Posting of employees

Employees can be posted abroad by a German company, in the same way as they can be posted to Germany from a foreign company. The following links guide you towards information concerning employee posting, covering everything from residency permits to social security legislation.

The Posting of Workers Directive requires cooperation and knowledge sharing between member states. In the framework of this partnership, the EU member states designated liaison offices, which serve as points of single contact for the public authorities of other member states, for companies posting employees abroad, as well as for expatriated employees. The European Commission website provides links to the liaison offices, as well as fact sheets.

...and which post their employees to Germany, can consult the Customs website for information about social security in the event of cross-border assignments, minimum employment conditions, residence permits and much more.

The DVKA provides information about posting employees to another member state, as well as country-specific information about the social security legislation that is applicable to a person working in another state.

The German Employment Agency website provides an alphabetic list of fact sheets covering a range of different topics, including the restrictions on manpower leasing and posting of employees, the placement of East European skilled labourers in Germany,  work and labour contracts – the employment of foreign workers from new EU member states.

(website only available in German)

The sub page Ihr Europa (Your Europe) provides information about looking for a job abroad, commuting across borders, postings abroad, migrant workers, working as a civil servant and retirement. The page is available in a range of different languages.

The pages in the "Europe" section are primarily aimed at companies outside Germany and their employees, who are posted to work on construction sites in Germany. It gives details about holiday entitlement and outlines the rights and obligations of both employers and employees during a period of employment in Germany.

(website only available in German)

The regulation that covers work permits for foreign employees (Arbeitsgenehmigungsverordnung - ArGV) regulates the conditions for work permits and working rights.

(website only available in German)