Insurance for employees temporarily working remotely from Poland

Insurance for employees temporarily working remotely from Poland

From 1 July 2023, new social security rules apply to employees working remotely from a country where they do not permanently reside. This applies when an employee works for an employer from Norway, but spends some time working remotely from their country of residence.

Main principles of the new agreement

1. Who is covered by the agreement?
   The agreement applies to employees who normally work in the country where their employer is based, but for a certain period work remotely from their country of residence. For example: we normally work for a Norwegian employer in Norway, but temporarily switch to home office in Poland. Self-employed workers are not covered by the new agreement.
2. Changes in the percentage of remote work
   Under the previous rules, an employee had to perform less than 25% of their work in their country of residence in order to be insured in Norway - the new rules raise this threshold to 50%.
3. Countries covered by the agreement
   The new rules apply to employees from 17 EEA countries: Belgium, Finland, France, Croatia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. The agreement also covers Switzerland.
4. Work during holidays
   If an employee works remotely during a holiday in a country where they do not permanently live, for example in Croatia or Spain, the new rules do not apply.
5. What kind of work is covered?
   The agreement applies only to remote work performed digitally, from a distance. For example, the rules apply to graphic designers, copywriters, programmers, etc.
6. What are the consequences for employers?
   If an employer wants their employee to be insured in Norway, they must enter into an agreement with them specifying how much work will be carried out remotely. If the employee wants to be insured in Norway, they must submit the relevant application to NAV.

Summary

For employees who work remotely for a Norwegian employer, it is important to keep track of the amount of time spent working outside Norway. In order to be insured under the Norwegian social security system, they must not exceed 50% of their working time outside Norway.

For employers, it is important to be aware of these changes and adapt to the new rules in order to ensure their employees have the correct social security coverage.