Employees from other countries rightly felt unfairly treated, which prompted forto to look for an external solution. Because it was clear that this benefit was indispensable. Firstly, forto saw how high the demand was. Employees actively requested this from HR and also initiated it from time to time. Secondly, forto has seen how important it is. Employees actively thanked them for the opportunity to work away from their families. And thirdly, because it simply works. The employees did a good job from there and felt comfortable.
However, in order to offer remote work outside the European Union and to keep an eye on compliance and legal aspects, forto had to rely on external help. Before introducing WorkFlex, they struggled to find clear answers to questions such as taxes, insurance and labor regulations related to remote work outside the EU.
- Who pays tax where?
- What about insurance?
- Does the labor law now apply from Germany or from another country?
- Who is liable if something should go wrong?
All these questions could be answered by the WorkFlex software and the "no-risk" concept.
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💡Solution
In June 2023, forto implemented WorkFlex to enable employees outside the EU to work from their home country. WorkFlex enabled the company to set clear guidelines for remote work, ensure compliance and offer employees a structured process for short-term work stays abroad. The implementation followed a thorough evaluation of various providers, with WorkFlex being the only one that stood out for its complete package:
In addition to clear assessments of the compliance risks for each individual application, WorkFlex offered
1. Liability: In the unlikely event of complications, WorkFlex assumed financial liability, as well as professional support during administrative procedures. This gave forto the peace of mind of being able to send employees around the world without worrying about legal stumbling blocks.
2. Automatic issuance of A1 certificates: WorkFlex took care of all the complex compliance tasks such as issuing A1 certificates.
3. International health insurance: WorkFlex automatically secures travel health insurance for each employee from "Hallesche Krankenversicherung", which provides unlimited medical cover, including Covid-19 cover and repatriation from all countries. The team takes care of the application, communication and management of the insurance during the entire travel period.
4. 24/7 hotline at WorkFlex: WorkFlex offers a hotline available around the clock for all concerns, such as accidents, questions, compliance issues, which Forto has seen as a huge benefit.
5. User-friendly software: Before WorkFlex, forto had no overview of where all employees were, which could have disastrous (legal) consequences. Now they can see where each employee is, how many days they have worked abroad and much more through a simple click of a button.
6. Best support: forto's dedicated Customer Success Manager responded incredibly quickly and did a great job of familiarizing forto with the tool. At the townhall, the Customer Success Manager also showed the platform, which was very helpful for all employees as well as HR.
7. Assessments for all countries - and nationalities: The WorkFlex compliance engine is able to assess all possible countries and nationalities combinations. forto was therefore able to implement WorkFlex, for example, in its entities inSpain without any problems and also enable their many Latinos to work from their home countries.
📈 Success measurement
The success of the implementation of WorkFlex at forto was demonstrated by
- Time and resource savings: Using WorkFlex proved to be easy and efficient for both employees and the HR team. The compliance-related challenges were successfully overcome by working with WorkFlex.
- Less administrative burden for HR: Before, there wasn't even really time to issue A1 certificates. Now it takes the People Ops team no more than a minute per request as all the work has been outsourced to WorkFlex.
- Increased employee retention and satisfaction: The introduction of WorkFlex has been well received by employees. With clear guidelines and the ability to work abroad for up to 20 working days per calendar year, forto was able to better meet the needs of its global workforce. Employees appreciated the flexibility and the combination of work and travel, especially when it came to visiting their families in their home country.
- Recruitment success: forto experienced a positive response both within the company and during the recruitment process, with remote work - abroad - being highlighted as a decisive criterion for potential employees.
“On a scale of one to five. I would definitely rate remote work abroad as a five, the most important benefit, because employees really did ask about it and it is also actively asked about in the interview process and apparently the decision is even made based on whether or not remote work abroad is offered. I really believe that this has changed since the pandemic and since the times of Corona and the demand for it is simply so great and it will continue to be so in the future.“
Carolin Braband, Team Lead People Operations
Remote Work at Forto:
Since September, in less than 3 months, forto employees from several different origin countries requested to work 3669 days (= more than 10 years) from 45 different destination countries abroad. More than every fifth request was for Indians to go back and work from India.

Overall, the introduction of WorkFlex at forto has led to improved employee satisfaction, less administrative work and increased attractiveness for potential employees. The introduction of WorkFlex has led to a hybrid working culture at forto, where employees have the flexibility to choose between working from home or in the office. This hybrid model has been well received and will be further developed in the coming year to meet the needs of employees.
forto is convinced that hybrid working models and the option of remote working will shape the future of work.

Workations to visit family abroad: How AutoScout24 optimizes compliance and costs with WorkFlex

Workations to visit family abroad: How AutoScout24 optimizes compliance and costs with WorkFlex
About AutoScout24
AutoScout24 is known as an online platform for buying and selling new and used cars. Although the platform was originally focused on the German market, AutoScout24 has expanded its presence internationally. This global focus is also reflected in the diversity of its workforce, who were keen to work from home. For this reason, AutoScout24 has enabled its employees to work worldwide since the pandemic - so-called "Working from Anywhere". However, AutoScout24 has encountered many challenges, particularly with regard to compliance.
🔥 Challenge
Before the introduction of WorkFlex in September, working from anywhere was handled informally internally during the pandemic. The challenge was to find a structured solution that met the needs of employees worldwide while maintaining compliance. Because AutoScout24 was still struggling:
- Unstructured approach: AutoScout24 wanted to make working from anywhere more structured, especially after informal working from anywhere was the norm during the pandemic. WorkFlex provided a solution to enable this flexibility in an organized way.
- Lack of internal know-how: AutoScout24 initially tried to organize flexible working from anywhere internally. However, the company realized that it was a significant effort and that internal employees did not have the necessary expertise. The decision to use WorkFlex was made in order to overcome these challenges and obtain external support.
- Diverse employee needs: AutoScout24 has employees of 55 different nationalities. Many employees had the desire to return to their home countries and work from there. WorkFlex made it possible to meet these diverse needs.streamline the process
In September, AutoScout24 introduced WorkFlex to make global remote working more efficient. Previously, they had tried to manage the program internally, but quickly realized that this was very time consuming and complex.
💡Solution
After a careful selection of providers, the company chose WorkFlex for the following reasons:
- Advanced status: AutoScout24 emphasized that although WorkFlex was still considered a start-up, it was significantly more advanced compared to other providers in the field. The platform was able to offer comprehensive services that met AutoScout24's global requirements.
- Global coverage: WorkFlex provided AutoScout24 with the ability to offer not just European but worldwide workations - for all nationalities and different branches. This was particularly important to AutoScout24 due to their diverse workforce. The integration of the Netherlands was just as successful as the inclusion of employees with 55 different nationalities.
- Eliminating compliance risks: AutoScout24 recognized that there were significant risks involved in handling international workations with legal aspects such as payroll tax and social security law. The decision to use WorkFlex was made in order to minimize these risks and to make use of external expertise. AutoScout24 was particularly impressed by the no-risk concept that WorkFlex assumes liability for. The included travel health insurance was another major deciding factor in favor of WorkFlex.
- Good communication and support: AutoScout24 praised the good cooperation with WorkFlex, the quick response to questions and the continuous support, even for problems that rarely occur.
- Easy integration and user-friendliness:The cooperation with WorkFlex was described as uncomplicated and user-friendly. Both the preparation and the ongoing support were positively emphasized.
📈 Positive impacts and benefits gained:
AutoScout24 has developed its "Working from Anywhere" company policy, which states that employees can work anywhere in the world for up to 10 working days.
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The success of the implementation of WorkFlex at AutoScout24 was demonstrated by:
1. Global destination countries: The introduction of WorkFlex allows employees to work globally. This allows employees to return to and work from their home countries. The challenge of legal complexity was overcome by WorkFlex.
Since September, AutoScout24 employees have already worked from 20 different countries worldwide. 57% of the trips were to non-EU countries. The top destinations were not the typical vacation countries, but - in line with the diverse workforce - India, USA, Turkey, Greece and South Africa.
2. Structured framework: Before the introduction of WorkFlex, working from anywhere was handled rather informally due to the pandemic. Once it was decided to take a more structured approach, WorkFlex was introduced as a solution.
3. More flexibility for employees: WorkFlex enables employees to work abroad for up to ten working days. This is particularly relevant for employees with 55 different nationalities at AutoScout24, who often want to return to their home countries.
4. Employee well-being and work-life balance: The Workations policy positively impacted employee well-being and work-life balance, especially for non-German employees who could extend their stays abroad without depleting their vacation budget. The flexibility offered by Workations contributed to a healthier work-life balance.
5. Relief for the HR department: WorkFlex's expertise and support have reduced the internal workload immensely, especially in connection with forms, approvals and requests for non-European assignments abroad. WorkFlex automates many of these processes or takes over the issuing of all relevant documents such as A1 certificates, CoC, travel insurance
6. Cost savings: AutoScout24 saves costs in several areas by using WorkFlex:
- External consulting costs: before implementing WorkFlex,AutoScout24 often hired external expensive consulting firms for issues related to payroll tax, social security law and other legal aspects. By working withWorkFlex, these costs can be reduced as the platform offers specialized expertise.
- Administrative costs: Using WorkFlex eliminates the need to manually create and manage elaborate forms for international assignments.This not only saves paper and printing costs, but also the time it takes employees to complete these documents.
- Time and cost savings for HR & employees: AutoScout24 employees need less time to obtain approvals for international assignments as the process is streamlined by WorkFlex. This leads to an overall more efficient use of working time.
“The collaboration with WorkFlex is extremely positive. The preparation, support, and usability of the tool are outstanding. The flexibility of WorkFlex to include all countries and the continuous support contributed significantly to the success. The automation of processes, such as the application process and communication with employees, resulted insignificant time and cost savings for AutoScout24 ”
Katrin Paetzold – Senior HRBP at AutoScout24
The case study illustrates the success of AutoScout24 through the integration of WorkFlex. Overall, WorkFlex has helped to streamline internal processes, increase employee flexibility, and reduce the cost of remote work abroad per trip.

183 days of workation: idealo's employer branding success story

183 days of workation: idealo's employer branding success story
About idealo
idealo, a leading online platform for price comparison, faced the challenge of managing and optimizing its remote work policy, known as "Workations" or temporary work from abroad. Prior to August 2022, idealo allowed its 1050 employees from 60 different nations to work remotely from any location but lacked a structured tool to manage requests, leading to administrative challenges and potential compliance risks.
🔥 Challenge
As the demand for remote work abroad increased more and more, idealo needed a comprehensive solution to
- get an overview where everyone is working
- streamline the process
- develop a proper, official framework for work from anywhere
- manage compliance risks
- get necessary documentation (PWD; A1; CoC, etc.)
- enhance the overall employee experience
The company sought a tool that could facilitate transparent communication, assess risks effectively, and provide legal and financial coverage for remote work. Further, idealo faced challenges related to IT support for remote employees, equipment issues, and managing pushback from denied requests, especially from employees in Ukraine and Russia. WorkFlex played a crucial role in addressing these challenges and establishing clear boundaries for remote work.
💡Solution
In August 2022, idealo partnered with WorkFlex to implement a robust solution for managing remote work, offering employees the flexibility to work from any location worldwide. WorkFlex provided a transparent risk assessment process, quick application processing, and comprehensive liability.
Reasons for Choosing WorkFlex:
idealo chose WorkFlex for
- its transparency in risk assessment and speedy application processing
- the platform's modern easy-to-use interface and efficient workflow
- the unique no-risk workation concept that no competitor offered
- the travel health insurance that is automatically issued for every employee working abroad
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Policy Framework
idealo has one of the most progressive policies that exist on the market as it its up-to-183-days policy mirrors the legal limit. idealo allows remote work from any country. Up to 30 days per year within a European country is automatically approved. Then between 31 and 90 days per year from any country if the WorkFlex approval is yellow or green. And then from 91 until 182 days, the approval from WorkFlex has to be green that we allow it, but it's also from any country in the world.

📈 Positive Impacts and Benefits gained:
The implementation of WorkFlex brought several positive impacts to idealo:
1. Efficiency and Time Savings: WorkFlex significantly reduced administrative costs and efforts. The platform's automated features, such as issuing certificates of coverage, eliminated manual paperwork, and streamlined the entire process. Now, HR needs less than 3minutes per request whereas before they needed hours.
2. Transparency and Employee Satisfaction: The transparency in the risk assessment process and the ease of tracking application status through the WorkFlex portal improved communication and reduced the need for employees to inquire about the status of their applications.
3. Legal and Financial Protection: WorkFlex provided legal and financial liability coverage, offering peace of mind to both employees and the employer during remote work, ultimately contributing to the success of Workations. Also, the employee is automatically health insured via WorkFlex’s travel health insurance, which neither of the few existing competitors offered.
4. Employee Well-being and Work-Life Balance: The Workations policy positively impacted employee well-being and work-life balance, especially for non-German employees who could extend their stays abroad without depleting their vacation budget. The flexibility offered by Workations contributed to a healthier work-life balance.
5. Attractiveness as an Employer:Workations became a crucial component of idealo's external marketing strategy, enhancing the company's reputation as an employee-friendly organization that supports individual lifestyles. The positive feedback from applicants highlighted the attractiveness of idealo as an employer.
Workations in Numbers at idealo:
Since August 2022, idealos requested 577 workations to 64 destination countries. 72% were approved. In 1 year and 3 months, idealos worked 11077working days abroad - which is over 30years of workations in total.
idealo confirms that this benefit has one of the highest usage rates in their benefit portfolio due to the diverse, international workforce. Most employees use this perk to work from their family’s home abroad – a use case that is dominated in a workforce of 60+ nationalities.

For idealo, it is clear that WorkFlex is the best solution out there. The collaboration with WorkFlex transformed the management of remote work for idealo, turning it into a streamlined, efficient, and employee-friendly process. By addressing challenges, enhancing transparency, and providing legal and financial coverage, WorkFlex played a pivotal role in making Workations a successful and sustainable model for idealo.

Beyond Borders: How Flix' 90+ nationalities worked compliantly from 80+ countries

