Does the posting fall within the PWD Scope?
A step-by-step Roadmap

The EU Posting of Workers (PWD) regime is a critical framework, designed to facilitate free movement of services in the EU/EEA/Swiss area while protecting workers' rights. 

To effectively apply the PWD compliance requirements, it is crucial to first grasp the underlying principles and intricacies of this regime.

To fully understand the PWD regime and apply its compliance requirements in practice, it's essential to break down the core PWD concepts. These concepts form the bedrock of the regime, defining who is considered a posted worker, what conditions apply to them, which responsibilities the sending and receiving companies must adhere to.

Under the Posted Workers Directive (PWD), a posted worker is an employee who is temporarily dispatched by their employer to carry out work in a member state of the EU/EEA/Swiss area, without being fully integrated into the host country labor market.

The crucial next step on this PWD Compliance Roadmap is to determine whether the work arrangement falls within the territorial scope of the PWD.

Now that you have identified the PWD Territorial Scope, the Sending State and the Receiving State, the crucial next step is classifying the worker under the PWD regulatory framework.

In essence, the PWD covers not only hands-on and skill-based workers, but potentially any worker temporarily deployed in the EU outside their country of employment. This holds true even for office-based professional, administrative, or managerial roles, as well as business travelers.

PWD obligations are primarily triggered by the nature of the work performed, not the duration of the posting or the formal designation of the job or the worker.

The next step is determine whether or not the PWD applies to the work or if it is exempted.

Posting of workers can take place in various scenarios: provision of services, temporary transfer between group companies and hiring-out via temp agencies. Each is governed by its own unique and often intricate regulatory framework. 

A clear understanding of these distinctions and their implications for the sending employer is crucial for ensuring compliance.

Under the PWD, the recipient in the host country (e.g., client or customer) holds a supporting yet increasingly accountable role in ensuring compliance with PWD compliance requirments.

This recipient functions as a gatekeeper: while not directly responsible for the employment, they are instrumental in enforcing compliance through effective oversight, thorough documentation, and strict contractual control.