Workation, bleisure travel or homeoffice abroad? – "Triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic, various forms of remote work have emerged in recent years. Many employees welcome the new developments and more and more employers offer remote work as an incentive for their employees. New trends include workations and bleisure travel. However, what are the legal framework conditions for all these new developments? Below is a brief overview:
Workation and Bleisure Travel
In recent years, there has been an increasing trend of extending vacation duration through cross-border remote working. Two popular models in practice are workations and bleisure travel.
The term 'workation' is a practical concept that describes the combination of 'work' and 'vacation’.
‘Bleisure travel’ is a practical term that describes a blend of a business trip and leisure travel.
Neither workation nor bleisure travel are defined in Austrian labor law. However, this does not mean that there are no legal requirements. Rather, it is important to adhere to the legal and collective agreement provisions. It is particularly crucial to establish agreements between the employer and employee while complying with the legal and collective agreement framework."
Home office abroad
In the context of cross-border service provision, not only labor law questions arise, but also, for example, questions related to social security law.
Fundamentally, for cross-border cases within the internal market, the Regulation on the coordination of social security systems (Regulation (EC) No 883/2004) is applicable. Two fundamental principles of this regulation are the territoriality principle and the principle of single insurance. The former states that a person employed is subject to the legal system of the Member State in which the employment is exercised. Following the principle of single insurance, an employed person should only be subject to insurance obligations in one Member State. The problem that arises in cross-border situations is evident. Which social security authority is competent, and when does a change in competence occur?
According to Implementing Regulation 987/2009, a change in competence has occurred when more than 25% of the working time is performed in another Member State. During the pandemic, the EU Member States, EEA countries, and Switzerland agreed on special regulations for teleworking. After this agreement expired at the end of June 2023, a new framework agreement has been in place since July 1, 2023. This framework agreement applies when:
- The employee's residence is in a different country than the company's headquarters where the activity is usually carried out.
- Telework is exclusively provided in the country of residence.
- Both countries have signed the framework agreement.
- The extent of telework falls between 25% and less than 50%.
The framework agreement does not automatically apply but needs to be applied for with the competent authority in the home country. To do so, an agreement must be reached between the employer and employee, which must contain specific elements.
The KWR labor law team is here to assist you with any questions related to home office, workation, bleisure travel, and more."