Beyond Borders: How Flix' 90+ nationalities worked compliantly from 80+ countries
About Flix
For Flix, a leader in the mobility sector, the concept of 'work from anywhere' is more than just a policy; it's an integral part of their corporate identity. It would be contradictory for a company that connects people globally with their FlixBuses and FlixTrains to restrict its own employees to a fixed location.
Recognizing the shifting paradigms in the post-pandemic world, the company introduced the “work from manywhere” program. Since July 1st, 2022, Flix' employees have the opportunity to work from almost any location in the world – may it be from their grandma's garden or a sandy beach.
🔥 Challenge
At the end of the pandemic, Flix asked its employees if they would like to work from anywhere. This preliminary survey indicated a very high demand. Given the changes the pandemic brought in our ways of working, combined with the diversity in their team, Flix saw a great opportunity to introduce this program.
This, however, brought up new challenges for Flix:
· Accompany rapidly changing employee' needs: The rapid shift to remote work during the pandemic has created a crave for more flexibility among employees. This change in mentality – being able to work from anywhere - left Flix trying to balance complex compliance requirements that have not adjusted to the new working environment with their employees’ increasing desire to work from anywhere. They knew they needed an external solution, to make sure they act 100% compliant.
Forbidding workations was not in the interest of Flix as their international workforce demanded having also the right for an international homeoffice and might have done so - also without permission.
· Ever-changing compliance & legislations: Ensuring adherence to diverse labor laws, tax regulations, and social security mandates was a monumental challenge. Although Flix had a lot of in-house expertise, such as a legal department, tax department, HR - this was a new topic where nobody had already acquired expertise.
· Complex international workforce: With employees coming from over 90 different countries, the legal intricacies of tax laws, labor regulations, and visa requirements got even more complex. This diversity, especially concerning non-EU nationalities, highlighted Flix's need for an external compliance partner.
💡 Solution
WorkFlex provided the needed solution for these challenges:
· Individual risk assessment: WorkFlex's tool matched exactly what Flix needed, balancing freedom and compliance. WorkFlex’ compliance logic and automised approach check each work-from-anywhere request individually, making sure Flix is compliant no matter where an employee wants to work or which country they are on payroll on. This careful checking is crucial as Flix has employees from many countries, each with its own set of rules.
· User-friendly platform: The WorkFlex platform simplifies the process for Flix. It consolidates all work-from-anywhere requests, prepares necessary documents, and ensures that employees are adequately insured, among other functionalities.
· High and up-to-date compliance expertise: With WorkFlex's legal team, Flix doesn't have to constantly monitor changes in legislation.
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📈 Results
Flix created its “Working from Manywhere” policy, which stated that employees can work from anywhere - up to 60 days in low &medium risk countries and five days in high-risk countries.
The success of WorkFlex's implementation at Flix was evident through:
· Progressive employer branding: By offering global workations, Flix bolstered its image as a forward-thinking employer, catering to the modern needs of its workforce.
· Boosted employee satisfaction: The positive feedback from employees was a testament to the success of the initiative. The ability to work from diverse locations, be it their hometown or a beach, greatly improved their work-life balance and enhanced Flix's reputation as an employee-centric organization, emphasizing flexibility.
· Easier Recruitment through competitive advantage: The work-from-anywhere benefit became a significant perk for potential employees, standing out to new applicants. Especially Gen Z and international talent show high interest in the working model during the recruitment process.
· Reduction of manual effort: Thanks to WorkFlex, employees autonomously submit work-from-anywhere requests. HR is only needed for the final approval, which reduces their efforts to less than 5 minutes per request. No time needed to self-check compliance or to create whole frameworks for non-EU citizens.
· Savings in costs and administrative efforts: Partnering with WorkFlex eliminated the need for extensive research and consultation with tax lawyers, resulting in substantial cost savings. Further, the streamlined processes reduced the administrative burden, allowing Flix to allocate resources to other pivotal projects instead of needing to check the ever-changing compliance regulations for their international workforce.
Recap: Working from Manywhere at Flix with WorkFlex
In total, since the beginning of Flix’ Work from Anywhere Policy, employees have worked temporarily from over 80 different countries all around the globe, as the map shows. Alone during this year, Flix' employees worked for 1452 days from 59 different countries.
Most trips were requested by Indian employees (13,40%), closely followed by the Germans (8,87%). Brazilian, US-American, and Egyptian employees were the subsequent frontrunners in making such requests.
The average workation days per annum per employee was 20-25 days. Thus, it is still less than Flix’ policy threshold of 60 days.
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At its core, Flix's decision to embrace this model stems from a deep commitment to its employees. The company aims to foster an environment where employees feel valued, understood, and proud to be a part of the organization.
Flix firmly believes in the future of remote work. As the market sees more companies offering such flexibility, it not only sets a new standard but also creates a competitive edge, compelling others to follow suit.
Partnering with WorkFlex has enabled Flix to extend this flexibility even to regions like Asia, Latin America, and Africa, all while maintaining a stringent focus on compliance.
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1 YEAR – 1.000 WORKATIONS at IU
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1 YEAR – 1.000 WORKATIONS at IU
In June of last year, IU was finally able to launch the WorkFlex benefit, opening up a whole new world of work for IU's employees. Gone are the endless, eternally pre-planned trip requests. Since then, the next workation can be planned with just a few clicks. Where have the trips gone so far? We have taken a snapshot of the situation.
Workation. What's behind it?
What exactly is WorkFlex all about? How can you imagine such an application? And isn't it always associated with tax hurdles?
If the past years have shown us one thing, it is that good work can be done from anywhere! From one day to the next, our private rooms were converted into offices. With the realization that it can be done - and done very well. If the kitchen suddenly becomes the office, why shouldn't it also be the café in Valencia? Or the vacation apartment in Zeeland? Our WorkFlex benefit makes exactly that possible: work from wherever you want - for up to six months a year. With the exception of a few countries that are unfortunately excluded for security reasons, the big wide world is open to you. We are firmly convinced that temporary working from abroad (WFA) is a very attractive benefit that also fits in very well with the current and future situation of mobile working.
Tax, labor, and social security pitfalls? Not with us!
Through the WorkFlex benefit, we offer our employees flexible options for temporary work from abroad. Combined with a very simple process. Because without worrying about compliances and compliance (like private taxes, visas, etc.) or other risks, you can plan your next workation. It's as simple as submitting a request through the platform with just a few clicks. WorkFlex then obtains approval from the supervisor(s) and performs a risk assessment of the current situation. Everything fits? Well, then you're ready to go. ✈️
IU's recap: Over one thousand approved workations within the first year!
The figures speak for themselves: A look at the workations applied for last year shows how simple and straight forward such an application is: In the period from June 2022 to June2023, we had a total of no less than 1,000 approved workations at the IU. Whether a long weekend in one of the neighbouring countries or a stay of several weeks or even several months further away. From Australia, Argentina, Trinidad&Tobago or Taiwan: In total, applications to 87 countries around the world were requested and approved last year. The approval rate here was over 95%.
WorkFlex's statistics also show that we are an absolute pioneer when it comes to workation: Various well-known companies were compared in terms of their annual quota of workation days per person. Here it becomes clear once again: With 182possible workation days per year per person, we are right at the top and make remote work what it should be: Self-determined work from anywhere.
For IU, this is a clear sign that they are on the right track and that the benefit is being used well and with pleasure. They are looking forward to the coming year, its destinations and the stories of their employees that go along with it.
Do you also want a job that adapts to your life? Then come aboard the IU and check in for your next workation very soon. ☀️
Check out the full article and IU here
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Unlocking Workation Potential: TIMOCOM's Journey to Workation Success
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Unlocking Workation Potential: TIMOCOM's Journey to Workation Success
About TIMOCOM
TIMOCOM, a leading digital marketplace for transportation orders and live shipment tracking, is dedicated to streamlining its customers' logistics processes and helping them save time and money. But TIMOCOM faced a challenge: implementing workations to meet the growing desire for remote work while taking care of all the compliance topics.
🔥 Challenge
In introducing workations, TIMOCOM faced a number of challenges and obstacles that needed to be overcome:
- Growing demand for remote work: following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees expressed a desire for flexible work options from home. This growing demand for remote work challenged TIMOCOM to provide appropriate solutions to meet employee needs.
- Diverse international workforce: TIMOCOM had a diverse workforce with employees from more than 34 nations. This resulted in complex legal requirements, including tax laws, social security regulations, labor laws, and residence and visa requirements. Addressing these legal issues and ensuring compliance were major challenges for the company.
- Compliance concerns: Due to different regulations in different countries, it was difficult for TIMOCOM to offer workations without violating compliance guidelines. Complying with legal requirements and regulations related to labor law, taxes, and social security was a complex task to manage.
- Operational considerations: TIMOCOM also had to consider operational aspects of workation management. This included determining the number of days offered for workations, supporting employees with family members and second homes abroad, and ensuring smooth operations during employee absences.
💡Solution
TIMOCOM made the decision to use WorkFlex as its workation management software:
- Employer Branding: the introduction of global workations played a significant role in increasing TIMOCOM's employer brand. Through this innovative way of working, the company was able to strengthen its attractiveness and reputation as a modern and progressive employer.
- Employee retention and satisfaction: An internal survey showed that more than 50% of employees were very interested in using Workations. WorkFlex's solution exactly met the employees' needs for flexibility and work-life balance.
- Skills shortage: As an IT company, TIMOCOM was continuously looking for qualified IT professionals.The option of Workations positioned the company as a highly attractive employer in the market, which in turn helped attract highly qualified talent.
- Compliance Support & Liability: WorkFlex provided clear assessments of compliance risks for each individual application & handled all complex compliance tasks such as the creation of A1 certificates and the provision of comprehensive travel insurance for all employees. In the event of complications, WorkFlex took care of the financial liability as well as professional support with official procedures. This gave TIMOCOM the confidence to easily send employees worldwide without having to worry about legal stumbling blocks.
📈 Success measurement
The measurement of success of the introduction of WorkFlex at TIMOCOM was based on various indicators:
- Improvement of employer branding: Workations played a significant role in increasing TIMOCOM's employer brand. WorkFlex's flexibility and support for work-life balance helped position the company as a modern and employee-oriented employer.
- Increase employee retention and satisfaction: employees were excited about the ability to use Workations to see their families more often and improve their work-life balance. Positive feedback from employees confirmed the success of the measure. Annual employee surveys showed a significant increase in employee satisfaction after implementing WorkFlex . The flexible work arrangements and the option of using workations contributed to employee retention and motivation.
- Recruiting success: As an IT company, TIMOCOM benefited from Workations as an attractive offering for potential skilled employees. The ability to work remotely and use Workations helped attract qualified IT talent faster and position the company as an attractive employer.
- Time and resource savings: By working with WorkFlex, TIMOCOM did not have to spend valuable resources on researching and handling the complex processes. Intensive research and the use of expensive (tax) lawyers were no longer necessary. This saved a great deal of costs. In addition, the automated processes and the support provided by WorkFlex significantly reduced the amount of work involved in processing and managing workations. There is now a clear process for each request for mobile working abroad. The intuitive and user-friendly WorkFlex platform made it effortless for any employee to go through the process and provide the required information. The time spent on the Timocom has been reduced to 10 minutes per week. This increase in efficiency allowed TIMOCOM to save both time and resources, which could be used for other important projects.
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The introduction of WorkFlex at TIMOCOM brought revolutionary changes for employees and the company as a whole. Workations allowed employees to be more flexible in their work environment and achieve a better work-life balance. WorkFlex's support for legal and compliance requirements enabled TIMOCOM to easily manage mobile working requests overseas for its international workforce while minimizing compliance risks. The positive impact of Workations on employee satisfaction, employer branding and talent acquisition was clear. TIMOCOM was able to save valuable resources and increase efficiency, while WorkFlex provided transparency, risk assessment and a user-friendly platform. Overall, the TIMOCOM and WorkFlex collaboration demonstrated how innovative workations can transform the world of work and provide real value to companies and their employees.

i2x Makes Temporary Work from Abroad its Key Company Benefit with WorkFlex

i2x Makes Temporary Work from Abroad its Key Company Benefit with WorkFlex
i2x is one of the leading German AI companies founded by the studyVZ ex-CEO Michael Brehm, which helps sales and customer support agents to excel at their job, by giving live guidance and suggestions during customer calls. As an agile company, i2x worked this past year on building up a safe, stable, and compliant flexible working environment. How? By taking the lead in allowing employees to work from abroad while being fully legally protected and using WorkFlex to manage that.
KPIs
- Win new employees in the competitive market
- Company-wide workation strategy allowed by WorkFlex
- Work from abroad accessible to 100% of employees
- Every employee can work from abroad safely:
- 90 days within the EU
- 30 days outside of the EU
Challenges
Looking at the workation policy it is safe to say that i2x is taking the lead in terms of flexible work for all employees. While seeing that working outside of the office was/is mandatory, its employees from 19 different nationalities – from Columbia to China – started wishing for more work location freedom: being able to stay where their families are while not having to take their full vacation at once. After the company saw the need and the possibility of working from abroad they decided to step out of the workation grey zone and embrace a safe company mobility policy.
Solution
The i2x team and Narmatha Ravinthiran, the head of people and organization, got ahead with it and introduced WorkFlex, a solution that enables temporary work from abroad, in three easy steps in their company.
How? While signing their work contract, new employees also sign an amendment agreement which sets the framework of their workations’ possibilities: How and when to use a VPN? What type of password should be used? How to be fully GDPR compliant?
All aspects in regards to social legislation that are key to i2x but also to their clients which have the right of security too. From day one, employees are ensured to work abroad, within and outside of Europe and i2x could ensure a new company mobile work strategy while stopping one-to-one on-demand requests. In this process, WorkFlex takes care of all the compliance aspects of their workation requests.
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Benefits of introducing WorkFlex
For company
- Attractive mental health benefit: alongside other mental health benefits such as meditation or sports apps, workations strongly support employee wellbeing and mental health;
- Tremendous asset in job offers;
- A work-from-abroad policy with clearly set rules and frameworks: no more headaches due to case-by-case discussions.
For employees
- Freedom to work from everywhere compliantly and securely
- No need to use up all vacation days to visit family abroad or work from a dream destination: one can do it while continuing to work remotely
- A proof that your company indeed trusts you
- Extra motivation and engagement
“One of the greatest benefits I get from WorkFlex as a Head of HR is that I no longer have to read through an agreement of 270 pages on Brexit in order to say whether the person can go work in London or not. Using WorkFlex is a great relief in my responsibilities: the framework conditions of the workplaces are fully set out in a compliant way. We only have to follow the framework, no more case-by-case requests that take a lot of my time. HR pains are gone in this regard and it is great to see the satisfaction of our employees!”
Narmatha Ravinthiran, Head of People and Organization at i2x
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Temporary work from abroad: How Enpal found a simple solution to a complex problem
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Temporary work from abroad: How Enpal found a simple solution to a complex problem
Enpal, is a B2C solar panels installation company group, headquartered in Berlin, that encounters multiple HR challenges, so they are quite interested in finding solutions to lighten their workload and processes while being ensured to stay fully compliant. In short: they need simplicity wherever they can get it!
Context
Flexible work is a complex legal matter. Sure, from an employee perspective, working from abroad seems simple: a computer and the internet are enough to do the job! The other (HR)-side though, is more complex and does involve a lot of legal background to solve the new way of working. Companies across the globe are facing an iceberg when it comes to this topic, and so is Enpal. Most importantly, the group wanted to stay competitive in the employee benefits they provide but also not go wild and be later surprised by unpleasant tax revelations.
Challenge
Now with the pandemic happening, employees revealed their need to work from their home countries for a longer time or find the possibility to work elsewhere. In fact, a modern problem for a modern company policy. Once introducing their new mobile work policy and opening up the possibility to work some time from abroad, especially before Christmas time, Enpal received more and more requests from their employees. Without any previous legal knowledge on this matter, the HR department had to get in touch with tax and labor lawyers: they needed the legal and compliance knowledge to be able to provide the needed flexibility.
Process
Before using WorkFlex, Enpal consulted labor tax lawyers to get a general understanding on possibilities to temporarily work from abroad. Employees had to submit a request via a pdf form, which would then be reviewed manually: a quite complex and highly time-consuming process. Enpal has now the roots to set a strong work policy in place and employees can easily request to work from abroad. An automatic risk assessment and application for social security certificates ensures a limited exposure to compliance risks. The process is efficient, transparent and easy-to-use for all company stakeholders.
Benefits
- Time saving
- Cost efficient in comparison to heavy tax lawyers services’ costs
- Strong employee benefit
- Lever to set the first stone to create a company-wide WfA company policy
“Before the pandemic, we didn’t even think about this working from abroad, flexibility level. It was quite a challenge to handle all the sudden work-from-abroad requests. With WorkFlex we can now offer our employees the possibility to request work from abroad through easy-to-use software. Now I can confidently say that we are a well-positioned company when it comes to work from abroad.“
Sophie Kostka, Former Head of HR Operations & Culture at Enpal

Workation - everybody’s talking about it, we’ll show you how it’s done right

Workation - everybody’s talking about it, we’ll show you how it’s done right
How do IU and Enpal enable their employees to work abroad in a legally compliant manner?
Learn more about the impact of workations on employer branding and corporate culture, as well as how WorkFlex support these companies in managing workations.
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Working from abroad in a changing world at Scout24
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Working from abroad in a changing world at Scout24
Scout24 is one of the leading digital companies in Germany and home of ImmoScout24. With its 20 million users every month ImmoScout24 successfully brings together homeowners, real estate agents, tenants, and buyers.
Now, how did the company embrace the changing way of working for its employees?
- 850 employees globally
- 50 nationalities
- Main markets: Germany and Austria
The challenge
As was the case for millions of companies worldwide, working from somewhere else than the office, also from abroad, became a huge consideration for Scout24 when the pandemic did hit. Fast forward two years and, Scout24 is seeking to formalise flexible arrangements without running the risk of breaking international tax or labour regulations. Hence, implementing the opportunity to work from abroad. Since at Scout24 the opportunity to work from abroad is given, it was important to create very clear regulations which supported the overall strategy.
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The solution
Flexible or at least hybrid work was now in everybody’s mind and companies needed to align. So did Scout24. They made a point of giving their employees an additional benefit that allowed employees the flexibility to work from abroad, which had to be based on clear processes and regulations.
Under normal circumstances, if an employee is working more than 183 days abroad, taxes must be paid in this country, however this was relaxed by many countries during the pandemic. Arrangements for cross-border workers (Konsultationsvereinbarungen) that took place during the pandemic were temporarily limited.
Scout24 got in touch with WorkFlex because they were aware of the potential to allow “working from anywhere”. And with the help of WorkFlex, allowances could have automatic risk assessments, issuance of A1 certificates and more. Now, Scout 24 employees can request working from abroad up to three months each year within the European Economic Area and up to one month from outside of it.
- Positive feedback from the employees: work-from-abroad requests are increasing and the official request process enables full clarity for all parties.
- Tax- and compliance-friendly: the legal and tax teams can count on a fully proficient documentation follow-up. The teams can also access the risk assessments easily making it a great decision-making tool.
- Time savings thanks to an automatic risk assessment.
- Professionalism and automation: requests are facilitated.
“At Scout24, we decided early on to embrace the new world of work through flexible working and to strengthen the work-life balance of our employees. With WorkFlex, we are providing the right tool to support our strategy. Requests for working abroad are automated and now part of our way of working. We improved tax and legal compliance respectively. Thanks to the first-class service, we can respond more quickly to the wishes of our employees, which means that they can start actively planning and designing stays abroad more quickly without having to think about it too much.”
Krzysztof Lysik – Head of Tax at Scout24

