Guide to posting workers in Germany

1) Posting declaration in Germany

Germany is one of the countries with specific exemptions. The posting declaration is only mandatory for 11 sectors of activity:

• Construction (BTP)
• Hospitality and catering
• Passenger transport
• Transport and related logistics
• Fairground workers
• Forestry
• Building cleaning
• Meat industry
• Prostitution
• Private security

2) Compliance with local employment law

Even though the posted employee remains under their original employment contract, certain specific provisions of German labour law must be respected during the posting:

• Local minimum wage
• Maximum working time (8 hours/day, 48 hours/week)
• Rest periods and breaks
• Health and safety conditions
• Meal and accommodation allowances (if applicable)

3) Insurance and Social Protection obligations

• A1 certificate (issued in the country of origin)
• Compliance with German health and safety requirements, particularly for technical work (which applies to your employees)

4) Local representation for a posting in Germany

A local representative in Germany must be appointed to act as the point of contact with local authorities in case of inspection. This person must be based in Germany and speak German.

Through our European Posting Alliance, we can provide this service and ensure coordination with the relevant authorities if needed.

5) Documents and information to retain for a posting in Germany

• Maintain a nominal list of posted workers with the dates of each assignment
• Keep the original employment contracts
• Keep timesheets
• Keep payslips (proof of salary payment)
• Keep A1 certificates

6) Summary of obligations by nationality and duration of posting in Germany

Requirements for EU nationals employed within the EEA

EU nationals	Less than 3 months	More than 3 months	Comments
Visa	❌	❌
Posting declaration	✅	✅	Must be submitted before the start of the assignment. Documents must be in German or translated into German
A1 certificate	✅	✅	Issued in the country of origin (employment contract)
Compliance with employment law	✅	✅	Working conditions, safety, rest periods
Document retention	✅	✅	During the assignment and up to 2 years after
Local registration	❌	✅	Registration with the local municipality

Requirements for non-EU nationals employed and residing in the EEA

Applicable if all the following conditions are met:

• The employee resides in an EEA Member State or Switzerland
• The employee holds a valid work authorisation and residence permit
• The employee has a valid employment contract
• The employee carries out regular salaried activity in their country of residence
• The employee holds a valid passport and residence permit covering the entire duration of the posting

Non-EU (EEA & Switzerland)	Less than 3 months	More than 3 months	Comments
Visa	❌	✅	Residence permit only allows stays of 90 days within a 180-day period. Beyond 3 months, a Van der Elst visa is required
Posting declaration	✅	✅	Must be submitted before the start of the assignment. Documents must be in German or translated into German
A1 certificate	✅	✅	Issued in the country of origin (employment contract)
Compliance with employment law	✅	✅	Working conditions, safety, rest periods
Document retention	✅	✅	During the assignment and up to 2 years after
Local registration	❌	✅	Registration with the local municipality

Requirements for UK nationals

UK nationals	Less than 3 months (within 180 days)	More than 3 months	Comments
Work authorisation	✅	✅²	² Pre-approval required
Visa	✅¹	✅²	¹ Schengen visa with work authorisation / ² National visa (D visa)
Posting declaration	❌	✅	Must be submitted before the start of the assignment. Documents must be in German or translated into German
A1 certificate	✅	❌	Issued from the UK and valid up to 2 years. Beyond this, affiliation to the German Social Protection system is required (health, pension, unemployment)
Compliance with employment law	✅	✅	Working conditions, safety, rest periods
Document retention	✅	❌	During the assignment and up to 2 years after
Local registration	❌	✅	Registration with the local municipality

For UK nationals, procedures are more complex. Even for short assignments (less than 90 days within a 180-day period), it is necessary to apply for a Schengen visa with a work authorisation.

It is recommended to apply for a visa valid for one year in order to carry out urgent assignments without constraints.

We also recommend using the European Union online tool to ensure that the 90/180-day allowance has not been exceeded. Please note that personal travel must also be taken into account.

Applying for an ICT (Intra-Company Transfer) work permit, valid for one year and renewable (including work authorisation, visa, and residence permit), may take longer but allows for greater flexibility.

This option enables a selected pool of employees to travel without constraints over a longer period, without being limited by duration requirements.