No changes to applicable social security law.

IF – 03/2020

Cross-border workers

There are NO changes to the applicable social security law for persons who are temporarily working fully or partly from home.

An A1 certificate is not necessary. It only needs to be issued if proof of the application of German legislation is actually required in the country of residence, with reference to Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) 883/04 (posted workers). The reason for this is that employment in the Member State of residence is temporary and in accordance with the employer’s right of direction. This applies irrespective of the fact that the ‘other Member State’ is the place of residence.

Persons habitually employed in several Member States

For persons who, regardless of the current situation, normally work in several Member States and for whom the applicable law has been determined in accordance with Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, a temporary changes to the distribution of working time will not result in any changes with regard to the applicable social security law. This even applies if the work is temporarily performed exclusively at home. A1 certificates issued remain valid for this period.

Interruption and/or postponement of deployment to another Member State or to a State subject to a bilateral agreement

A notification from the employer about the interruption of a posting is no longer necessary in this case,


  • if it is not expected to last longer than two months (a longer period applies for certain bilateral agreements; see information sheet ‘Working in ...’) and
  • the end of the foreign posting is not postponed altogether.


In this case, certificates issued in respect of the applicable legislation shall remain valid.

If the end-date for the posting is extended and the interruption period is more than two months, the employer must normally apply for a new posting certificate for the extension period. If, on the other hand, it is not planned to continue the assignment, the employer must notify its intention to terminate the assignment. This also applies to persons for whom an exemption agreement has been concluded in accordance with Article 16 of the Regulation (EC) or within the framework of bilateral social security agreements.