Complete guide to B1 visas for business travelers to the United States

Complete guide to B1 visas for business travelers to the United States
For business professionals looking to travel temporarily to the United States, the B1 visa is often the appropriate pathway. Whether your employees need to attend conferences, negotiate contracts, or meet with business associates in the US, understanding the B1 visa process is essential. This guide provides everything global mobility teams, HR professionals, and travel managers need to know about the US B1 visa process.
What is a B1 visa for the United States? 👀
A B1 visa is a nonimmigrant visa that permits foreign nationals to enter the United States temporarily for business purposes. Unlike work visas, B1 visas are specifically designed for short-term business activities that don't involve actual employment within the US.
To qualify for a B1 visa, applicants must demonstrate:
- The trip has a legitimate business purpose
- They plan to stay for a specific, limited period
- They have sufficient funds to cover expenses during their visit
- They maintain a residence outside the US that they do not intend to abandon
- They have strong ties to their home country ensuring their return
- They meet US admissibility requirements
The B1 visa is ideal for business travelers who need to conduct temporary professional activities in the United States without seeking employment from US companies.
What activities are permitted under a B1 visa? ✅
The B1 visa allows business travelers to engage in specific temporary activities that do not constitute employment in the US job market. Permitted activities include:
- Consulting with business associates: Meeting with colleagues or partners based in the US
- Attending conventions, conferences, or seminars: Participating in professional or business events with set dates
- Negotiating contracts: Discussing and finalizing business agreements
- Settling an estate: Handling legal or financial matters related to an estate
- Participating in short-term training: Attending brief professional development sessions
- Transiting through the US: Passing through en route to another destination (specific eligibility applies)
- Deadheading: Entering as air crew returning to their home base without active duty
It's important to note that B1 visa holders cannot:
- Receive a salary from a US-based company
- Perform actual work or labor for hire in the US
- Engage in activities that constitute entering the US labor market
How long can business travelers stay in the US with a B1 visa? ⌛️
The duration of stay permitted with a B1 visa depends on the period necessary to carry out your business activities:
- Initial stay: Typically ranges from 1 to 6 months, with 6 months being the standard maximum for first entry
- Extensions: If necessary, travelers can apply for an extension by filing Form I-539 with USCIS, which can grant up to an additional 6 months
- Total limit: The maximum total time allowed in B1 status for any single trip is generally 1 year, including extensions
For example, if a business traveler is initially admitted for 6 months, they could potentially extend their stay by another 6 months, reaching the 1-year maximum. The exact duration is determined based on the stated purpose of the visit and is indicated on the traveler's Form I-94.
How many times can business travelers enter the US with a B1 visa? ✈️
A B1 visa typically allows for multiple entries into the United States throughout its validity period:
- Visa validity: Can range from 1 to 10 years, depending on the traveler's country of citizenship and reciprocity agreements
- Entry frequency: There is no fixed limit on the number of entries during the visa's validity period
- Stay per entry: Each time a traveler enters the US, an immigration official determines the authorized period of stay (usually up to 6 months)
While multiple entries are permitted, frequent or lengthy visits may attract additional scrutiny from immigration officials. They may question whether the traveler's activities comply with B1 visa regulations or if they're attempting to live or work in the US, which would violate visa conditions.
To maintain visa validity, business travelers should:
- Use the B1 visa only for genuine, temporary business purposes
- Maintain significant gaps between visits when possible
- Always comply with the authorized stay period marked on Form I-94
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What's the process to obtain a B1 visa for business travel to the United States? ✍️
Securing a B1 visa requires careful preparation and adherence to specific procedures. Here's a step-by-step guide to help your employees navigate the process:
Step 1: Determine eligibility
Before applying, ensure the traveler meets B1 visa criteria:
- The trip must have a legitimate business purpose
- The stay must be temporary with a specific timeframe
- The traveler must have sufficient funds for their US visit
- The traveler must maintain residence outside the US with no intention of abandoning it
- The traveler must be admissible to the US (no disqualifying criminal record or immigration violations)
Step 2: Complete the online visa application (DS-160)
- Fill out Form DS-160 (Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application) on the US Department of State website
- Provide accurate information about background, travel plans, and visit purpose
- After submission, print the confirmation page with the barcode for the interview
Step 3: Pay the visa application fee
- The standard fee is $185 (may vary by country)
- Payment methods differ by location, so check the local US Embassy or Consulate website
- Keep the receipt as proof of payment
Step 4: Schedule an interview
- After submitting the DS-160 and paying the fee, book an interview at the relevant US Embassy or Consulate
- Wait times for appointments vary, so apply well in advance of planned travel dates
- Some applicants (under 14 or over 79) may qualify for interview waivers, though this isn't guaranteed
Step 5: Prepare required documentation
Gather these essential documents for the interview:
- Valid passport (valid for at least six months beyond planned stay)
- DS-160 confirmation page
- Visa fee receipt
- Passport-sized photo meeting US visa requirements
- Supporting documents:
- Invitation letter from US business contacts (if applicable)
- Proof of ties to home country (job letter, property deeds)
- Financial evidence (bank statements)
- Travel itinerary
- Letter from employer explaining the business purpose
Step 6: Attend the visa interview
- Arrive punctually at the US Embassy or Consulate
- A consular officer will interview the applicant about their business purpose, travel plans, and ties to their home country
- Answer all questions clearly and honestly to demonstrate eligibility
Step 7: Wait for visa processing
- After the interview, the application will be processed (times vary by location)
- If approved, the passport with the visa will be returned (delivery methods depend on location)
- If denied, the applicant will be informed of the reason and can reapply if the issue is addressable
How should business travelers prepare for the B1 visa interview? 📚
The visa interview is a critical step in the B1 visa process where a consular officer evaluates eligibility and intent to return home. Here are strategies to help your employees prepare effectively:
1. Understand the interview's purpose
- The officer is assessing qualification for a B1 visa and intent to leave the US after the visit
- The focus will be on the business purpose and ties to the home country
2. Be honest and clear
- Answer questions truthfully and concisely
- Avoid unnecessary details that might confuse the officer
- If unsure about a question, politely ask for clarification
3. Demonstrate strong ties to home country
Prepare evidence showing the traveler will return home:
- Documentation of stable employment or business ownership
- Family responsibilities (spouse, children)
- Property ownership or financial commitments
- Bring supporting evidence like employment letters or property documents
4. Clearly explain the business purpose
Be ready to detail US activities:
- Who they're meeting (names, organizations)
- What they'll be doing (conference, business negotiations)
- How it connects to their work at home
- An invitation letter from a US contact can be helpful
5. Provide supporting documents
Beyond required items, bring:
- Business cards or company information
- Employer letter explaining the trip's purpose
- Travel itinerary or agenda
- Financial proof of self-support during the stay
6. Practice language skills (if needed)
- Interviews are usually conducted in English
- Practice common questions if English proficiency is limited
- Interpreters may be available, but handling the interview in English is preferable
7. Dress professionally
- Wear business casual attire to convey professionalism
- Avoid overly casual clothing, which might suggest lack of seriousness
8. Prepare for common questions
Expect questions like:
- "What is the purpose of your trip?"
- "How long will you stay in the United States?"
- "Who will you be meeting with?"
- "How will you fund your stay?"
- "What ties do you have to your home country?"
- Rehearse clear, confident answers
9. Stay calm and confident
- Nervousness is normal, but maintain composure
- Make eye contact and speak clearly
- View the interview as an opportunity to prove eligibility
Why do B1 visa applications get denied? ❌
Despite carefully preparing for a B1 visa application, denials are not uncommon. Understanding the potential reasons for rejection can help business travelers and their supporting teams better navigate the process. Here are the most common reasons consular officers deny B1 visa applications:
1. Insufficient proof of strong ties to home country
Under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of the United States, applicants must demonstrate that they have strong ties to their home country that will ensure their return after their temporary visit. These ties may include:
- Stable employment or business ownership
- Family relationships (spouse, children, parents)
- Property ownership or long-term leases
- Financial assets or investments
Without convincing evidence of these connections, consular officers may conclude that the applicant intends to immigrate rather than visit temporarily.
2. Unclear or questionable business purpose
Consular officers scrutinize the stated purpose of business travel. Applications may be denied if:
- The business activities seem inconsistent with B1 visa regulations
- The purpose appears vague or poorly defined
- The business connection between the traveler and US contacts seems tenuous
- The activities resemble actual employment rather than permitted business activities
3. Incomplete documentation or administrative issues
Under the INA, applications may be denied for administrative reasons, including:
- Missing or incomplete required documents
- Errors or inconsistencies in the DS-160 application form
- Insufficient supporting evidence for the stated business purpose
- Problems with passport validity or previous travel history
4. Financial concerns
Consular officers assess whether applicants have sufficient funds to cover their stay without unauthorized work. Applications may be denied if:
- Bank statements or financial records appear insufficient
- The funding source for the trip is unclear or questionable
- There's concern the applicant might become a "public charge" (reliant on government assistance)
5. Misrepresentation or fraud
Providing false information or documents is a serious offense. This can lead to permanent ineligibility for a visa if the consular officer determines that:
- Documents have been falsified
- Information has been deliberately misrepresented
- The applicant has concealed important facts
6. Previous immigration violations
Prior visa overstays, unauthorized employment, or immigration violations can severely impact a B1 visa application and may result in denial.
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What other countries can a B1 visa holder visit? 🌍
An interesting benefit of holding a valid US B1 visa is that it can facilitate entry into several other countries, particularly in the Americas. The main point to emphasize is that this benefit primarily applies to travelers whose nationality would normally require a visa to these countries. For travelers who already enjoy visa-free access to these destinations based on their citizenship, holding a US B1 visa provides no additional benefit.
This advantage can be valuable for business travelers who need to visit multiple countries in the region. While policies vary and are subject to change, these countries often allow visa-free or simplified entry for US B1 visa holders from nations that would otherwise need visas:
North America
- Mexico: Typically allows visa-free entry for up to 180 days with a valid US B1 visa
Central America
- Costa Rica: Often permits visa-free entry for up to 30 days (extendable to 90) with a multiple-entry B1 visa valid for at least six months
- Panama: May allow visa-free entry for up to 30 days with a multiple-entry B1 visa that has been used at least once
- Belize: Typically grants visa-free entry for up to 30 days
- El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua: Under the CA-4 Agreement, these countries often allow a combined visa-free stay of up to 90 days
Caribbean
- Dominican Republic: Usually permits visa-free entry for up to 30 days
- Bahamas: Often allows stays of up to 90 days
- Bermuda: May grant visa-free entry if the B1 visa is valid for at least 45 days beyond the intended stay
- Jamaica: Typically permits visa-free entry for the duration of the B1 visa validity
South America
- Argentina: Often allows visa-free entry for up to 90 days
- Chile: May permit entry if the B1 visa is valid for the duration of stay
- Colombia: Typically grants visa-free entry for up to 90 days
- Peru: Often allows stays of up to 183 days
Europe
- Albania: Visa-free entry for up to 90 days within a 180-day period for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
- Bosnia and Herzegovina: Visa-free entry for up to 30 days for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
- Armenia: Visa-free entry for up to 120 days for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
- Georgia: Visa-free entry for up to 90 days within a 180-day period for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
Africa
- Morocco: Visa-free entry for up to 90 days for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
- Senegal: Visa-free entry for up to 90 days for travelers holding a valid U.S. visa.
Important considerations:
- These policies can change frequently so before planning a trip to any of these countries with a B1 visa, make sure to check the current situation
- Additional conditions may apply, such as the B1 visa needing to be multiple-entry or valid for a minimum period
- Business travelers should always verify the latest entry requirements with official sources before planning trips
- The purpose of travel to these countries may be restricted to tourism rather than business in some cases
Conclusion
The B1 visa is an essential tool for international business travelers visiting the United States. By understanding the application process, requirements, and permissible activities, global mobility teams and HR professionals can better support their business travelers and ensure compliance with US immigration regulations.
For companies managing frequent business travel to the US, developing standardized procedures and maintaining up-to-date knowledge of visa requirements can significantly streamline the process and minimize potential disruptions to business operations.
Remember that visa regulations can change, so it's always advisable to check the latest information from official sources like the US Department of State or consult with immigration specialists before planning business travel to the United States.

Business Trip vs. Assignment: Understanding the key differences

Business Trip vs. Assignment: Understanding the key differences
Companies with international operations are routinely sending employees across borders for various purposes. Distinguishing between a business trip and an assignment for these travels is crucial, as it impacts both the employee experience and compliance requirements for the employer. However, making this distinction isn't always straightforward - and incorrect classification might have significant consequences.
Let's explore the key differences between these two types of cross-border work and how WorkFlex can help you navigate them effectively.
What defines a business trip?
A business trip typically involves:
- Short-term, task-oriented travel: Employees travel to accomplish specific, limited objectives
- Occasional presence: The employee maintains their primary workplace in their home country
- Limited local integration: The employee isn't working "like a local" but rather as a visitor
Example: A CEO flying to a new potential market to meet local officials, sign agreements, set up office is a clear business trip. Similarly, an HR professional traveling to implement a specific process in the foreign subsidiary would typically be classified as a business trip.
What constitutes an assignment?
An assignment generally features:
- Longer duration: Often lasting several months up to years (though duration alone isn't the determining factor)
- Deeper integration: The employee works "more like a local" during their stay
- Changed living arrangements: Instead of hotels, employees typically have apartments or other longer-term accommodations
- Extended presence: The employee is embedded in the destination location for a substantial period
- Return-focused: The explicit understanding is that the employee will return to their home location after completing their task
Example: When a company sends a regional director to another country for a year to broaden their professional horizons and strengthen leadership in that region, that's clearly an assignment. Similarly, technical specialists who relocate to bring production facilities up to company standards would typically be on assignment rather than a business trip.
Tax implications: The key differentiator
The most significant distinction between business trips and assignments relates to tax implications:
- Business trips: Companies typically aim to avoid triggering tax obligations in the destination country.
- Assignments: Companies acknowledge and plan for the employee becoming taxable in the destination country.
Generally speaking:
- Under 183 days: Companies may attempt to avoid tax implications (though other compliance requirements like social security certificates still apply)
- Over 183 days: Tax implications in the destination country are virtually inevitable
This distinction is crucial because it determines how you approach compliance planning. With a business trip, the focus is on preserving home country status. With an assignment, the focus shifts to properly managing the necessary compliance steps in the destination country.
Why correct classification matters for your company
Your choice to classify cross-border work as either a business trip or an assignment impacts:
- Compliance strategy: Different compliance actions are required depending on classification
- Cost structure: Business trips often fall under travel policies with different allowances than assignments (e.g., business class flights, stay in a hotel, etc.)
- Benefits and Compensation: Whether a trip is marked as a business trip or an assignment affects what employees expect in terms of accommodations, allowances, and support
Incorrect trip classification can lead to:
- Unexpected tax liabilities
- Compliance penalties
- Excessive costs due to inappropriate policy application
- Employee dissatisfaction due to unmet expectations
How WorkFlex helps navigate both types of travel
Regardless of how you classify your employees' cross-border activities, WorkFlex provides comprehensive support:
- For business trips, we help you mitigate compliance risks through automated document generation, real-time tracking, and clear risk assessment.
- For assignments, we provide detailed compliance roadmaps, handle necessary documentation, and ensure you're meeting all tax, social security, and legal requirements, including cost calculations
Our platform gives you flexibility in how you manage different types of mobility while ensuring compliance in all scenarios.
Making the right decision for your company
When deciding whether to classify cross-border work as a business trip or assignment, consider:
- Duration: While not the only factor, longer stays typically lean toward assignment classification
- Nature of work: Is the employee visiting temporarily or integrating into local operations?
- Cost implications: Which classification aligns with your budget expectations?
- Compliance comfort level: Are you prepared to manage the compliance requirements of either approach?
The good news is that with WorkFlex, you don't have to navigate these complex decisions alone. Our platform helps you evaluate risks and implement the right compliance strategy regardless of classification.
Conclusion
Whether you're managing business trips or assignments, the key is understanding the compliance implications of your choices. By partnering with WorkFlex, you gain a trusted advisor that helps you maintain compliance for every trip.

US Travel policy changes: Essential guide for business trips and workations

US Travel policy changes: Essential guide for business trips and workations
Recent developments in US immigration policy under the Trump administration have created challenges for international travelers, including those traveling for business. Device searches, questioning, detentions, and even deportation are consequences some have recently faced at the border.
How can employers help their employees prepare for their next trip to the United States under stricter border control enforcement? Let's find out.
Recent developments in US border control
The Trump administration has signaled a shift toward more stringent border control measures at the ports of entries. A number of high-profile cases have emerged where legal US residents, visa holders, or ESTA travelers have faced challenges at the border, with some being denied entry or detained following reviews of information on their electronic devices.
According to media reports, there are discussions of a possible tiered approach to travel restrictions:
- Red list (potential severe restrictions): Countries like Afghanistan, Iran, North Korea, and Syria
- Orange list (possible visa limitations): Countries including Russia, Belarus, and Pakistan
- Yellow list (under consideration for monitoring): Various countries across Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia
These discussions appear to be related to an executive order signed on January 20, 2025, which addresses national security concerns at US borders. However, it's important to note that many of these reported measures remain under consideration, and no final decisions have been announced regarding widespread travel bans.
International reactions to stricter border enforcement
The impact of these policies has prompted several countries to update their official travel advisories for citizens traveling to the United States:
Germany
Germany revised its travel guidance after three German nationals were detained while attempting to enter the US, explicitly warning that "a criminal conviction in the United States, false information regarding the purpose of stay, or even a slight overstay of the visa upon entry or exit can lead to arrest, detention, and deportation."
France
France has expressed concern after a French scientist was denied entry to the US when border officers discovered messages on his phone criticizing the Trump administration's research policies. According to France's Minister of Higher Education and Research, Philippe Baptiste, the researcher was accused of writing "messages that reflect hatred toward Trump and can be described as terrorism." The incident prompted Baptiste to publicly defend "freedom of opinion, free research, and academic freedom" while extending invitations for American researchers to relocate to France.
United Kingdom
Britain has similarly updated its travel advisory, adding stronger language that warns citizens: "You should comply with all entry, visa and other conditions of entry. The authorities in the U.S. set and enforce entry rules strictly. You may be liable to arrest or detention if you break the rules." This represents a significant strengthening from previous guidance.
These updated advisories and diplomatic responses reflect growing international concern about the strict enforcement of US immigration policies at borders and ports of entry, particularly regarding the examination of travelers' electronic devices and social media content.
Implications for business travelers and remote workers
For companies whose employees travel for business or workations to the United States, these developments create a need to revise the internal global mobility policies and the guidance provided to traveling employees.
1. Help business travelers and remote workers prepare before business travel
- Obtain the correct visa: Carefully consider the activities your employees will be doing in the United States and be sure to obtain the correct type of visa. Prepare for the interview with the border officer and be clear about what activities your visa or ESTA permits.
- Clean your devices: Remove any potentially sensitive content from your devices and ensure deleted items are permanently erased
- Avoid political content: Review your social media for potentially controversial political content
- Secure company data: Use secure cloud storage rather than storing sensitive company information on devices
2. Advise employees on behavior during border control
- Tell employees to be honest but brief: They should be answering questions truthfully but avoid volunteering unnecessary information
- Avoid political discussions: Employees should not engage in conversations about politics, government, or controversial topics
- Know your rights: While CBP has broad authority to search devices at borders, employees can always politely state for the record that they’re not consenting to the search while still complying
3. Update company policies
- Update travel policies: Create clear guidelines about device usage and content during international travel to avoid any controversies
- Provide travel training: Educate employees about border procedures and appropriate responses
- Consider travel insurance and support: Ensure coverage includes legal assistance for immigration issues. For example, WorkFlex clients benefit from a no-risk liability – 24/7 support in case of discussions with authorities, as well as financial liability in case of penalties
The critical role of compliance management
As the US border controls tighten, the importance of comprehensive travel compliance management becomes increasingly important.
The key to smooth entry in the United States remains straightforward: ensure documentation is correct, visas or ESTAs match intended activities, and border responses are honest and consistent with travel purposes.
When properly prepared, most business travelers and workationers continue to enter without complications.
WorkFlex helps employers to ensure employees travel well-equipped to answer any immigration and compliance-related questions by:
- Providing a comprehensive compliance risk assessment and risk mitigation documentation before the trip
- Advising on the correct type of visa for the intended trip
- Providing expert advice on handling the interviews at the entry points
- Supporting the employee and employer if issues arise during travel via WorkFlex no-risk coverage

Poland introduces new work authorization requirements for Posted Workers

Poland introduces new work authorization requirements for Posted Workers
Poland's approach to work authorization for foreign nationals is changing significantly starting May 1, 2025. Companies posting workers, in particular third-country nationals, for business trips or assignments to Poland will face more burdensome administrative processes under these regulatory updates, with the need to obtain a Polish work visa or temporary residence permit for work purposes. While the change is yet fresh and more details will be added, let's explore what we know so far, based on insights from Polish Labour authorities.
What are the new regulations for posted workers in Poland?
The new Polish Act of March 20, 2025, on foreign worker regulations introduces important distinctions between residence documents and visas issued by other Schengen countries:
- Residence document holders: Foreigners with residence documents issued by another Schengen country can continue working in Poland with appropriate work permits or declarations
- Visa holders: Foreigners staying in Poland on a visa issued by another Schengen country will no longer be permitted to work in Poland, even as posted workers from another EU Member State
Key requirements for posted workers that are third-country nationals
For third-country nationals being posted to work in Poland, the following work entitlement documentation will be required as of May 1, 2025:
- A Polish work visa specifically for employment purposes, OR
- A Polish temporary residence permit for work purposes
Recommended actions for employers posting workers to Poland
This regulatory change represents a significant shift from current practices applied by employers posting workers to Poland, either for business trips or assignments. Companies posting workers to Poland should take the following steps to ensure compliance with the new regulations as of May 1, 2025:
- Review your business traveler list for any employees working in Poland on Schengen visas
- Audit global mobility programs to identify how many employees and future assignments will be affected
- Initiate appropriate work authorization applications prior to the May 1 2025 implementation date to ensure employees who will be traveling after this date have the right work entitlement documentation
- Communicate these changes to relevant stakeholders, including the employees who travel, their managers, and HR team
- Update mobility policies to account for longer lead times for assignments and business trips to Poland
- Implement tracking systems for work entitlement documents to ensure ongoing compliance
- Consider budgetary implications for additional visa and permit processing
How WorkFlex can help
As compliance experts specializing in global mobility, WorkFlex provides automated solutions to navigate these regulatory changes. Our platform:
- Identifies compliance risks powered by our Global Compliance Engine, including employees needing a visa to perform work activities in Poland or elsewhere in the world
- Generates necessary documentation for proper work authorization
- Offers visa guidance for employees who need the document to go on a business trip or an assignment
- Provides real-time tracking of employee location, compliance status, and document repository for your audit trail

Business Travel and Visas: Key Insights for HR on Technician Assignments in the U.S.

