NIM33090 - Special Cases: International going to or coming from abroad EEA Regulations 883/04 (After 1 May 2010): Workers hired for immediate posting

Note: This page is under review and the content may only be appropriate to periods beginning before 1 January 2021 and for those covered by a Withdrawal Agreement. A new International NICs manual is under development and will be published in due course.

Article 12 of Regulation 883/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the coordination of social security systems

There are some additional restrictions in place in relation to workers hired and then immediately posted.

The rules on posting may also apply to workers recruited in one Member State with a view to being posted in another provided certain conditions are met.

One of these conditions is that:

• Immediately before the start of his/her employment the person is already subject to the legislation of the Member State in which the undertaking which employed him/her is established. A period of at least one month can be considered as meeting this requirement, with shorter periods requiring a case by case evaluation taking account of all the factors involved.

The other posting conditions also have to be met. So the “posting” undertaking must normally carry out its activities there and the worker must pursue an activity on behalf of the employer, there must exist throughout the period of posting a direct relationship between the posting employer and the posted worker, the posting undertaking must also be one which carries out substantial activities in the posting State, and so on.

The point here is that the person does not need to have been employed by that particular employer before they are sent to work abroad, but they should have been in the United Kingdom and been insured when they are hired to be sent abroad. They can be UK insured by paying contributions, or because they are in receipt of UK benefits if out of work, or simply by being resident in the UK if they are not working and not in receipt of benefits. The purpose of the posting regulation is to let someone continue their existing contribution and benefit record in the sending Member State.