Article 12 of (EC) Regulation No. 883/2004 provides that the period of secondment cannot be longer than 24 months, therefore the seconded employee may remain affiliated to the social security system from the country of origin for up to maximum 24 months.
As an exemption, Article 16 of (EC) Regulation No. 883/2004 allows the competent authorities from two or more Member States to conclude agreements which provide derogations from the rules on applicable legislation, including the special rules of the secondment.
If the anticipated duration of the secondment exceeds 24 months, two or more Member States, the competent authorities of those States or the designated authorities may provide derogations (exemptions) from the rules on determining the applicable legislation, according to the European regulations in force, in the interest of certain persons or categories of persons.
The exemptions may be agreed under the following conditions:
- The agreed exemptions are considered to be in the interest of the employee and the employer, respectively the independent worker;
- The exemptions are accepted on the employee and employer’s request, namely on the request of the independent worker;
- The accepted agreements represent subjective decisions. When adopting these decisions, the exact situation of the person concerned or staff characteristics for whom the exemption is agreed, must be taken into consideration;
- Exemptions are basically agreed for a period which does not exceed 5 years, including periods of previous secondment, if the seconded employee / self-employed person, which has been seconded on the territory of another Member State, did not carry out any activity in the host country, between the postings, for at least 6 consecutive calendar months;
- Exemptions can also be agreed to prevent unacceptable or unjust situations, as well as legalizing the situation of a person to whom the social security legislation of a Member State has been incorrectly applied, and the agreement may also have retroactive effects.
In order to obtain the A1 portable form as exemption, the employer or the person in question will submit in advance a request for the agreed exemption to the competent authority / appointed institution from the Member State authority, whose legislation, the employee or person, request to comply with.
If the A1 form is issued on the exemption basis, the seconded employee remains affiliated to the social security system from country of origin, and after the expiration of the secondment period on the exemption basis, he / she will have to be insured under the social security system from the State in which he/she carries out professional activities, according to the lex loci laboris principle.
Source: (EU) Regulation No. 884/2014 and (EU) Regulation No. 987/2009.
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