Business Travel and Visas: Key Insights for HR on Technician Assignments in the U.S.
Business travel can serve many purposes—from attending meetings and negotiating contracts to conducting hands-on technical work. One common scenario we encounter at WorkFlex is technicians traveling to the U.S. for assembly, repair, or installation tasks. While these assignments are essential for business operations, navigating U.S. visa requirements can be challenging. Different visa types come with specific conditions, and failing to comply can lead to delays, fines, or even denied entry.
In this article, we explore a typical case of technicians working in the U.S., explain which visas are required based on different situations, and outline key compliance factors that companies should consider to ensure a smooth and legally compliant process.
Visa Waiver Program (VWP): Short-Term Assignments Under Specific Conditions
Technicians from countries participating in the Visa Waiver Program (VWP), such as Germany, can travel to the U.S. without a visa for up to 90 days. They only need to apply for an ESTA. However, strict conditions apply:
✅ Work related to machinery purchased outside the U.S.
The work must be directly related to machines or equipment that were purchased outside the U.S. This must be stated in the purchase contract.
✅ No income from U.S. sources
The technician must not receive any salary from a U.S. company during their stay.
✅ Still under German employer supervision
The technician remains employed by their German company, ensuring that they do not engage in freelance work in the U.S.
Technicians who meet these requirements can apply for ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization). For further questions, feel free to contact the WorkFlex Visa Service.
B-1 Business Visa: When VWP Is Not Enough
If the Visa Waiver Program does not apply—such as for longer stays or if the technician is from a non-participating country—the B-1 Business Visa is usually required. It is suitable for assembly, repair, or installation work if the following criteria are met:
🔹 Maximum stay of 180 days
The B-1 visa allows a longer stay than ESTA.
🔹 Work must align with the purchase contract
As with ESTA, the work must be related to machines purchased outside the U.S.
🔹 Appointment at the U.S. embassy required
Applying for a B-1 visa requires an in-person appointment at the U.S. embassy or consulate.
H-2B Visa: Temporary or Seasonal Assignments
The H-2B Temporary Worker Visa is suitable for technicians whose work is time-limited, seasonal, or necessary due to demand spikes. Employers must prove that the need falls into one of the following categories:
✔ One-time need (e.g., a specific project)
✔ Seasonal demand (regular, recurring shortages, e.g., in agriculture or tourism)
✔ Temporary workload peaks (when a company temporarily needs more workers)
✔ Occasional need (external support when no full-time employees are available)
Additionally, a labor certification from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is required to prove that there are not enough qualified U.S. workers available and that hiring foreign workers will not negatively impact wages or working conditions in the U.S.
The H-2B visa is initially valid for up to one year and can be extended to a maximum of three years. After that, the technician must leave the U.S. for at least 60 days before reapplying.
Conclusion: Check the Right Visa Early
Choosing the right visa for technicians depends on many factors, including the length of stay, type of work, and contractual conditions. Companies should familiarize themselves with the requirements early to avoid delays or complications when entering the U.S.
For a detailed overview of all visa types and the latest information, we recommend visiting the official websites of the U.S. Embassy and the Temporary Worker Visas page.
Visa Application Complexity: How WorkFlex Can Help
As you can see, the visa application process for technicians traveling to the U.S. is anything but simple. Different visa categories, specific documentation requirements, and in-person appointments at the U.S. embassy can quickly become overwhelming.
This is where WorkFlex comes in. We provide a solution that handles the entire visa application process and compliance checks for international workers. Whether you're sending a technician on a business trip or managing a global team, we simplify the process and ensure all requirements are met—so you can focus on what really matters: growing your business.
Let us take care of the bureaucratic workload so you can concentrate on your international projects. WorkFlex ensures your team is legally compliant and ready for action!

Why Employers Should Take Responsibility for Employee Visas - Even for Work-from-Anywhere Trips

Why Employers Should Take Responsibility for Employee Visas - Even for Work-from-Anywhere Trips
What visa is needed for workations?
As the trend of flexible work arrangements continues to gain traction, an increasing number of employees are choosing to combine travel with their remote work duties—creating a phenomenon known as workations. These trips, where employees blend professional tasks with vacation-style travel, are initiated by the employee themselves for private motives. But what kind of visa is even needed for this quite new form of work and travel? Is it a business visa since they are working remotely abroad? Or even a work visa? Is a tourist visa sufficient because the trip is privately motivated? Or is the digital nomad visa the right one?
These are all critical questions that both employees and employers should consider. Leaving visa responsibility solely to employees can lead to significant risks. Below, we explore why organizations should take an active role in visa compliance, even when workations are personally driven by employees.
1. Legal and Compliance Considerations
Even if an employee independently decides to work remotely from a different country, there is often the legal requirement for them to obtain a specific visa or work permit. . Some countries allow short work from anywhere on a tourist visa, while others may require a digital nomad visa. In some cases, professional activities on a tourist visa are strictly prohibited.
Failing to comply with these regulations can result in significant consequences such as hefty fines, deportation, or even entry bans, which can harm both the individual and the company. Moreover, if authorities determine that the employee was engaging in work without the proper visa or permit, employers may also be held liable for this violation, leading to further legal complications – for both the employee, but also the employer as the employee was there creating value for the company abroad.
By monitoring and guiding visa processes, employers can ensure that both they and their employees remain compliant with international labor laws.
2. Tax and Social Security Implications
A poorly managed or unregulated workation can trigger unintended tax and social security implications for both the employer and the employee. In some jurisdictions, the nature of an employee’s remote work could lead local authorities to view the employee's activity as creating a "permanent establishment" for the company, which could then generate corporate tax obligations in that country. Moreover, if the employee is on the wrong type of visa, this can lead to unexpected social security contributions or other liabilities for the employer. By overseeing the visa application process and ensuring the correct classification, employers can effectively avoid these hidden tax and legal risks. This approach guarantees that all necessary tax and labor regulations are adhered to, preventing unforeseen financial burdens.
3. Mitigating Risks for Employees
Visa regulations are notoriously complex, everchanging and can be overwhelming for employees, especially when working remotely from a foreign country. Employees may assume that no special visa is required, only to be met with unexpected challenges at immigration checkpoints or during their stay. For example, they might face denial of entry, unexpected fines, or deportation if they fail to meet visa requirements. Such disruptions not only affect the employee but also have the potential to severely impact business operations. By managing visa applications for employees, employers can reduce the risk of these complications, ensuring a smoother and more predictable process for everyone involved.
4. Ensuring Data Security and Business Continuity
Remote work conducted from foreign locations introduces additional concerns regarding data security and the protection of sensitive business information. Different countries have varying standards and regulations concerning data privacy, and non-compliance can expose the company to risks of data breaches or legal action. Employers are responsible for ensuring that employees working from abroad adhere to these data protection laws to safeguard the organization’s sensitive data. Additionally, visa-related disruptions can impact project timelines or operational stability if employees are unexpectedly detained, deported, or unable to access critical resources. Taking control of the visa process helps mitigate these risks, enabling business continuity and secure operations.
5. Enhancing Employer Branding and Talent Retention
Companies that offer structured and compliant workation policies can significantly enhance their employer branding, making them more attractive to top talent in the job market. Employees today place a high value on flexibility and work-life balance, and knowing that their employer supports remote work while also providing the necessary legal security to make it happen strengthens the company's reputation. A proactive approach to visa management shows that the organization is not only committed to its employees’ well-being but is also a forward-thinking company that prioritizes both flexibility and compliance. This, in turn, leads to greater employee satisfaction and retention, as employees are more likely to stay with an employer who understands and supports their evolving needs.
The Employer’s Role in Visa Support
While it may seem reasonable that the employer does not pay for the visa itself, as workations are privately motivated, the employer still has a responsibility to oversee compliance. Companies should at least:
- Provide employees with guidance on which visa type is necessary for workations.
- Monitor and verify the visa employees obtain to avoid compliance risks.
- Consider covering costs for external legal experts or visa service providers who can advise employees on legal requirements.
By taking these measures, employers can protect themselves from legal liability while supporting employees in achieving seamless and compliant workations.
To ensure comprehensive compliance, companies should consider partnering with specialists like WorkFlex, which offers expert guidance and visa management solutions. By leveraging professional services, employers can minimize risks, enhance employee satisfaction, and maintain seamless international operations in today’s increasingly globalized work environment.

Why Employees Shouldn't Handle Their Own Visas for Business Trips

Why Employees Shouldn't Handle Their Own Visas for Business Trips
When employees travel abroad, obtaining the right visa is essential for a smooth and compliant trip. While allowing employees to handle their own visa applications might seem efficient, it can introduce significant risks. Visa requirements are complex, and even small errors can lead to serious consequences. Not all business trips require a business visa, and selecting the wrong one can cause legal complications, financial penalties, and operational disruptions. In this article, we’ll explore the risks of improper visa management and provide insights on how HR and employers can best support their workforce.
What Can Go Wrong? Real-World Examples
Visa mishaps don’t just impact the business by interrupting business operations. Yes, employees facing visa issues may have to cancel travel plans, miss critical meetings, or face extended border detentions. These delays can harm business relationships, disrupt project timelines, and lead to financial losses.
But even worse, having the wrong visa can lead to hefty fines for companies but also personal consequences blacklisting employees from ever entering this country again.
Examples of Visa Compliance Fines and Issues
- Infosys Case (India-U.S.) – The Indian IT giant Infosys was fined €31.5 million for using B1 visas instead of the required H1B visas in the U.S. A seemingly minor administrative oversight resulted in significant legal and financial repercussions.
- Canadian Contractor Denied Entry – A Canadian contractor was denied entry into the U.S. despite previously using a visa exemption, highlighting the unpredictability of border control and the need for strict compliance.
- Austrian Catering Company (U.S. Ban) – A company was banned from sending employees to the U.S. for 35 years due to documentation errors.
- Automotive Supplier Compliance Issues:
- A Romanian employee traveling to Mexico was rejected at the border and detained for over 24 hours due to a missing work visa.
- A Serbian employee working in Germany encountered legal issues for improperly using a Schengen visa.
These examples emphasize why businesses must take visa compliance seriously. It’s not enough to be aware of basic requirements—companies must stay up to date with visa rules and implement thorough visa management processes.
What Makes Managing Visas So Complex?
The process of obtaining a visa is often time-consuming, requiring employees to fill out complex forms, answering the same questions over and over again, gather supporting documents, schedule interviews, and follow up with authorities. This administrative burden takes time away from their core work responsibilities, reducing productivity and efficiency.
Employees are expected to:
- Research the correct visa type for their trip.
- Fill out complex forms, often answering repetitive questions.
- Not sure how to fill out the form.
- Gather supporting documents.
- Schedule interviews and provide biometric data if required.
- Track changes in visa regulations, which can shift frequently.
Examples of Hidden Challenges
- Business vs. Work Visa Confusion – Many employees assume that a business visa covers all work-related activities. However, tasks like manual labor or attending a conference often require a different visa. However, to find this out, often personal contact with the consulates is needed in order to answer the specific trip purpose in question.
- Frequent Regulatory Changes – Visa regulations evolve constantly. Some countries have recently introduced mandatory electronic travel authorizations for previously visa-free travelers. Other countries allow longer visa-free entry periods to revive the tourism industry.
- Unclear Requirements for Third-Country Nationals – An employee with a residence permit in Germany might still need additional authorization to travel for work within the EU. Further, other nationalities have very different visa requirements, sometimes requiring them to plan for a visa months in advance.
These challenges mean that employees handling their own visas are burdened with administrative work that distracts from their primary job responsibilities. Missteps can lead to costly mistakes, denied entries, and potential legal troubles.
How Can HR and Employers Support Employees?
Rather than distracting employees from their work, companies can ensure a seamless experience by taking on the responsibility of handling visa applications. This allows employees to focus on their actual job tasks while the visa process is managed efficiently and effectively. Another reason why you should do that is because you as an employer can also be held liable – even if the employee was responsible for obtaining the wrong visa or providing wrong information.
Rather than leaving visa management to employees, HR and employers should take a proactive role in ensuring compliance. Here’s how:
- Provide Centralized Visa Management – Instead of employees researching visas on their own, companies should have a dedicated team or tool that determines the correct visa type for each trip.
- Offer Pre-Travel Compliance Checks – Before approving business trips, ensure that the employee has the appropriate visa.
- Use Technology for Automated Compliance – Platforms like WorkFlex provide automated solutions that assess the correct visa for each trip and even take liability for compliance.
- Stay Updated on Visa Regulations – HR teams must continuously monitor visa rule changes to prevent last-minute complications.
- Reduce the Administrative Burden on Employees – By streamlining the visa application process, employees can focus on their core work instead of dealing with paperwork.
Why Choose WorkFlex?
Managing a globally mobile workforce doesn’t have to be complicated. WorkFlex provides a seamless, automated solution to ensure visa compliance, allowing businesses to:
- Save Time and Reduce Administrative Burden
Automate compliance processes and free up valuable HR resources.
- Ensure Legal Compliance
Stay ahead of evolving tax and immigration regulations with our expert-driven solutions.
- Enhance Employee Experience
Offer seamless global work flexibility while ensuring compliance and security.
With WorkFlex, business travel compliance is simple and stress-free. Whether your employees need a short-term business visa, conference visa, digital nomad visa or a work permit, our platform ensures they have the right documentation before they travel. Take the hassle out of business travel visas with WorkFlex—your trusted partner in global workforce management.

Posted Worker Compliance: Guide to registration requirements and digital transformation

Posted Worker Compliance: Guide to registration requirements and digital transformation
The management of posted worker compliance is at a critical turning point. As cross-border work continues to grow across Europe and the world, employers face mounting pressure to effectively manage their posting compliance. The stakes are high – Luxembourg's recent enforcement actions resulting in €9M in fines for employer non-compliance in just one year demonstrate authorities' increasingly serious approach to enforcement1.
The European Commission has recently proposed the adoption of a unified posted worker portal that signals both an opportunity and a warning. While promising to reduce the administrative burden of posted worker notifications by up to 73%, the new digital system will create unprecedented transparency and opportunity of enforcement for authorities. Organizations managing cross-border work face a clear choice: modernize their compliance approach now or risk exposure in an increasingly digital enforcement landscape.
This article examines how the posted worker compliance landscape is changing, what these changes mean for HR and global mobility teams, and why waiting to adapt is not an option. Most importantly, it provides a clear path forward for organizations looking to turn this challenge into an opportunity for efficient, future-proof compliance management.
1 Centre commun de la securite sociale (2023). Rapport Annuel 2023.
1. What is a Posted Worker notification?
A posted worker notification is a mandatory registration requirement for employees working temporarily in EU or EEA countries. Required by the Posted Workers Directive (“PWD”), these notifications inform local authorities when workers enter their jurisdiction, enabling them to monitor compliance with local labor laws and protect workers' rights. Not all business trips require such a notification to be submitted. However, generally, this is triggered by a cross-border service provision. Please note that each country defines at the national level what is considered as a “service provision”, therefore activities are treated differently in each country and different exemptions might apply. As an example, Belgium even requires a PWD notification to be submitted for workations. Further, some countries only require a PWD notification to be submitted if the posting company is based in the EU, while in other countries it is required even for companies based in third countries. Employers must register their employees through country-specific portals before the trip begins. With different procedures and requirements across national legal systems, and significant penalties for non-compliance, these notifications have become a crucial consideration for any organization managing cross-border work in the EU and beyond.

2. The current reality of Posted Worker management
2.1. The purpose and importance of Posted Worker notifications
For labor authorities, posted worker notifications serve as a crucial enforcement tool that enables them to protect both workers and fair market competition. These notifications provide authorities with essential visibility into cross-border work activities, allowing them to:
- Monitor compliance with local employment conditions, ensuring workers receive proper working conditions, notably including wages and appropriate working hours
- Verify social security coverage remains valid during the posting period
- Prevent social dumping and maintain fair competition in local labor markets
- Ensure posted workers receive all entitled protections in the destination country
- Track proper documentation for tax and legal purposes
2.2. Complexity of Posted Worker registration systems
HR and global mobility managers in global organizations face a daunting task: managing posted worker notifications across 31 different systems2 throughout Europe. For each destination, HR teams must learn to navigate a different notification portal, understand specific local requirements, maintain separate login credentials, and manage distinct submission processes. This creates a nearly impossible task without dedicated resources or technological support.
To illustrate this complexity, let's examine three national systems that demonstrate the varying levels of difficulty HR teams face in the image below. Germany stands out with an easy-to-use system to register posted workers, while Greece provides medium-level complexity, and Norway – highly complex posted worker registration process.

