Posting of workers is when an employer in one country sends a worker to perform a service in another country during a limited period of time. There must be a cross-border situation so only employers who are established in another member state, then where the service is conducted, can post workers. A service is defined as some kind of work with temporary duration and performed under a contract of services with an ”external” recipient to the services. It can also be intra-group posting (posting to another employer owned by the same group) or when an employer hires out workers to an employer in another member state.  

Momentius LPA’s posting services

Solve your administrative and legal obstacles - save money and time - with our legal support. We make sure your posting fulfills all the requirements in Swedish and EU law.

• Migration and posting of third-country nationals

  • Work and residence permits

  • Migration law compliance

• Tax law

  • F-tax registration

  • Tax law compliance

• Labour law

  • Trade union negotiation

  • Labour law and collective agreements compliance

• Legal representation before Swedish authorities, such as the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Migration Agency

A1 DOCUMENT

The employer who will post a worker must contact the competent authority in it’s home member state and request an A1-document. The document certifies that the worker falls under the special social security rules for posted workers in regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009.

INFORMATION TO THE WORKER

Employers must before they post a worker to another member state make sure that they have provided all the mandatory information to the worker. The following information must be provided:

• the country or countries in which the work abroad is to be performed; 

• the anticipated duration of the work abroad; 

• the currency to be used for the payment of remuneration; 

• where applicable, the benefits in cash or kind relating to the work assignments; 

• information as to whether repatriation is provided for, and if so, the conditions governing the worker's repatriation. 

• the remuneration to which the worker is entitled in accordance with the applicable law of the host Member State; 

• where applicable, any allowances specific to posting and any arrangements for reimbursing expenditure on travel, board and lodging; 

• the link to the single official national website developed by the host Member State. 

DECLARATION TO THE HOST MEMBER STATE

An employer who are about to post workers to another member state must make a declaration (report the posting) to the host member state with information about:

• the identity of the service provider; 

• the anticipated number of clearly identifiable posted workers; 

• the person of liaison and the contact person; 

• the anticipated duration, envisaged beginning and end date of the posting; 

• the address(es) of the workplace; and 

• the nature of the services justifying the posting. 

Note that different member states may request different information or other administrative requirements to be fulfilled. Therefore, an employer posting workers to a different member state must always investigate the specific requirements for the member state in question.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Employers who post workers in another member state must make sure they fulfil the terms and conditions of employment for posted workers. According to EU law, it is the terms and conditions of the host member state that must be fulfilled on the following areas:

• maximum work periods and minimum rest periods; 

• minimum paid annual leave; 

• remuneration, including overtime rates; this point does not apply to supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes; 

• the conditions of hiring-out of workers, in particular the supply of workers by temporary employment undertakings; 

• health, safety and hygiene at work; 

• protective measures with regard to the terms and conditions of employment of pregnant women or women who have recently given birth, of children and of young people; 

• equality of treatment between men and women and other provisions on non-discrimination; 

• the conditions of workers’ accommodation where provided by the employer to workers away from their regular place of work; 

  • allowances or reimbursement of expenditure to cover travel, board and lodging expenses for workers away from home for professional reasons.  

If there is a collective agreement universally applicable in the host member state or if there is a specific sector concerned collective agreement applicable, that national employers are bound by, then such a collective agreement is also applicable when posting workers. Host members states are not obliged to provide the collective agreement, but they are obliged to provide information about which collective agreement is applicable in the employer’s sector. 

TRADE UNIONS

Trade unions may contact employers who are posting workers to Sweden in order to engage in collective bargaining. Trade unions have this right under EU law, however, the trade unions cannot require an employer to fulfill any conditions that goes beyond the required employment terms and conditions (see the section above ).

DOCUMENTS DURING THE POSTING

Member states may require the employer to keep copies available, in paper or electronic form, of the employment contract, pay slips, timesheets and proof of payment of wages. The documents must be available in the host member states official language on in a language that has been accepted by the host member state. An employer who during a labour inspection cannot show that the requirements, as described above, are fulfilled, may be subject to penalties in accordance with national law. 

Posting of workers to Sweden

Employer obligations in Sweden

Firstly, an employer who posts workers to Sweden must report the posting to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. Secondly, the employer must fulfil the criteria of the applicable collective agreement and the Swedish regulations concerning working environment, working hours, vacation, salary, taxation, parental leave and discrimination. 

Report a posting

When an employer posts a worker to Sweden that posting be must reported to the Swedish Work Environment Authority. The report must be made at the latest on the same day the worker starts working in Sweden and shall include information about who will be the contact person in Sweden and documentation on the recipient of services. 

Contact person

The employer must have a responsible contact person that stay’s in Sweden the whole period of the posting. The contact person is the ”representative” of the employer’s posting and must be able to show that the posting fulfills all the criteria in Swedish as well as EU-law.

In that regard, the contact person must be able to show documents such as the employment contract, pay slips, time reports and proof of payment of wages. The documents shall be translated to Swedish or English and must be made available at the latest three weeks after the request was made.