Social security when living and working in different EU Member States

EU Member States have concluded multilateral agreements on social security for employees and self-employed workers without employees (known in Dutch as zzp’ers). These agreements are of particular importance for employees or zzp’ers who live and work in different countries because they prevent the person concerned having to pay social security contributions twice.

You or your employee work permanently in one EU Member State (country of employment principle)

If your employee works permanently in one Member State, he is covered by the social insurance system of that EU Member State. This applies even if he resides in another EU Member State or if your company is based in another country. The same rules and regulations apply to self-employed workers: you are covered by the social insurance system of the country where you work.

You or your employee work permanently in two or more EU Member States (country of residence principle)

If your employee works permanently in two or more Member States, he is covered by the social insurance system of his country of residence if:

• he spends 25% or more of his time working in that country; and/or
• your company is based in your employee’s country of residence; or
• he alternately or concurrently works for two employers in different Member States; this could be the country of residence and another EU Member State, as well as two EU Member States other than the country of residence.

In other cases, he is covered by the social insurance system of the country where your business is based.

The same rules and regulations apply to self-employed workers.

You or your employee work temporarily in another EU Member State

If your employee works temporarily in an EU Member State other than the country where your company is based, he can usually remain covered by the social insurance system in your own country. This is also the case when a self-employed worker temporarily works in another country, while his company remains based in his own country. In both instances, you or your employee must apply for an A1/E101 statement from the social insurance institution of your country.

Rules and regulations for non-EU countries

In some cases, the rules and regulations outlined above also apply to the countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) and in countries which have concluded bilateral/multilateral treaties on social insurance. For further information, please contact the social insurance institution in your country. In the Netherlands, this is the Social Insurance Bank (Sociale Verzekeringsbank, SVB).