2 27 EU member countries and 4 EFTA countries (Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Iceland)
2.3. Administrative burden of registering Posted Workers
This complex landscape translates into significant administrative burdens for employers. Current studies indicate that businesses typically spend between €150-200 per posting on administrative costs alone, with processing times varying dramatically by country - from 21 minutes in Estonia to 61 minutes in Italy and up to 87 minutes in Greece per posting.
The administrative workload breaks down into three main categories:
- Data collection (17%)
- Data entry (33%)
- Document management (51%)
To put this in perspective, the German mechanical engineering industry, with its 205,000 registered postings annually, spends a minimum of €31 million yearly on administrative costs alone.
2.4. Compliance risks and consequences of ignoring Posted Worker registration requirements
Despite the significant administrative burden, companies cannot afford to ignore these requirements. The consequences of non-compliance can be severe. Luxembourg recently demonstrated authorities' serious approach to enforcement by imposing €9M in fines for non-compliance in just one year.
The severity of consequences varies by country:
- Some countries initially provide warnings
- Others have strict regulations with immediate economic sanctions
- Fines for missing or late notifications (e.g. Switzerland imposes up to €5,000)
- Additional sanctions for working condition violations can exceed €50,000
- Service bans can prevent business operations for up to five years
- Companies may be published on shared labor authority lists, affecting reputation
- Practical consequences include workplace access denial, particularly in Scandinavian countries
- Reputational damages as an employer and as a company (e.g. in Switzerland major infractions will be published in an openly accessible online list)
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3. The European Commission's new Posted Worker portal initiative
3.1. Why is the Posted Worker registration portal proposed
The growing complexity of managing 31 different notification systems has not gone unnoticed by European institutions. In recognition of the significant administrative burden this place on businesses, while also acknowledging the challenges it creates for effective enforcement, the European Commission has proposed a unified solution: a single portal for all posted worker notifications across the EU. It is crucial to emphasize that this is a proposal and therefore it is not guaranteed at all yet, whether it will be adopted or not. Further, we must notice that the proposal only concerns the notification system. Specific national legislations will still be applicable even if such a proposal will be adopted. This notably concerns sanctions and consequences in case of violations, as well as particular requirements, meaning whether a notification will be required or not for specific activities performed by employees temporary working abroad. The Commission's proposal aims to streamline the process for businesses while simultaneously enhancing authorities' ability to protect workers' rights and ensure compliance.
Key features of the portal will include:
1. Single multilingual platform
- Access in all EU official languages
- Standardized terminology across countries
- Unified interface for all submissions
2. Standardized processes
- Common data entry formats
- Unified submission procedures
- Standardized documentation requirements
- Consistent notification timelines
3. Data storage and reuse
- Information retained for future submissions
- Employee data stored securely
- Company details saved for repeated use
- Historical posting records maintained
4. IMI System Integration
- Connection to Internal Market Information System
- Enhanced data sharing between authorities
- Streamlined verification processes
- Integrated compliance checking
3.2. Benefits and their implications: The two sides of Posted Workers' digital transformation
The Commission's proposed portal promises significant efficiency gains, but each improvement comes with new considerations for organizations managing posted worker compliance.
Streamlined data entry and enhanced visibility
The new system promises a 73% reduction in submission time through standardized forms and simplified processes. This will have as an immediate practical consequence, the creation of unprecedented transparency. Therefore, authorities will have immediate access to standardized, comparable data across all postings, making pattern recognition and compliance monitoring more effective than ever.
Centralized data storage and cross-border sharing
The ability to store and reuse information will eliminate duplicate data entry and reduce administrative burden by 25%. This centralization also means that authorities across countries can easily share and cross-reference information through the Internal Market Information System (IMI), enabling coordinated enforcement actions.
Standardized documentation and increased scrutiny
The elimination of country-specific documentation requirements will significantly simplify the submission process. Increased standardization also means that compliance gaps become immediately apparent, as authorities can more easily compare documentation across different postings and organizations.
Cost reduction and enforcement efficiency
While the elimination of administrative fees and reduced processing time will lower costs for businesses, it also reduces barriers for authorities to conduct systematic compliance reviews. What previously required manual investigation and coordination will become automated and instantaneous.
This digital transformation means that organizations must approach their posting management with new considerations. Those that have historically struggled with compliance, underestimated its value, relied on manual processes, or taken a decentralized approach may find themselves exposed in this new transparent environment. The efficiency gains of the proposed portal could be significant, if at all introduced, but they will come with the expectation of higher compliance standards and more rigorous enforcement.
4. Preparing for the digital transition of Posted Worker registrations
4.1. A timeline for change
The European Commission's proposal marks a significant step forward, but at the moment it is a simple proposal that might not lead to any new legislation. In any case, even if adopted, the transition will be gradual. While a specific launch date is yet unknown, we can expect a 13-month adoption process followed by a 2-3 year implementation period. With voluntary adoption by member states, organizations will likely need to manage both the new unified portal and existing national systems until at least mid-2026. Furthermore, it remains unclear how EFTA countries will engage with the proposed changes.
However, this implementation timeline presents both a challenge and an opportunity. While the unified portal is still some time away, the shift toward digital enforcement is already underway. Organizations that wait for full implementation before modernizing their approach risk falling behind in two critical areas:
- Managing current compliance requirements across 31 systems
- Preparing for the increased transparency of the future digital landscape
4.2. Building Future-Ready Compliance
While organizations would appreciate the unified portal, compliance obligations demand attention today and will continue to do so in the future. Organizations must continue to navigate complex requirements across multiple jurisdictions. As discussed previously, the proposal only concerns the notification modality, but does not affect at all any other aspect related to PWD compliance:
Documentation management
Beyond basic notifications, organizations must maintain comprehensive records of employment contracts, posting agreements, social security certificates, and other essential documentation. These records must be readily accessible for potential audits and meet specific national requirements.
Local law compliance
Each posting must comply with host country regulations, notably including:
- Equal pay requirements
- Working time regulations
- Health and safety standards
- Industry-specific requirements
Multiple system management
During the transition period, organizations will need to manage both existing national systems and the new unified portal, creating additional complexity in documentation and compliance tracking.
The key to managing these obligations, while preparing for the digital future lies in automation. Modern compliance management systems can help organizations:
- Handle current multi-system requirements efficiently
- Build digital-ready processes for the future
- Ensure consistent compliance across jurisdictions
- Create audit-ready documentation trails
4.3. Automation in action: The WorkFlex approach
WorkFlex's solution demonstrates how automation can transform posted worker management from a burdensome manual process into a streamlined, future-ready operation. The system integrates seamlessly with existing business travel processes to:
- Automatically assess the applicability of notification requirements when travel is booked
- Generate and submit required notifications
- Manage documentation across jurisdictions
- Ensure compliance before travel begins
- Maintain comprehensive audit trails
This automated approach not only addresses current challenges but positions organizations for success in the coming digital enforcement landscape. By implementing such solutions now, organizations can:
- Reduce current administrative costs
- Ensure consistent compliance across systems
- Build digital-ready processes
- Prepare for increased transparency
- Create scalable, future-proof compliance management
The transition to digital enforcement is inevitable. Organizations that act now to modernize their compliance approach will not only manage current requirements more efficiently but will be well-positioned for success in the increasingly digital future of posted worker management.
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Employee accidents abroad: How German employers can avoid financial risks

Employee accidents abroad: How German employers can avoid financial risks
When employees have accidents during work abroad - whether on business trips or workations - many German companies discover too late that they face significant financial risks. Consider these real-life scenarios:
- Your sales manager had a car accident during a client meeting in Barcelona. While your and their travel health insurance covers the immediate hospital stay, they need six months of rehabilitation.
- Or imagine your software developer, working remotely from Mallorca for two weeks, suffers a serious fall in their temporary workspace. The accident requires immediate surgery and later – months of physiotherapy.
Whether it's a brief business trip or an extended workation, employers need to understand the complex interplay of different insurance types and documentation requirements to prevent falling into situations where they're liable for long-term health costs of employees - financial burdens that can range from thousands to millions of euros.
Understanding the insurance landscape
Three types of insurance come into play when German employees work abroad:
First, there's the health insurance (gesetzliche Krankenversicherung or private insurance), which covers general medical care including acute treatment such as hospital stays, emergency care, and initial follow-up care. When employees work abroad, this coverage requires specific documentation - notably the A1 certificate or a Certificate of Coverage (CoC) - to remain valid. We'll explore the crucial role of these documents in detail later in this article.
Second, there's additional travel health insurance, which bridges potential gaps in acute care coverage, particularly in countries where medical costs exceed German standards.
Third, there's the professional accident insurance mainly handled through the Berufsgenossenschaft (BG). These specialized insurances handle work-related accidents and their long-term consequences, including rehabilitation, disability benefits, and potential pension payments. Having detailed documentation right from the moment when an accident occurs is crucial, as BG insurance funds thoroughly scrutinize all claims before providing coverage.
The three essential components of protection
To prevent costly consequences of employee accidents abroad, German companies must ensure they have three crucial elements in place:
1. The A1 Certificate / Certificate of Coverage: Essential for accident coverage abroad
The A1 certificate is a cornerstone of employee protection abroad related to accident coverage. This document ensures that social security coverage, including health insurance and accident insurance, remains valid during cross-border work. Without it, work-related health insurance claims might be rejected, leaving employers exposed to significant medical and related costs.
The A1 certificate/CoC is mandatory for any work performed abroad within the EU/EEA countries and all countries with social security agreements with Germany. It serves as crucial evidence for the applicability of German social security law and helps maintain proper social security coverage therein.
2. Additional travel health insurance: Filling the acute care gap
While the A1 certificate/CoC maintains health insurance coverage, it may not be enough. Medical costs in some countries significantly exceed or differ from German rates, and German health insurance typically only covers costs up to German price levels. Additional travel health insurance fills this gap, ensuring employees receive necessary acute care without exposing the company to excessive costs.
This insurance is particularly crucial for immediate response to accidents - covering everything from emergency transportation to urgent medical procedures at local rates. However, it's important to understand that travel health insurance alone isn't sufficient for complete protection.
3. Comprehensive documentation: Securing BG (accident) insurance coverage
Perhaps the most critical yet often overlooked component is maintaining a clear audit trail of all cross-border work arrangements. This documentation is essential for validating accident insurance claims with the BGs, which cover the long-term consequences of work-related accidents.
The BG insurance system requires specific documentation from authorized physicians (D-Ärzte) and proof that the accident occurred during authorized work activities. Without proper documentation from the start, companies' risk being denied coverage for potentially extensive long-term care costs. The A1 certificate / Certificate of Coverage helps address this risk, as we'll explore in the next sections.
The cost of incomplete protection
When these three components aren't properly managed, companies face serious financial risks:
- Full responsibility for medical costs, often exceeding German rates
- Long-term rehabilitation expenses
- Salary continuation during recovery periods
- Potential disability accommodation costs
- Legal expenses in both Germany and host countries
The BG insurance funds are stringent about claims and may try to deny coverage if there's insufficient proof of the work-related nature of an accident or continuance of the German social security law. This scrutiny becomes even more intense with modern work arrangements like workations, where the lines between work and leisure time can blur.
The Solution: Automated compliance management
Managing these three essential components manually is complex and prone to errors. Modern solutions like WorkFlex provide integrated protection for every business trip and workation by automatically handling:
- A1 certificate/CoC generation and management
- Comprehensive travel health insurance coverage
- Complete audit trails for BG compliance
- Real-time tracking of employee locations and work arrangements
For German companies embracing international work arrangements, proper insurance and documentation isn't optional - it's essential for financial protection. By ensuring all three components are in place before any international work begins, you protect your organization from unexpected costs while ensuring your employees receive their entitled coverage under German law.

When Authorities Come Knocking: A WorkFlex Case Study in Compliance Management

When Authorities Come Knocking: A WorkFlex Case Study in Compliance Management
Background
In early September 2024, one of WorkFlex's clients faced a labour inspection during a cross-border business trip. The case involved an employee traveling to their client’s office in Switzerland when Swiss labor authorities conducted a routine workplace inspection. This case proved to be a significant milestone, demonstrating the effectiveness of WorkFlex's compliance management system and proactive approach to cross-border workforce management, particularly in managing business travel compliance.
The situation
During a workplace inspection, the labour authorities identified an employee that was not physically present during the check in that specific location at the client's premises. The Swiss authorities, known for conducting random compliance checks without prior notice, subsequently issued an official letter requesting documentation verification.
Compliance risks and challenges
The case involved assessment and verification of critical compliance areas under Swiss regulations, such as Posted Workers Directive (PWD) compliance requirements and employment conditions verification, including working hours and salary documentation.
In cases like these, non-compliance with these aspects could lead to consequences ranging from minor implications to serious sanctions depending on the company-specific background, for example:
- Fines of up to CHF 30,000
- Risk of business restrictions in Switzerland, including possible country-wide bans for severe violations
WorkFlex's response and action
Upon notification, WorkFlex swiftly implemented a comprehensive response strategy. Our team immediately assumed direct communication with the Swiss authorities. We conducted a thorough review of all client documentation while standardizing document formatting to meet strict authority requirements. Throughout this process, we reviewed the Swiss-specific salary calculations conducted by the client, ensuring all submissions met local regulations. After managing the submission of required documentation, we maintained proactive communication, following up with authorities to ensure all requirements were satisfied.

After our thorough preparation and submission of documentation, the Swiss authorities completed their inspection within a few weeks.
They confirmed all documentation was in order, resulting in a successful resolution without any penalties or warnings for our client. This outcome validated our systematic approach to compliance management and authority engagement.
Key learnings and impact
This case serves as a compelling demonstration of why business travel compliance cannot be overlooked in today's global regulatory environment. While this particular inspection occurred in Switzerland, it reflects a broader reality: authorities worldwide are increasingly vigilant about cross-border business travel compliance. Labor inspections, taking place systematically on a random and unpredictable basis, are becoming more common across jurisdictions as countries strengthen their enforcement of employment, tax, and immigration regulations.
WorkFlex's handling of this Swiss authority inspection showcased our deep expertise and professional approach to compliance management that extends across multiple countries and regulatory frameworks. Our ability to swiftly take charge of authority communications, provide all necessary documentation, and successfully resolve the inspection without any penalties validates our comprehensive compliance management approach.
As global mobility continues to increase and regulatory scrutiny intensifies worldwide, our proven ability to navigate these challenges provides essential peace of mind for companies managing international business travel.

Making Employee Travel Safer: WorkFlex's Enhanced Health & Safety Features

Making Employee Travel Safer: WorkFlex's Enhanced Health & Safety Features
In today's global business landscape, protecting employee wellbeing during international travel has become more critical than ever. Recent studies show that 92% of travel managers worldwide consider duty of care their top priority when managing travel programs—and for good reason. As businesses expand their global footprint and embrace flexible work arrangements, the complexity of ensuring employee safety and compliance has grown exponentially.
We're proud to announce that WorkFlex has strengthened its Health & Safety capabilities with new features and deeper integration. Building on our comprehensive compliance risk management platform, these enhancements provide organizations with even more robust tools to protect their global workforce.
New Health & Safety features
For organizations managing international business travel and workations, duty of care isn't just a legal obligation—it's a fundamental responsibility to protect employee wellbeing. Our platform has always helped organizations fulfill their duty of care through:
- Real-time tracking of employee destinations
- Preventing trip data leakage
- Comprehensive worldwide insurance coverage for every trip
Now, we've enhanced these capabilities further, streamlining how organizations meet their duty of care obligations while maintaining our proven approach to comprehensive risk mitigation. Let's explore the enhanced Health & Safety features that bring together our existing protections with new capabilities:
1. Enhanced risk assessment
A new sub-assessment for Health & Safety is now integrated into every risk evaluation for workations and business trips, providing thorough analysis that:
- Delivers nuanced risk evaluations considering factors like political stability, social conditions, and regional security variations based on multiple data sources
- Provides information on general country ratings and region-specific warnings
- Offers clear health & safety risk classifications (e.g., "Low risk" or "Completed") based on comprehensive analysis
2. Advanced alert system
Our dedication to employee wellbeing has been demonstrated since WorkFlex's origins. Most recently, our team personally reached out to all employees and HR managers in affected regions to ensure their safety during the severe storms in Spain in Autumn 2024. The response was incredible, with both employees and HR managers expressing deep appreciation for this proactive care.
Building on this commitment, we've systematized this level of protection through our new Advanced Alert System, which:
- Provides real-time alerts about emerging health and safety risks
- Automatically notifies both employees and HR managers during emergencies
- Maintains active communication until situations are resolved
This enhancement automates our proven approach while maintaining the same level of personal care that our clients have come to expect.
3. Streamlined emergency access
While our Alert System proactively monitors and communicates about major events and regional emergencies, we recognize that employees may face individual emergency situations during their travels.
That's why we've added an SOS button to the WorkFlex App, enabling employees to instantly signal when they need assistance, regardless of the situation's scale. Whether it's a medical emergency, a security concern, or any other urgent situation, help is now just one tap away.
4. Country guides
Our comprehensive destination guides are now available for countries worldwide, with each guide specifically tailored to its location. From major business hubs to emerging markets, every guide provides location-specific insights including:
- Health and safety considerations tailored to each destination
- Country-specific compliance requirements for temporary work arrangements
- Current security situations and risk assessments
- Region-specific emergency contacts and resources
- Local cultural considerations and business practices
Explore destination-specific advice in our country guides here.
5. Integrated compliance tools
We've streamlined access to all health and safety-related compliance resources by bringing them together in one integrated hub. Our enhanced toolkit provides:
General Health & Safety resources:
- Tips and guidelines for pre-trip health screenings and required vaccinations
- Safety protocols for travel periods
- Comprehensive guidelines for workplace safety in foreign offices, emergency procedures, and additional on-site safety considerations
Country-specific Posted Worker compliance support:
- Local training requirements documentation
- Labor code compliance guidelines
- Requirements for preventive medical examinations
Looking forward
These new enhancements complement our established Travel Health Insurance coverage, creating an even more comprehensive protection system. The strengthened Health & Safety features reinforce our commitment to employee welfare while maintaining our streamlined risk management approach.
Experience our enhanced Health & Safety capabilities in WorkFlex today and enjoy greater peace of mind knowing your workforce continues to be well-protected globally.
How to enable Health & Safety features on WorkFlex platform
For WorkFlex clients: The enhanced risk dimension will be automatically integrated into your next business trip and workation requests. There's no action needed on your part to access these improved features.
For prospective WorkFlex users: Contact the WorkFlex team to learn about our comprehensive software solution that seamlessly integrates health & safety alongside our full suite of compliance risk assessment and mitigation measures.

