Working abroad

The principle of social security affiliation is that of affiliation in the Member State of employment, i.e. the Member State in which the professional activity is carried out.

However, there are exceptions that allow affiliation in Luxembourg to be maintained when working abroad.

Cross-border teleworking

Since 1 July 2023, any teleworking activity carried out by an employee who does not reside in Luxembourg must be declared to the Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS).

There are various scenarios:

  • Teleworking falling within the scope of the framework agreement on teleworking, representing between 25% and less than 50% of working time;
  • Teleworking activities that are carried out regularly and do not fall within the scope of the framework agreement on teleworking (less than 25% or 50% or more of working time) are to be considered as activities carried out in two or more Member States (Article 13 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004).

All the conditions for applying the framework agreement on telework, as well as the corresponding declaration procedure, are available on the CCSS website:

Regular activities in two or more Member States

If an employee regularly carries out activities in two or more EU/EEA Member States, Switzerland or the United Kingdom, the employer or representative must submit a request to the CCSS in order to determine the applicable legislation.

There are different scenarios depending on the employee's country of residence.

When Luxembourg legislation applies, there are two possible situations:

  • If the employee is not yet registered: the CCSS registers them, issues an A1 certificate to the employer and informs the competent institution in the country of residence via EESSI.
  • If the employee is already registered: the CCSS issues the A1 certificate directly and also notifies the competent foreign institution electronically.

Posting

Before sending an employee abroad for professional reasons, the employer must request that their registration with the Luxembourg social security system be maintained.

There are three possible situations:

  1. Secondment to a country in the EU, the EEA, Switzerland or the United Kingdom.
  2. Secondment to a third country with a bilateral agreement with Luxembourg.
  3. Secondment to a third country without a bilateral agreement.

The Joint Social Security Centre (CCSS) examines the request according to the country concerned, based on Luxembourg and European legislation and/or bilateral agreements. Specific sections are available on the CCSS website.

Les salariés qui exerçant une activité régulière dans plusieurs pays de l’UE, de l’EEE, en Suisse ou au Royaume-Uni, doivent informer l’institution compétente de leur pays de résidence, qui déterminera la législation applicable.

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