EU Posted Worker
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Step 4 - Classification of the Worker

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.

When classifying workers, several factors play a crucial role:

• The Nationality of the Worker: EU-nationals and non-EU nationals who are legally residing or working in the EU (intra-EU posting) fall within the PWD scope.

  Non-EU workers from outside the EU who are posted directly to the EU (third-country posting) would fall under the relevant national immigration laws of the host country for the work that they must carry out there. Once approved, the PWD rules may apply to them.

• The worker is physically sent to an EU member state to do the job.

  
  

• The work is temporary from the onset.

  
  

• The worker is not integrated into the host country’s labor market.

  
  

• A genuine employment relationship must exist between the sending employer and the (newly recruited) posted worker and continue to exist during the posting.

  
  

• The worker must be subject to social security in country of origin at least one month before being posted.

  The A1 certificate is mandatory, even for short-term assignments that last a few days.

  
  

• EU-based employment is not about where the employer is headquartered, but whether they operate within the EU’s internal market framework and send the worker from that location to another member state.

  Note: some member states apply PWD rules also to non-EU based employers that are sending staff from outside the EU to perform work in the EU.

Exemptions: Some specific workers may be exempt from (notification requirements of) the PWD. See under Elaboration.

These exemptions can vary significantly by country and are often tied to specific notification rules, rather than a full exemption from all labor protections. Always verify national regulations.