On December 31, 2020, the transitional period of the United Kingdom's Withdrawal Agreement from the European Union ends. In this article we will deal with a specific topic: Social Security legislation applicable to posted workers once Brexit has been completed.
In general, a worker who carries out an activity as an employed or self-employed person in a state, the United Kingdom or Spain, will be subject to the Social Security legislation of that state.
However, there are exceptions to this general rule:
- Are you an employed person? You should know that, if you carry out a salaried activity in a state, the United Kingdom or Spain, on behalf of an employer and they post you to another state to carry out a specific job, you can continue to be subject to the legislation of the first state as long as the foreseeable duration of such work does not exceed 24 months and you have not been sent to replace another worker.
- Are you a self-employed person? In this case, you must bear in mind that, if you normally carry out an activity in a state, the United Kingdom or Spain, and you move to carry out a similar activity in another state, you will continue to be bound by the legislation of the first state as long as the foreseeable duration of that activity does not exceed 24 months.
Brexit and Social Security
In other words, the Brexit Agreement continues social security coordination between the two countries, so that posted workers will be able to maintain Social Security links with their origin.
Let’s look at an example: What happens if a British employer posts a worker to Spain? In this case, the posted worker will maintain their link with British labor law (and, therefore, contributions in the United Kingdom) as long as the posting is temporary and does not exceeded a maximum period of 24 months.
We can therefore understand that Social Security relations between the United Kingdom and Spain will continue to be based on the rules established by Regulation 883/2004 on the coordination of Social Security systems in the European Union.
This is the determination of the applicable legislation in matters of Social Security established by the Royal Decree-Law of December 29.
All this does not mean that there is an exemption, for immigration purposes, from the obligation to obtain a mandatory work permit, as long as British nationals cease to be EU citizens.
During the next few weeks we will expand our content with regards to Brexit, international Social Security and immigration, so we invite you to follow our publications on social networks, where we will also provide information about the webinars that our professionals in international mobility will give.
