In last month’s edition we gave details of the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement and the implications of this for the operation of Social Security rules to be applied between the EU states and the UK from 1 January 2021.
At the time of writing the detached worker rules that apply to individuals seconded/assigned by an employer to work in the UK or an EU territory were subject to an opt out, whereby the EU states had been given until 1 February 2021 to determine whether they would agree to apply the detached worker rules. Austria, Hungary, Portugal and Sweden had already agreed and following the deadline we have now had confirmation that the remaining EU states have all agreed to apply the detached worker rules.
With the confirmation that all EU states have agreed to apply the detached worker rules there is now certainty that an employee sent temporarily by their employer to perform work in another state will continue to be subject to the social security legislation of their home country provided that the duration of the posting doesn’t exceed 24 months and they are not replacing another detached worker.
Different rules continue to apply to postings between the UK and Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein but we understand that the UK government is seeking to conclude a new, comprehensive EEA-EFTA wide agreement on social security coordination, including healthcare with the EEA-EFTA states and also a new reciprocal agreement with Switzerland as soon as possible.
Stuart Strong
stuart.strong@bdo.co.uk