The multi-state A1 certificate myth: Why it's not a blanket solution for business travel

The multi-state A1 certificate myth: Why it's not a blanket solution for business travel
Many companies operating across the EU believe they've found an elegant solution to social security compliance: obtaining multi-state A1 certificates for employees who are planning to do occasional travel between member states. We often encounter employers who are convinced that:
"Our employees travel to Austria 2-3 times a year for client projects, so a long-term A1 makes more sense than individual ones"
"We have 60 employees traveling from time to time to different EU countries – surely we can get one multi-state A1 for each of them to cover all trips"
While this approach might seem efficient, it's actually a compliance risk in most cases that could expose your organization to unwanted scrutiny and potential penalties.
Understanding Article 13 vs. Article 12: A critical distinction
The confusion often stems from misinterpreting two key articles of EU Regulation 883/2004:
- Article 13 governs cases where employees "normally pursue an activity in two or more Member States". It's designed for situations where working across multiple countries is a regular part of the job. This article determines which country's social security legislation applies based on where substantial work is performed.
- Article 12, on the other hand, specifically covers "posted" workers – employees temporarily sent to work in another member state for a specific duration (up to 24 months). This is the article that typically applies to business trips and other temporary assignments.
The true purpose of multi-state A1 certificates
Article 13 was designed for employees whose regular work pattern involves performing substantial activities in multiple countries. Let's break down the key requirements in detail:
1. Contractual specification
- The multi-state work arrangement must be identifiable in the employment contract
- This means the contract should clearly outline that the employee's role involves regular work in specific member states
- Ad-hoc arrangements or verbal agreements are not sufficient
2. Normal pursuit of activity
- The work pattern must represent consistent and habitual employment across member states
- This means regular, planned work activities, not occasional or needs-based travel
- The arrangement should be part of the employee's standard working pattern, not an exception
3. Substantial activity
- The work in each country must constitute a meaningful portion of the employee's duties
- This typically means regular, ongoing responsibilities in multiple locations
- Occasional meetings or short-term projects don't qualify as substantial activity
Why business trips don't usually qualify
Business trips, even frequent ones, typically don't meet these criteria because:
- They are typically ad-hoc arrangements rather than contractual obligations
- They represent temporary deviations from normal work patterns rather than the "normal pursuit of activity"
- They fall under Article 12, which specifically covers "posted" workers on temporary assignments
Legal Precedent: What Courts Say About "Normal Pursuit"
Court decisions have helped clarify what qualifies as "normally pursuing an activity in two or more Member States". A notable case involving Format, a Polish company, established several key principles:
- The work pattern across different countries should be a part of the regular employment arrangement
- Long continuous periods (12+ months) in a single country do not qualify as multi-state work, as they resemble posting situations
These interpretations further support why typical business travel patterns don't qualify for multi-state A1 certificates:
- Business trips do not follow a regular pattern of work
- They represent short-term presence rather than continuous work periods
The risks of misapplying multi-state A1 certificates
Using multi-state A1 certificates inappropriately creates several risks:
- Legal non-compliance: Social security authorities can revoke incorrectly issued A1 certificates, as supported by the confirmation of German and Austrian authorities in WorkFlex's original research.
- Permanent establishment risk: By declaring regular work activities in another country through a multi-state A1 that’s obtained for the wrong type of situation, you may inadvertently trigger permanent establishment concerns, leading to unexpected tax obligations.
- Double social security liability: If your A1 certificate is revoked, you might face retroactive social security obligations in multiple countries.
Making compliance simple with WorkFlex
The correct solution is straightforward but requires proper processes:
- Obtain individual A1 certificates under Article 12 for each business trip or workation
- Ensure these certificates are obtained or at least applied for before the travel begins
- Maintain proper documentation of all cross-border work activities
While this might sound administratively burdensome, modern solutions like WorkFlex automate the process, making it seamless to:
- Generate trip-specific A1 certificates automatically when travel is requested
- Ensure compliance without adding administrative overhead
- Maintain proper documentation for all cross-border work
Conclusion
While multi-state A1 certificates can be appropriate in specific situations where cross-border work is required, they're not suitable for most business travel scenarios. For most business trips, individual A1 certificates remain the only compliant option. The risks of misapplying these certificates far outweigh any perceived administrative benefits. With automated solutions available, there's no reason to compromise on compliance.

Is your work-from-anywhere policy compliant?

Is your work-from-anywhere policy compliant?
➡️ What does it take for a company to remain fully compliant when employees go on work-from-anywhere trips? Is an A1 certificate and visa enough? What measures should HR and travel teams take to ensure the employer's duty of care is fulfilled when employees travel?
Our experts, Pieter Manden, LLM, MBA, Co-founder of WorkFlex, and Brock Dale, Senior WorkFlex Consultant, guide you through the critical aspects of compliant work-from-anywhere policy management.
In the session, you learn about key things to consider when creating and managing your work-from-anywhere policy. 🧐

Everything employers need to know about the new UK ETA

Everything employers need to know about the new UK ETA
The UK ETA (Electronic Travel Authorization) will be a mandatory requirement for travelers from countries that do not need a visa to enter the UK. This includes all EU member states, as well as the US, Canada, Australia, and others.
Key details about the ETA:
- Affected travelers: Citizens worldwide, with varying start dates for the ETA requirement (see below).
- Cost: £16 starting from April 9, 2025 (previously £10 ). That's approximately €19.20
- Validity: Two years from the date of issue
What is an ETA?
An Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) is a mandatory travel requirement for visitors entering the UK from countries that do not require a visa. This includes every individual, regardless of age, meaning that even children and babies must have their own separate ETA.
The ETA is a digital authorization linked to the traveler’s passport and serves as a preliminary permission to travel to the UK. However, it is important to understand that possessing an ETA does not automatically grant entry into the UK. Upon arrival, travelers will still need to seek permission to enter from a UK border officer.
The ETA is designed to enhance border security and streamline the entry process for eligible travelers by allowing the UK government to conduct pre-travel checks. While the ETA simplifies the process for travelers from eligible countries, it’s crucial to apply for it in advance of your trip to ensure compliance with UK entry requirements.
Who needs an ETA to travel to the UK?
In a nutshell, all citizens who can travel to the United Kingdom without a visa will need to obtain an ETA. Introduction of the system takes place in periods, with first batch of countries included in the pilot project using ETA since November 2023, to EU countries being eligible from April 5, 2025. Let's take a look at the timeline.
Countries for which ETA is already required
The United Kingdom launched its ETA system in November 2023 for an initial pilot phase for citizens of Qatar. In February 2024, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Jordan (now removed from the program) joined the ETA program.
Countries for which ETA are available since November 2024
Nationals of 49 countries and territories are able to apply for ETA authorisation from November 27, 2024. They can travel to the UK with an ETA from January 8, 2025:
Antigua and Barbuda. Argentina, Australia, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (including British national overseas), Israel, Japan, Kiribati, Macao Special Administrative Region, Malaysia, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Samoa, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Taiwan (if you have a passport issued by Taiwan that includes in it the number of the identification card issued by the competent authority in Taiwan), Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuvalu, United States, Uruguay.

Countries for which ETA will become available in March 2025
Nationals of European Union, EEA and additional countries will be able to apply for ETA authorisation from March 5, 2025. They can travel to the UK with an ETA from April 2, 2025.
The countries include Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Vatican City.

Who cannot get an ETA
Not everyone is eligible to apply for an ETA. Citizens from countries that are not visa-exempt, meaning they do not have the privilege of entering the UK without a visa, must apply for a standard visa instead. The ETA system is not available for these nationals.
Citizens from the following countries need a visa and cannot apply for an ETA:
Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, China, Congo, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, North Korea, North Macedonia, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Philippines, Russia, Rwanda, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, Zambia.
You also do not need an ETA if you:
- Have a British or Irish passport
- Have permission to live, work, or study in the UK.
- Have a visa for entering the UK.
- Are not an Irish citizen but legally reside in Ireland and do not require a visa to enter the UK with your passport.
Costs and validity of the ETA
The ETA will cost £16 (approximately €19.20) per applicant. Once granted, the ETA will be valid for two years and can be used for multiple trips to the UK. This is particularly beneficial for businesses that frequently send employees to the UK, as the ETA covers multiple entries within its validity period.
What can you do with an ETA?
For companies sending employees on business travel or workation, the ETA permits stays in the UK for up to six months. During this time, employees can engage in various business activities such as meetings, conferences, or short-term projects. The ETA also covers entry for training purposes and can be used for workation, tourism or family visits.
However, it’s important to note that the ETA does not allow for long-term work or employment. If your employees are planning to work in the UK for an extended period, or if they fall under certain categories like creative workers or those on long-term assignment, they may need to apply for a different type of visa.
How to apply for an ETA
Applying for an ETA is a process that can be completed online. Applicants will need to provide personal information and details about their travel plans. The application also involves answering a series of security and health-related questions. Once submitted, the application is usually processed within 72 hours, and the ETA is electronically linked to the traveler’s passport.
Given the simplicity of the application process, it’s tempting to handle ETA applications internally. However, for businesses that manage frequent travel for multiple employees, it might be more efficient to outsource this task. WorkFlex offers a streamlined service for obtaining ETAs, ensuring that all applications are handled promptly and accurately, thus avoiding potential delays or issues at the border.
What you, as an employer, should do about ETA now
As the introduction of the UK-ETA looms closer, employers need to start preparing now. Here are a few steps to ensure a smooth transition:
- Educate your employees: Inform all employees who travel to the UK about the new ETA requirement. Make sure they understand who needs an ETA, how to apply, and what the process involves.
- Plan ahead: Factor in the 72-hour processing time for ETAs when planning trips. Ensure that all necessary ETAs are applied for well in advance of travel dates.
- Budget for costs: While the cost of an ETA is relatively low, it’s still an added expense. Decide whether your company will cover this cost for employees or if they will need to pay it themselves.
- Update expatriate programs: If your company has long-term assignments in the UK, consider how the ETA requirement will impact these plans. You may need to adjust your expatriate programs to include support for visa and ETA applications.
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Conclusion
The introduction of the UK ETA represents a new layer of complexity and administrative burden for international travel to the UK, especially for companies involved in frequent business travel or workations. By understanding who needs an ETA, the application process, and what activities are permitted under an ETA, businesses can avoid potential disruptions and ensure a smooth travel experience for their employees.
For companies looking to streamline the process, WorkFlex offers comprehensive visa and ETA services, ensuring your employees are travel-ready without the administrative burden. Contact us today to learn more about how we can assist you with all your travel authorization needs.

Compliance for work-from-anywhere trips: Why an A1 certificate is not enough

Compliance for work-from-anywhere trips: Why an A1 certificate is not enough
Do you think that an A1 certificate is all you need for a compliant workation? Let us prove you wrong!
In our exciting webinar, we uncover the hidden risks that many overlook. Dorothee Schweigard, our compliance expert and head of the Compliance Research Center at WorkFlex, and Sandro Günaltay, our Senior WorkFlex consultant, will explain the most important factors that are essential for a safe and compliant workation.
Find out why an A1 certificate is just the beginning and how you can protect your employees comprehensively when they go on work-from-anywhere trips. Join us and delve deep into the world of workation compliance!
🗣️ Language: German
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The 183-Rule & Work-from-Anywhere
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The 183-Rule & Work-from-Anywhere
There's been an ongoing discussion on working vs. presence days – and how to formulate it rightly in the company policy in your work-from-anywhere scheme.
Most company policies around remote work abroad include a maximum (30/60/etc.) of sometimes presence days. Other policies only include working days.
Let’s clarify:
Working days are days an employee works abroad for the company – regardless of how many hours the employee did so
Presence days are all days an employee is abroad working and/or for leisure (incl. the weekends & holidays)
This is quite a complex topic.
After all, as an employer, you have little to say on days that the employee is not working. On the other hand, because of the compliance aspects around presence, it is also understandable that companies decide to include a threshold for presence days.
"For compliance, working days and presence days are both relevant as both have legal impacts!"
Why do you need to check “the days spent” in general?
As days have a strong impact on compliance risk factors, such as wage tax, permanent establishment, work entitlement, social security, etc., the employer must be aware of the accumulated presence days per country (see above).
This way, the employer can limit the compliance risk – both for them, but also protect the employee. Another reason to limit the number of days abroad is to ensure office presence. For this, only working days need to be taken into consideration.
Why do also presence days matter for compliance?
While for some dimensions, such as labour law or permanent establishment, (only) working days need to be taken into account, for most risk factors also presence days have a tremendous legal impact. Such as for:
· E.g. wage tax
· E.g. social security
· E.g. work entitlement & registration
To correctly assess the compliance risks, WorkFlex needs to know how long someone is gone, e.g. for Center of Vital Interest Discussions and the 25% rule remainder in home country social security. So not only working more than 183 days in one country triggers compliance risks, but also vacations, business trips, & weekends count into the 183-day rule as well.
Deep-Dive: What is the rationale behind the 183 days?
Whether you manage business travelers, short-term international employees, or remote workers, you have no doubt heard about the "183-day rule".
This rule states – simplified – that an employee will not become taxable in the destination country, as long as his/her overall presence in that country remains below 183 days per year – which can be a calendar year, tax year, or any running 12-month period).
Both globally and domestically, many tax jurisdictions expect an employer (as well as the employee) to track and report non-resident business travel. However, simply applying a "183-day" threshold does not always work to ensure tax compliance.
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The OECD commentary says:
Although various formulas have been used by member countries to calculate the 183-day period, there is only one way that is consistent with the wording of this paragraph: the “days of physical presence” method. The application of this method is straightforward as the individual is either present in a country or is not. (Source: Bundesfinanzministerium)
Therefore, the183-day rule refers to presence days (incl. weekends), so business travel, vacation, and workation count in this timeframe. It follows from these principles that any entire day spent outside the State of activity, whether for holidays, business trips, or any other reason, should not be taken into account. A day during any part of which, however brief, the taxpayer is present in a State counts as a day of presence in that State for purposes of computing the 183-day period. (Source: OECD, p.210)
If a double taxation agreement (DTA; German: DBA) bases the 183-day period on the tax year or calendar year instead of a twelve-month period, the days of stay must be determined separately for each tax year or calendar year. In Germany, the tax year corresponds to the calendar year. If the tax year of the other contracting state also corresponds to the calendar year, there are no special requirements if the corresponding DTA is based on the tax year for the calculation of the 183-day period (e.g. DTA-France, DTA-Greece, DTA-Italy). If the tax year of the other contracting state differs from the tax year of Germany (= calendar year), the tax year of the contracting state in which the activity is carried out is decisive.
WorkFlex Solution

To make sure to correctly count the presence days & working days, WorkFlex has integrated the question "Will you be working throughout the entire stay" on its platform.
So, for example, if an employee is 5 days abroad in Italy, but only works 3 days there, he will need to answer with "no" and add the number of days they will be working. This enables WorkFlex to accurately count both working days and days of presence in the destination country.

How WorkFlex handles Posted Workers (PWD) notifications

How WorkFlex handles Posted Workers (PWD) notifications
Posted workers notifications – or PWD notifications, in German EU Meldepflichten – are notifications based on the EU Posted Workers Directive (PWD). These notifications are required when employees are temporarily sent to work in a different country in the EU/EFTA region, in the framework of a service provision.
The purpose of PWD notifications is to notify local authorities about the presence of the employees providing services on their territory. In the case of labour controls and inspections, PWD notification proof is required. Further, some local working conditions must be observed (e.g. concerning working hours, equal pay, holidays entitlement).
Non-compliance with notification obligations can lead to fines of up to € 5.000. Non-compliance with local working conditions can lead to fines of several thousands of euro , as well as non-financial penalties like multi-year restrictions on doing business in a specific country as well as imprisonment.
The PWD notification process varies by country. The exact content required for notification and the method of filing with local authorities also differ. Most countries offer online portals or processes for submitting PWD notifications, but some lack an online process altogether. Additionally, in some countries, the process is so complex that completing PWD notifications can be nearly impossible for someone not speaking the local language.
WorkFlex is an all-in-one software solution that manages remote work compliance. As part of its automated process, WorkFlex handles PWD notifications as part of trip management.
Here’s how it works: Once business trip information is submitted on the WorkFlex platform, WorkFlex assesses whether a PWD notification is required. If so, the process is automatically initiated for the specific trip destination. The notification confirmation will be uploaded to the WorkFlex platform before the trip starts. WorkFlex's trip handling logic covers nearly every PWD-required destination, ensuring that 98% of the time, your employees' business trips are fully compliant.
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Temporary remote workers qualify as business travellers for VISA/immigration purposes

Temporary remote workers qualify as business travellers for VISA/immigration purposes
The work of the future is here to stay, working remotely is now part of many people's lives. Many employers are not only adopting national hybrid working models, but also policies that allow their employees to temporarily work from abroad. This last topic is especially interesting, because it raises an important question even before the employee enters the destination country.
"How should someone who works temporarily from abroad for private reasons be qualified for VISA purposes?"
Since this is a relatively new topic, regulators never explicitly addressed the temporary remote workers in their VISA rules and regulations. As a result, there is no specific visa or applicable framework for this type of persona. Generally, VISA rules and regulations provide only three possible “titles” for non-nationals to be in a country: tourism, local employment or business travel. The question is whether these titles provide a suitable qualification for the temporary remote worker, and if so, which one. This question is relevant, because the administrative requirements for entering and being allowed to work in the country can strongly differ per title.
Hereinafter, we will separately discuss the three different titles and specifically address whether they are suited to cover temporary remote workers.
1. Tourism
Most countries specifically exclude any type of paid activity in order to qualify as a tourist. Therefore, it is unlikely that temporary remote workers can enter and work from those countries without further ado. Interestingly enough, this would imply that it is incompliant when employees, during their vacation, check their business email on their smartphone. At the same time, for as far as we know no-one ever made a problem out of this before; neither employers and employees, nor governments and authorities. As a result, one could argue that even tourists are practically entitled to perform some work activities.
Some countries specifically allow tourists to work remotely for their employer in the home country for a limited number of days. Schengen Area countries are examples; foreigners who wish to do some remote work whilst on holiday in Europe can do so with a tourist visa, or visa-free if from an exempt country1. Also, pursuant to the American Customs and Border Protection information centre, it is possible to work remotely for a foreign company with the Visa Waiver Program for a certain amount of time within the US.
However, it seems rather opportunistic to claim that this pragmatic exception applies to temporary remote workers everywhere and always, as their working activities generally are not clearly very limited and highly incidental.
2. Local employment
On the other side of the spectrum, there is local employment. If non-nationals want to (permanently) work somewhere, they generally require a proper work permit. An example is the EU Blue Card. Only with this card, non-EU nationals are allowed to accept a job in the specific EU country that issued the card. Local employment in this regard means a local employment, for a local employer. The employee in this set up becomes a resident of the specific country. In the words of the European Commission, the regulations around EU Blue Cards relate to the conditions of entry and residence of highly qualified non-EU nationals in EU countries.
The key drivers for regulating this area is that countries want to protect both their own citizens and the immigrants.Their own citizens to ensure that their jobs cannot be stolen very easily by immigrants. And these immigrants ensure that they are not brought to a country to work against conditions that are much worse than those of the local population (social dumping). Looking at these two key drivers, it is clear that the rules were not meant to “protect” destination countries from temporary remote workers at all.
It goes without saying that temporary remote workers are not a part of a social dumping scheme. That does not mean that it is theoretically possible that the temporary worker ́s remuneration package would lie below the minimum standards of the destination country. Given that this is really unlikely, the number of cases where this will be the case will be extremely low. These exceptions do not change the fact that temporary work from abroad has nothing to do with social dumping.
Equally clear is the fact that temporary remote workers do not compete for jobs with the local workforce of the destination country. Temporary remote workers already have a job! They continue to work for the employer in their home country, and all of their remuneration continues to be paid and borne by that home country employer. They neither intend to become residents in the destination country, nor do they perform any activities for local businesses.
Whereas qualifying temporary remote workers as tourists is “too easy”, it seems at the same time unreasonable to qualify them as local employees. This would quite often require a local sponsor. In the case of a temporary remote worker, this sponsor is not available unless the home country employer would be willing to register in the destination country too. This is clearly not something that employers, who merely allowed their employees to work abroad for a while, will accept. Additionally, it should be noted that the process for obtaining a VISA for local employment is a lengthy, sometimes also costly, process. This is another reason why, if the conclusion would be that temporary remote workers would officially have to obtain a VISA for local employment, this in practice is likely to only lead to more remote workers going somewhere secretly as "tourists".
3. Business Travel
The third and last title for non-nationals to be in a country is business travel. According to the American bureau of consular affairs2, business travel is defined as trips during which the employee temporarily engage in business activities such as:
· negotiation of contracts;
· consultation with business associates;
· litigation;
· participation in scientific, educational, professional or business conventions, conferences or seminars;
· other legitimate activities of a commercial or professional nature.
Similar activities have been considered to lead for the application of a business visa by the Schengen Area countries3:
· meeting or training at a business unit established in the destination country;
· purchase and sale of products, business transactions and tenders;
· attending an exhibition, conference or seminar.
Indeed, as a business traveller, you can do meetings, negotiate contracts and visit clients in the destination country. However, the question is whether "remote work" can be qualified as business travel or not. Of course, the rules are old and were not defined when remote work was at all relevant. Some important hubs for temporary remote workers, such as Spain or Portugal, have overtly stated that they do not have a specific framework for this type of travellers. As such, “performing regular work for your home country employer” is not specifically covered as a work activity under the header business travel.
Nowadays, temporary remote work obviously is relevant, and it is our opinion that business travel comes closer to temporary remote work than tourism (point 1) or local employment (point 2) do. After all, what do business travellers do in between having meetings and client visits? Exactly, regular work activities such as sending emails - which is basically exactly what temporary remote workers do. Employers and authorities never made a problem out of this, so we consider it unlikely that this would change now.
Some governments already unofficially confirmed that remote workers indeed qualify as business travellers for VISA/Immigration purposes. Moreover, we are unaware of any government taking a position against this approach. However, this does not mean that this may not eventually happen. Until this is cleared, the "business traveller" option is the best option available. It is neither “too easy”, nor is it unreasonably strict. It is a workable theory if employees would like to temporarily work from outside of the EU, in these cases where they do not have the nationality of the destination country.
2 U.S. Embassy & Consulates in the UK
3 IND

