Under the Posting of Workers Directive, employers have a number of obligations they must comply with when posting workers. These include:
- Provide the posted employee with the same working conditions as their local counterparts;
- paying the posted worker at least the minimum wage in the host country;
- Compliance with working hours, rest periods and other regulations in the host country;
- Provide the posted worker with the same level of health and safety protection as local workers;
- Provide the posted worker with the same social security benefits as local workers;
- Provide the delegated employee with adequate accommodation;
- Ensure that the posted employee has the same access to training as local employees; and
- Comply with the host country's labor laws and regulations.
Posting of employees - new employer obligations or what else?
In addition, employers must provide the host country's labor inspection with the necessary information and documents to enable them to perform their monitoring duties. This includes details of the posted worker's employment contract, the duration of the posting, and the posted worker's working and living conditions. Employers must also keep records of all secondments and provide them to the relevant authorities upon request.
Failure to comply with the Posting of Workers Directive can result in significant penalties, including fines and the possibility of criminal prosecution. Therefore, it is important for employers to be aware of their obligations and take all necessary steps to ensure compliance.
In the European Union, the Posting of Workers Directive (PWD) is the law that defines the rights and obligations of employers when they post workers to another EU member state. Under the PWD, employers are required to ensure that the conditions for posting workers are no less favorable than those applicable to workers in the host country. The Posting of Workers Directive also imposes a number of other obligations on employers, including the requirement:
- Providing delegated employees with written information about their rights and obligations in the host country;
- notify the competent authorities in the host country of the secondment;
- Ensure that posted workers are subject to the same social security contributions as other workers in the host country;
- Ensure that posted workers are paid the same as other workers in the host country;
- Provide delegated employees with adequate housing;
- provide posted workers with health and safety protection equivalent to that of other workers in the host country;
- Provide delegated employees with adequate insurance;
- Provide delegated employees with access to legal advice and assistance;
- Provide delegated employees with appropriate training and development opportunities;
- provide delegated employees with adequate rest periods;
- Ensure that posted workers are not discriminated against in the host country;
- Ensure that posted workers are not subjected to any form of exploitation in the host country;
- Ensure that posted workers are not subjected to any form of forced labor in the host country;
- Ensure that posted workers are not subjected to any form of unfair dismissal in the host country.