Unlocking the Secret Costs of Unmanaged Business Trips

Unlocking the Secret Costs of Unmanaged Business Trips
Business travel is rebounding, playing a crucial role in international business expansion, can you relate? 📈 But here's the challenge: HR, Global Mobility, and Compliance teams face challenges ensuring compliance for employees on business trips!
Managing PWD notifications, invitation letters, PE and social security risks, and tracking employee travel details can be overwhelming. But neglecting compliance can result in costs of up to EUR 50 million and damage to your brand.
Check out our exclusive webinar on Business Travel Compliance!
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Together with industry experts we discussed:
👉 What's the most frightening situation a company can face in relation to business travel compliance breaches?
👉What are the strictest countries in terms of business travel compliance?
👉 What are some effective strategies to mitigate business travel compliance risks in your company?
👉 And more.
Our esteemed experts:
- Clarissa Kaiser*, Manager Global Mobility at BioNTech
- Orsolya Mochlar*, Head of International Careers at Merck Group
- Pieter Manden LLM MBA, Co-founder at WorkFlex
*All statements and opinions represent their own, not their employers.

Leaving continental Europe... risk alert?

Leaving continental Europe... risk alert?
There are many employers who allow workations within the European Union (EU) as they often entail less risks than flying to a third state. However, there are territories for which it’s unclear whether the same rules than in continental Europe apply. We’ll dive deeper into the distinction of workations and business travel-related compliance risks in outermost and overseas territories such as Azores (PT), Aruba (NL) or French Polynesia (FR).
There are over twenty territories located around the globe in the Atlantic, Antarctic, Arctic, Caribbean, Indian, and Pacific regions whose status is often a matter of concern for the employer allowing their employees to work from “anywhere in Europe”. Due to historical and geographic reasons, assessing if a territory is part of the EU or not and which rules apply in such territory may be more complex than expected.
Luckily, the European Commission sheds some light by making the following categorization within the territories located outside of its continental borders:
Outermost regions
Territories that are integral parts of the EU and its single market. These nine outermost regions, even though located far from continental Europe, are considered an extension of their respective member states and benefit from the rights and obligations that come with EU membership. Hence, EU law applies fully and uniformly, just like in any other region within the EU. The archipelagos of the Azores (PT) and Canary Islands(ES) are examples of this. More info can be found here.
Overseas countries and territories (OCTs)
Territories that have a special relationship with an EU member state (namely Denmark, France, and the Netherlands) but are not part of the EU as such. Unlike the outermost regions, OCTs do not have full EU membership, and EU law does not automatically apply to them. However, OCTs maintain a relationship with the EU through various agreements and arrangements established between the EU and the respective member states. They are all islands such as Greenland (DK), Aruba (NL), or French Polynesia (FR). You can find more information on the EU overseas territories here.
This categorization means that territories can be covered (or not) by double tax agreements and social security treaties. For instance, Aruba (NL) as an overseas territory would not be covered by most of the treaties signed by the Netherlands, while Azores (PT) would actually be considered as Portugal for any legal matter and all the potential risks that a workation or business trip could trigger would be the same in continental Portugal than in the islands.
In a nutshell, not all the territories outside of continental Europe are the same concerning tax, social security, labour law, social security, and VISA matters. As a general rule, outermost regions do not generally entail the same challenges as overseas territories. However, a case-by-case assessment is always required, and it’s important that the potential risks are managed. This is why WorkFlex performs an individual risk assessment of each workation request and generates relevant documentation such as employer statements, PWD registrations, and employee instructions among others. This way, both the employee and the employer can comfortably enjoy a workation slightly further from continental Europe.
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Temporary remote workers do not qualify as Posted Workers in the meaning of the EU PWD
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Temporary remote workers do not qualify as Posted Workers in the meaning of the EU PWD
Pieter Manden is the Co-Founder of WorkFlex and former Head of Trust & Employer Compliance at WorkMotion. 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.
Gonzalo Corrales Cortes is a Senior Associate Tax & Legal at WorkFlex. 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.
1. Introduction
In recent years, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic started in 2020, remote work has become a reality for many people. The number of employees working remotely is increasing and is likely to continue to do so in the future. This also means that employees will not necessarily work from their resident country all the time, but possibly from other countries too as part of a so-called Workation (a combination of work and vacation). Especially in this international setup, several employer compliance topics must be addressed, including immigration, social security or tax.
With remote work being such a relatively new concept, it was not in the back of the minds of the regulators who were working on work-related issues. An example of this is the Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 16 December, also known as the Posted Workers Directive (PWD). The PWD prescribes that employers, amongst other things, need to notify local authorities if they have posted an employee from the employment country in the specific destination country. This is a significant administrative burden that employers prefer to prevent. In this regard a question that we are often being asked is:
Do temporary remote workers qualify as posted workers in the sense of the PWD?
2. Definitions
Temporary remote worker
An employee who works outside the country of employment on a temporary (<183 days) basis, without this trip having any business reason or purpose. The employer has allowed the employee to temporarily work outside the country of employment, but this trip is entirely privately driven.
Posted worker
An employee who, for a limited period, is sent by his/her employer to carry out a service in an EEA member state other than the state in which he/she normally works, in the context of a contract of services, an intra-group posting or a hiring through a temporary agency.
3. Conclusion
We are of the opinion that this question should be answered negatively. Temporary remote workers do not qualify as posted workers in the sense of the PWD.
The fact that some of the PWD´s translation into national law is somewhat ambiguous, does not change our conclusion. In our view, neither the EU nor the specific countries had the ambition to cover temporary remote workers under these regulations. The aforementioned leads to the implication that we find that no PWD notification duties arise related to temporary remote workers.
Hereinafter, we elaborate on the arguments in favour of our conclusion, some grey areas and we discuss a future outlook.
4. The aim of the PWD
The objective of the PWD is to protect the rights and working conditions of the posted employees and to address a number of concerns such as social dumping. Following the PWD, the member states are obliged to guarantee to these employees certain rights and conditions of employment that are granted to local workers in the host country.
Remote workers were not initially meant to be covered. Indeed, regarding the objective of the law, they should not even be a subject of concern, because they do not compete with the local workforce, and rights such as assuring the minimum wage of the host country are irrelevant, since remote workers often come from countries where they are paid higher salaries than local ones. At least, it is clear that this is not a situation of social dumping.
The PWD has been enacted into national legislation by all the EEA member states and Switzerland, thus the definition of posting workers can vary and have a broader or more restricted meaning depending on the country. The majority of the time, remote workers are clearly excluded from the scope of these national rules, especially as they do not meet the posting workers main characteristics. By way of illustration, some examples can be mentioned:
Spain
According to the Law 45/1999, following which displaced worker is deemed to be the worker, whatever his nationality, of the companies included in the scope of this Law moved to Spain for a limited period of time in the framework of a the provision of transnational services, provided that there is a working relationship between such undertakings and the worker during the period of posting.
France
The French legislator has enacted the PWD via its Labour Code, defining a posted worker as any employee regularly established and exercising his/her activity outside France and who usually working on behalf of the latter outside the national territory, carries out his/her work at the request of the employer for a limited period on national territory under the conditions defined in Articles L.1262-1 and L. 1262-2.
Netherlands
The PWD is translated into national Dutch law via the “WagwEU”. This law defines posted workers as foreign employees who have been sent to work in the Netherlands for a limited time as part of a transnationalservices agreement. Under such a transnational services agreement, the employees are at the Dutch recipient´s disposal to perform work activities in the Netherlands.
Based on the above, it becomes even clearer then, that remote workers do not fit in the general definitions of posted workers given in most of the member states national law. The reasoning behind is that a posted worker generally provides a transnational service to a specific recipient in the country of arrival (i.e a parent company or a subsidiary belonging to the group), while the employee working remotely will keep providing the service to the same employer regardless of the place of residence. Besides, while a remote worker is in the destination for private reasons, posted workers are being sent to another country at the request of his/her employer to perform some specific tasks in a contracting enterprise.
5. Arguments against: grey areas
On the other hand, it should be noted that due to the different perspectives to implementing the PWD among EEA member states, a few countries have adopted a much more compliance-heavy approach. They seem to have enlarged the concept of posted workers in their local law. Examples are Portugal or Belgium. In these countries, any “work-related presence” may trigger the application of the directive and could cause more administrative obligations for the employer in order to avoid being fined. This approach would also make the country less attractive for the potential workforce looking for a few weeks or months working therein.
Belgium
According to Belgian national law, a posted worker is an employee that works and was initially hired outside the country but is temporarily working in Belgium.
Portugal
Following the Portuguese Labour Code, a posted worker is an employee hired outside the country but temporarily working in Portugal in the context of acontract of services, an intra-group posting or a hiring out through a temporaryagency.
As such, in the case of Belgium the local implementation of the PWD seems to have a broader sense than other countries. This is also true for the UK, where employees have certain minimum statutory rights from day one. This can be a complicating factor, particularly if a dispute or termination scenario arises and the employee asserts that they have employment rights in another jurisdiction… While in Portugal it could be easily argued that the context is not the performance of a service due to a specific contract but the validity of the same contract with the same employer.
Although in practice these countries have differentiated between posted workers and temporary remote workers situations, by not imposing the PWD rules to privately driven individuals. This was confirmed by local tax authorities upon our request, it has however not been published as an official statement (yet).
Additionally, it is undeniable how the treatment of both posted workers and remote temporary workers remains the same in some specific areas such as Social Security or VISA/immigration law.
Concerning Social Security, it should be kept in mind that when a company posts employees into other EU countries on a temporary basis, most of the time they remain insured for social security purposes in the country where the company business is located. In these cases, an A1 certificate or a CoC (Certificate of Coverage) should be issued. An A1 certificate of coverage is an European form that states the country in which a worker is covered by social insurance. Regardless of the travel reason (privately driven employees or employees sent by their employers), employees must always be covered by social security since in order to protect both employer and employee, there should be a way to certificate their coverage during the stay abroad.
Related to immigration law, when non-EU member state employees are posted into an EU country, they need both a visa and work or resident permits. So do remote workers when they visit third countries, as a result of the performance of services abroad they need a business visa to travel instead of a tourist one as well as being in possession of a valid work permit if requested in the country.
6. Future Outlook
Even if the disparities are bigger than the similarities, these two concepts may be misleading and can drive the legislator to vaguely apply similar regulations on both cases despite the differences. Elements like who is the actual beneficiary of the services, or the request of the employer to carry out the job in another country have been considered key elements to differentiate these two realities by several authors.
Most of the countries have already openly stated that temporary remote workers are out of the scope of their PWD transposition in national law which provides with an unquestionable flexibility for both employers and employees.
Although, due to the high volume of employees aiming to benefit from some periods working from abroad (that will keep increasing in the upcoming years) and the opportunity that entails attracting migrant talent into our borders, governments and EU institutions proactivity is crucial in order to create an assured and suitable atmosphere for both employers and employees and avoiding regulatory gaps for remote workers aiming to work from overseas. Designing remote work policies that comprehend the harmonisation of member state legal approaches or clarifying complex and unclear points regarding social security would be a nice way to start this journey.

What does the "perfect policy" for temporary work from abroad look like?

What does the "perfect policy" for temporary work from abroad look like?
Balancing between the employee interest of workations as a benefit on the one hand, and the employer compliance risks on the other hand. How to lay this down in the company policy for temporary work from abroad? What must be in the policy and what not? How would our guests change their policy if they had the opportunity to create it from scratch?
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Guest speakers:
- Sophie Kostka - Head of HR & Culture @ Enpal
- Małgorzata Miaśkiewicz - Global Mobility Principal @ Delivery Hero
- Sabine Ziesecke - Tax Partner @ PwC
- Moritz Gamon - Teamlead People Operations & Services @ IU Internationale Hochschule
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The Rise of Workations: Employer Compliance and Data Security
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The Rise of Workations: Employer Compliance and Data Security
What are the employer compliance and data security risks related to temporary work from abroad? How can employers manage & mitigate them, so that employees can enjoy this benefit beyond boundaries in a well-informed, instructed, and insured manner?
Speakers:
- Jonas Jacobsen, Data privacy lawyer at HK2 Rechtsanwälte
- Pieter Manden, Head of Trust & Employer Compliance at WorkMotion
- Patrick Koch, General manager of WorkFlex

How to keep you and your employees safe during workations?

How to keep you and your employees safe during workations?
Risks associated with workations
Workation is generally associated with pleasant experiences – employees get the chance to improve their work-life balance, as well as spend time on boosting their mental health and wellbeing. However, we have to acknowledge the fact that health & occupational risks are not eliminated when working from abroad, and both – employees and employers – should protect themselves from those.
Getting some minor injuries when working in the office is not uncommon. The same can happen when workflexing – to name a few of generic examples, poorly designed workstation in your hotel room leading to back injury; the universal slips, trips and falls somewhere on your way to take a work call from the beach! Injuries can also happen in the spare time when taking a walk on the beach, hiking, surfing, or doing other activities.
Employer Concerns
After hearing about these risks, WorkFlex‘s clients often ask:
- Who is liable in case an accident happens when the employee is abroad?
- Is travel insurance always needed?
- Can the travel insurance for workations be the same as for business trips?
- How should we handle any insurance claims or any other medical issues?
- Is health insurance included in the A1/CoC?
- And others.
The concern of who is exposed to paying medical bills in case of an accident while working from abroad is legitimate! Although it might appear that the work to purchase extensive travel health insurance must be conducted by the employee, the legal frameworks stating what is an occupational accident during workations is ambiguous. Therefore, employers might be enjoined to cover the medical expenses if it is deemed as an occupational accident.
To illustrate with an example, one mother required an early emergency delivery of her baby and post-natal treatments while travelling in a foreign country. After being discharged, she is facing a $950,000 bill for medical rehabilitation because she was not sufficiently educated on what is included in her existing insurance of the home country and because she did not procure a suitable travel health insurance (Nelson, 2014).
Another concern is the quality of medical services employees get in case of an accident. The medical insurance coverage we would receive in destinations might not be as broad as expected, even if you carry public or private insurance and your home country has a social security treaty with the destination country.
Coverage without additional health insurance
Can I rely on my public insurance?
It is important to bear in mind that public insurance is only valid in the EU countries, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Iceland. Generally, it is advised to carry the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) to prove the insurance coverage of your home country’s insurance while travelling abroad. Though public insurance is helpful, will it be able to cover all the different situations you may encounter during your temporary work abroad?
Imagine…
You are a German citizen carrying public insurance and you decide to workflex in France. There will be situations that you encounter where the standard of medical treatment while using your EHIC card will not be the same standard as you experience in Germany.
Scenario 1
If for emergency reasons you need to seek medical treatment, you must ensure that the medical facility is under the public health scheme, otherwise the German public insurance will not cover the treatment costs. Even if the German public insurance partially covers the costs, the employee must pay 30% for ambulant care, 80% of the pharmaceutical costs, and 20% of the hospital stay in addition to extra daily charges for the hospital and other co-payments based on the complexity of the treatment. Moreover, it is often required to prepay the treatments in the medical facility before receiving a medical report that can be submitted to the insurance provider.
Scenario 2
If transportation back to Germany is needed for medical reasons, this type of insurance will not cover you – getting this service would imply tens of thousands of euros to be paid either by you or your employer, depending on the root cause of the emergency! Irrespective of the country where the accident takes place, you should assume paying a significant share of the medical costs yourself.
But what about private insurance?
Although private health insurance providers are required to provide coverage to the insured for at least one month globally, the actual length of the coverage depends on your provider and the insurance conditions might differ to the home country’s standards (see here for an overview of German private insurance providers and their restricted travel policies). However, employees have the option to purchase additional policies to amplify the existing insurance scope. The employee should also assess whether a separate foreign travel health insurance is recommended based on deductibles. These would need to be paid in case of a compensation claim and whether medical repatriation is included. Furthermore, many private health insurance providers reimburse a portion of the premiums if no claims have been submitted in a year. If that is the case, it is advisable to purchase a separate travel health insurance to safeguard the bonification.
To sum up, coverage of workations with existing insurance, either public or private, is indeed extremely complicated. There are a myriad of different rules across all the insurance providers that also depend on the destination of your choice. Moreover, it is important to remember that acquiring an A1 certificate or a Certificate of Coverage (CoC) from the insurer that’s needed for workflexing trips does not address your health insurance needs.
Ultimately, to contain your financial risk and save effort on researching the local insurance conditions for a destination country, one should procure private travel health insurance to workflex abroad.
Reduce employer & employee risk with a dedicated workation insurance
Injuries abroad can get expensive – not only emotionally, but also financially. Knowing that this pain could be the responsibility of both employee and employer, it’s definitely worth it to hedge the risk by purchasing specific workation insurance packages for each employee.
To minimise the employer and employee risk of potentially paying the medical expenses for the employee, WorkFlex has partnered with Hallesche Krankenversicherung a.G. This provides comprehensive travel insurance for employees temporarily working from abroad using WorkFlex.
With this new feature, WorkFlex has added another layer of safety – travel health insurance for your employees’ workflexing trips.
What’s covered by WorkFlex’s insurance feature?
- Unlimited medical coverage to suit your and your employee’s needs while in a foreign country, including any emergency situation in any clinic, dental treatments, cases of Covid-19 and medical repatriation
- No restrictions on home & destination countries: Many insurance providers have great restrictions on countries their packages cover. With the WorkFlex solution there are no restrictions on home & destination countries eligible for the insurance package
- Easy-to-use & integrated with WorkFlex platform for a seamless and easy application
- No administrative burden: The WorkFlex team takes care of applying, communicating, and managing the insurance package throughout the whole trip period.
- Comprehensive & easy-to-grasp guide of the insurance policy provided for the employee and employer. Hallesche Krankenversicherung also provides 24/7 phone and email support for any questions about the insurance coverage or assistance while abroad under 0049 711 66 03 39 30 in 25 languages.
If you want to learn more about WorkFlex’s new insurance feature, feel free to book a demo or reach out to your WorkFlex consultant!
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There’s no “permanent” in temporary work from abroad
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There’s no “permanent” in temporary work from abroad
Workations are rapidly becoming an important employee benefit, and that´s for a good reason. If employees are no longer expected to work from the office, why should they only work from home? Although, not all people adapt at the same pace, and many consider it weird to go on an extended vacation only to work from there too. To be more specific, our baby boomer parents probably think it’s a classic ‘Millennial’ or ‘Gen Z’ thing to do. Nevertheless, we expect workations to develop into something usual as more employers increasingly offer them and employees continue to enjoy them.
Employers are sometimes hesitant to allow workations because of the compliance risks.
Permanent Establishment (PE) risk, in particular, is considered a showstopper. The risk here is that the employee could trigger a corporate tax liability in the destination country, meaning the employer would need to pay corporate taxes over the profits generated in the destination country. Given that the presence in the country is very limited, however, these corporate taxes generally aren't the key problem. The biggest problem is the administrative burden that comes with having to pay the taxes which, besides setting up bookkeeping, includes registrations with authorities and documentation for intercompany billing and profit allocation.
For this reason, it’s safe to say that employers really don't want their employees to constitute a PE. After all, workations should be an employee benefit rather than an employer burden.
This raises the questions; how does an employee temporarily working from abroad constitute a PE, as well as if, (and how) it can be prevented? And this is where we have good news — there’s no “permanent” in temporary work from abroad. As the name suggests, PE’s require a certain level of permanency. A workation is by character temporary and will therefore generally not be permanent enough. This is supported by both the OECD and the UN, the two organisations whose tax treaty models and commentaries have been most widely adopted. Both state that a so-called ‘fixed place of business PE’ and ‘service PE’ will usually not be constituted if the presence in the other country is below 183 days. This is one of the reasons why an international stay that exceeds this threshold no longer qualifies as “temporary”. In practice, workations are generally much shorter.
Of the more than 1,000 workation requests processed through our WorkFlex platform, more than 95% were below 30 days.
This makes it highly unlikely that these workations pose a PE-risk, even in countries that have adopted even tighter policies around ‘fixed place of business’ or ‘service PE’s’ than the OECD and UN policies. Yet, there are three additional factors that need to be considered;
- That the company doesn’t have an office or entity in the destination country. If it does, it must be made clear that the employee did not visit the office or perform activities for the benefit of the local entity. Deviating from this will not always, nor automatically, create a significant PE-risk. However, it would make it difficult to confidently state that the workations are not likely to form a PE-risk.
- For the 183-day threshold, you may be required to look at multiple workations in the same destination country. In other words, an accumulation of workationers in one country might increase the PE-risk in that location.It’s therefore recommended to have a single system in place, like WorkFlex, to manage all of the company’s workation requests. It’s also important to note that this accumulation doesn’t simply apply to employees from different departments who happen to enjoy a workation in the same country. PE-risk is more likely to increase if there is some organisational overlap. For example, if various employees working on the same project accumulate in the same, destination country. Although this is often the case for business trips, it’s hardly the case for workations. It does show why it is important to distinguish between the two from each other, though.
- Lastly, is the only type of PE –- other than the previously discussed ‘fixed place of business’ and ’service PE’ – that can still pose significant risk even if the workation is below 183 days. This concerns the so-called ’dependent agent PE’. In short, the OECD and UN consider a ’dependent agent’ an employee that habitually plays the principal role leading to the conclusion of contracts. It is broadly accepted that “habitually” implies a certain frequency. For example, five contracts where the individual played the leading role. Still, this doesn’t exclude the theoretical possibility that a dependent agent constitutes a PE during a workation of one day. For this reason, it’s recommended to take two extra measures to mitigate and manage the dependent agent PE of workations.
The first one is to determine who actually qualifies as a dependent agent. Normally, the vast majority of employees don’t, as they do not habitually play this leading role in the conclusion of contracts. Examples of employees who are more likely to qualify as a dependent agent are senior managers and employees in sales and procurement roles. Workation requests of these employees need to be highlighted. A second measure is to assess the actual dependent agent PE risk for these requests. Questions to consider are; how often does the employee usually perform high-risk activities? Can they realistically refrain from performing these activities during the envisioned workation?
Together with many specialists in the field, we are of the opinion that even the most senior employees should be able to enjoy a 30-day workation without triggering a material Dependent Agent PE risk.
However, a case-by-case assessment is always required, and it’s important that the potential risks are managed. This is why WorkFlex performs an individual risk assessment of each workation request and generates relevant documentation such as employer statements and employee instructions. This way, both the employee and the employer can comfortably enjoy a workation.
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Compliance topics around workations

Compliance topics around workations
Workations are rapidly becoming a significant employee benefit, for a good reason. Why should employees only work from home if they are no longer expected to work from the office? Allowing them to work from abroad for some time is an excellent example of implementing increased flexibility, similar to enabling them to work from home. For employers, the beauty of flexibility as a benefit is that it is more or less free of costs. That is, as long as the employer does not pay for the workation and the workation does not trigger any unexpected obligations for the employer. As an employer can decide on the first topic, this white paper focuses on the second topic.
Any unexpected obligations for the employer are likely to relate to the compliance risks around workations. A practical example would be the obligation for the employer to set up payroll in the destination country or the employer's liability in case the employee requires medical assistance during a workation. This raises the question of which compliance risks are related to workations, and how employers can manage or mitigate these risks.
Definition of Workation
Before diving into the compliance topics, it is essential to align on the definition of a workation. In short, this is a situation where an employee continues to work while temporarily abroad for private purposes.
The following four characteristics are relevant:
1. Abroad. This means outside the country of employment and residence of the employee. The employee will not give up his/her residency in the home country during the workation.
2. Private. The stay abroad is privately driven and has no business objective at all. Thus, a workation is something different than a business trip. A workation can be combined with a business trip, e.g., when the employee stays for a workation after visiting a business seminar.
3. Work. The employee continues to perform work activities for (the benefit of) his/her home country employer only. This means that the employee does not create any local value in the destination country.
4. Temporary. The stay is temporary, namely maximum 183 days in any running 12-month period (accumulated per country). However, many employers have limited workations within their company to a maximum number of working days that lie significantly below these six months, such as 30 or 60 days.
Summary of compliance topics
Tax
- Corporate Income Tax: The risk that the employee constitutes a so-called Permanent Establishment (PE). This would trigger a corporate liability for the employer in the destination country. Although this is not necessarily expensive in terms of the taxes due, the administrative burden that comes with this liability is disproportionally high.
- Employment Tax: The risk is that the employer needs to set up payroll to calculate, withhold and remit employment tax in the destination country. If a remote worker constitutes a PE in the destination country, this will also trigger an employment tax liability. On the contrary, as long as a remote worker does not constitute a PE, the employment tax liability is generally only triggered in exceptional cases.
- Social Security: The social security risk around workations is twofold. First is the risk that the employee loses coverage from the home country's social security system. Second, the chance that the social security system of the destination country becomes applicable. Both risks are relatively easy to manage for countries within the EU and countries where a social security treaty is in place.
- Personal Income Tax: The risk is that the employee becomes taxable in the destination country for personal income tax purposes. If this only affects the employer indirectly, e.g., the employee's income tax liability can trigger an employer's employment tax liability.
Legal
- VISA / Immigration: Does the employee have the right to work in the destination country? One may question whether a valid working title is required if the visitor's primary purpose is tourism. This is somewhat unclear, as the VISA / Immigration legislation was not written with 'workationers' in mind. Nevertheless, it is essential to consider this topic, as the fines and penalties for illegal labour are generally hefty.
- Local Labour law: The risk that local labour law becomes applicable. Assuming the employment contract explicitly states that the labour law of the home country applies, it is unlikely that local labour law becomes applicable. This may differ for particular arrangements, such as those around minimum wage and working conditions. In this regard, it is relevant to note that notifications based on the so-called Posted Worker Directive are not applicable for employees enjoying a workation. After all, the employer may have approved the workation but did not post the employee. Moreover, the employee does not perform services locally.
- Duty of care: Every employer has a duty of care for its employees. However, it is relatively unclear what this duty of care precisely consists of, i.e., when the duty is fulfilled. Generally, it prescribes the employer to do everything that can be reasonably expected. As a result, an employer's duty of care is likely much lower during a workation than when the employee works from the office. At the same time, it also means that it cannot be excluded that an accident during a workation should be considered a work accident for which the employer bears the (partial) responsibility.
- Internet and Data security: The risk is that the employee working from abroad breaches security regulations in the home country - such as GDPR regulations - or the destination country. Such as a local prohibition on using VPNs. The breach might also find its origin in client contracts, which may exclude the service providers from performing their services from particular countries.
- Sanctioned countries: Looking at our WorkFlex data, it is rather unlikely that employees want to spend their workation in a country sanctioned by institutions such as the UN or EU. However, this is not impossible thus it is recommended to have the list of these countries available.
The long list above might scare people off, but it should not. The risks hardly differ from those relevant when employees work abroad for business purposes, e.g., during a business trip. Also, employees used to work now and then during their vacation, even before the term workation was invented. Neither of these examples was/are considered a big problem, so one should not make the risks above a red flag all of a sudden for workations only. Instead, one should be educated on the risks and manage or mitigate them.
In-depth assessment: PE-risk
For example, taking a better look leads to the conclusion that it is unlikely that workations create a significant PE risk. As the name suggests, PEs require a certain level of permanency. However, there are no "permanent" temporary workers from abroad. A workation is temporary by character and will generally not be permanent enough. The OECD and the UN support this, the two organisations whose tax treaty models and commentaries have been most widely adopted. Both state that a so-called 'fixed place of business PE' and 'service PE' will usually not be constituted if the presence in the other country is below 183 days. This is one of the reasons why an international stay that exceeds this threshold no longer qualifies as "temporary." As a result, even in countries that have adopted even tighter policies around 'fixed place of business' or 'service PE' than the OECD and UN policies, employees enjoying workations will hardly ever constitute a PE.
Yet, three additional factors need to be considered:
1. Local presence. The employer does not have an office or entity in the destination country. If it does, it must be made clear that the employee does not visit the office or perform activities for the benefit of the local entity. Deviating from this will not always, nor automatically, create a significant PE risk. However, it would make it difficult to confidently state that the workations are not likely to form a PE-risk.
2. Accumulation. For the 183-day threshold, you may be required to look at multiple workations in the same destination country. In other words, accumulating workationers in one country might increase the PE risk in that location.
It's also important to note that this accumulation doesn't simply apply to employees from different departments who enjoy a workation in the same country. PE risk is more likely to increase if there is some organisational overlap. For example, various employees working on the same project accumulate in the same destination country. Although this is often the case for business trips, it is hardly the case for workations. Nevertheless, it does show why it is essential to distinguish between the two from each other.
3. Dependent Agent PE. Lastly, the only type of PE- other than the previously discussed 'fixed place of business' and' service PE' – can still pose a significant risk even if the workation is below 183 days. This concerns the so-called' dependent agent PE. In short, the OECD and UN consider a 'dependent agent' an employee that habitually plays the principal role leading to the conclusion of contracts. It is broadly accepted that "habitually" implies a specific frequency. For example, five contracts where the individual played the leading role. Still, this doesn't exclude the theoretical possibility that a dependent agent constitutes a PE during a workation of one day. For this reason, taking two extra measures is recommended to mitigate and manage the dependent agent PE of workations.
The first one is to determine who qualifies as a dependent agent. Typically, most employees don't, as they do not habitually play this leading role in the conclusion of contracts. Examples of employees more likely to qualify as dependent agents are senior managers and employees in sales and procurement roles. Workation requests of these employees need to be highlighted. A second measure is to assess the actual dependent agent PE risk for these requests. Questions to consider are; how often does the employee usually perform high-risk activities? Can they realistically refrain from performing these activities during the envisioned workation.
Managing and mitigating risks
Besides being educated, employers should manage and mitigate the compliance risks of workations. This can be done in many ways. A common way to start is to draft a policy. It forces the company to consider what it wants to allow - and what not. This is not only relevant for compliance purposes. There can be various business objections against workations, e.g., when the employee is expected to be in the office at a particular time or when the time difference between the home location and destination is too significant.
Further, a crucial part of managing workations is ensuring a process is in place. After all, one cannot manage what one does not know. The process starts with the employee initiating a workation request. After this, it should include a manager's approval, as well as a tax and legal compliance assessment taking into consideration the topics mentioned above. Once the request has been approved, the process should prescribe the request of a social security certificate. Other potential actions may include generating and notifying the company ́s travel insurance company, putting an addendum to the employment agreement in place, generating an employer statement and/or employee instruction sheet. Preferably, this process is supported by a technology that combines all of the process requirements above. Moreover, a technology-enabled process saves both the employee and the employer time, besides having some other advantages. For example, suppose the number of workation requests is high. In that case, the technology can help to focus on those requests that are potentially problematic. Moreover, technology can help put an audit trail in place so that all information and documentation are easily accessible. A solid policy and (technology-enabled) process should pave the way for both the employee and the employer being able to comfortably and safely enjoy a workation. And that is exactly the objective: workations are meant to be an employee benefit, not become an employer burden.
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Remote Work Abroad: Limited to 30 Days Max Within Europe – What Could Go Wrong?
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Remote Work Abroad: Limited to 30 Days Max Within Europe – What Could Go Wrong?
Offering employees the flexibility to work remotely from a European destination sounds like a fantastic perk, right? 🌍 But while allowing employees to work from within the EU for up to 30 days may seem like a hassle-free option, it still carries significant compliance risks. From permanent establishment issues to HR and tax challenges, here’s what you need to know to keep everything running smoothly.
Permanent Establishment (PE) Risk
Even within the EU, remote work abroad can trigger permanent establishment risks. If an employee conducts activities on behalf of the company during their stay, a Dependent Agent PE could easily be triggered. Some EU countries take a strict approach to PE, and depending on the location, even a Fixed Place of Business PE could be established.
Lack of Documentation and Employee Confirmation
Without a clear audit trail or confirmation from the employee regarding the remote work-from-abroad policy, you risk complications under labour law. Without proper documentation, things can get tricky if issues arise during the employee's time abroad. Combine this with the lack of employer-provided travel insurance, and the situation becomes even riskier.
Lack of Proper Management
Managing a 30-day remote work period abroad isn’t as simple as it seems. Even if the employee is working within the EU, it’s crucial that they are properly briefed and provided with necessary documentation, such as A1 certificates (or a WorkFlex Social Security Statement where the A1 process is slow). Proper management is often overlooked but is essential to ensure compliance.
Accumulated Presence Risks
Different EU countries have varying rules on how they calculate tax obligations based on an employee’s physical presence. Countries like the Czech Republic, for example, have more complex tax regulations, making compliance more difficult. It’s important to stay up-to-date with local regulations as they frequently change.
HR Risk
Not having a clear “Working From Abroad” policy in place can lead to employee dissatisfaction. Employees may wonder why they can’t spend more time abroad, especially if they are EU nationals. Without a formal policy, you risk damaging employee engagement and retention.
Implications of Family Visits
One of the main reasons employees take advantage of remote work abroad is to visit family. However, this can lead to two significant issues. First, if an employee’s “center of vital interests” shifts to the country they are visiting, it could have tax implications. Second, allowing only EU-based remote work might frustrate non-EU employees who cannot visit their families, ultimately reducing employee engagement and retention.
How to Mitigate Risks
Your employees undoubtedly love the freedom of working from abroad! To avoid compliance risks, we strongly recommend implementing a solid management process for remote work abroad. Even if your current policy allows employees to work within the EU for up to 30 days, it’s crucial to have the right systems in place to manage these arrangements effectively.
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How to eliminate employer compliance risks related to workations?
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How to eliminate employer compliance risks related to workations?
Your employees would love to go on workations. But you are reluctant to give them the freedom to work from anywhere because of concerns about employer compliance risks. Is there a common ground? 🤔
Yes, there is! 🙌
Watch the webinar on No-risk workations led by WorkFlex Co-Founders Pieter Manden & Patrick Koch. In the webinar, we will introduce you to the groundbreaking concept of no-risk workations that protects the employer from the relevant compliance risks of workations.

Compliant workations: Your ultimate 3-step webinar guide

Compliant workations: Your ultimate 3-step webinar guide
In a series of 3 webinars, we explore everything you have to know about managing workations compliantly and efficiently together with best-in-class experts of temporary work from abroad. Join in for employer experience stories and opinion-sharing!
Episode 1: Should your company make workations a benefit? (🇩🇪 in German)
Flexibility at the workplace is among the most demanded employee benefits that help employers win the war for talent. Besides talent attraction, there are many additional bonuses to workations - e.g. improved employee satisfaction and loyalty. However many companies also fear that workations will hurt employee productivity.
Episode 2: How to get the workation compliance right? (🇬🇧 in English)
Many employers are now offering workations to employees. However, not everyone is aware of the severe employer compliance risks associated with workations, including permanent establishment, wage tax, social security, and others. In the webinar, we discuss what are the must-have HR processes and documents to manage and mitigate the risks.
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Episode 3: What workation management tool to choose? (🇩🇪 in German)
Your employees love to go on workations and they request a lot of trips. You are aware of compliance risks and acknowledge they have to be managed and mitigated. In the webinar, we discuss what tools can you use to manage the workation compliance and workation management process.
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