Posting Authorities: Liaison Offices, Single Official Websites, Labour Inspectorates and the EU Bodies Behind Them

The Commission's Your Europe lists name 30 liaison offices and 27 national websites.

A posting meets other public bodies as well. Labour inspectorates and other competent authorities check posted work, the institution of the State whose social security legislation applies issues the A1, and EU bodies connect the national authorities. Each of them handles one part of the rules for posted workers.

The sections below tie each body to its article, list 30 States and mark what these authorities do not decide.

What Is a Posting of Workers Liaison Office?

A posting of workers liaison office is the body a Member State designates to cooperate with other States' authorities and to give information on the terms and conditions of employment that apply to workers posted to its territory (Article 4 of Directive 96/71/EC; Article 3 of Directive 2014/67/EU).

The liaison office is a designated function, not one type of body. The Your Europe list of liaison offices (confirmed on 12 November 2026) names ministries in Czechia and Italy, labour inspectorates in Latvia, Poland and Slovakia, and a customs directorate in Germany, Directorate VII of the Central Customs Authority. Each office answers companies that post workers, the posted workers themselves and the authorities of other States.

What a Liaison Office Does

A liaison office has four tasks, as the European Commission summarises Article 4 of Directive 96/71/EC: it makes the terms and conditions generally available, monitors compliance, replies to reasoned requests from public authorities and examines difficulties in applying public policy provisions. The Commission page gives a summary, not the text of the Posting of Workers Directive; Article 4 itself is explained with the Posting of Workers Directive.

Mutual assistance between liaison offices is free of charge under Article 4(2) of Directive 96/71/EC. Requests run through IMI, the Internal Market Information System: point 6 of the IMI Annex, added by Article 22 of Directive 2014/67/EU, covers Article 4 of Directive 96/71/EC. Under Article 6(6) of Directive 2014/67/EU, the requested State replies within at most two working days in urgent cases that require a register check and within at most 25 working days for other requests.

Competent Authorities and the Commission List

Article 3 of Directive 2014/67/EU requires each Member State to designate its competent authorities and liaison offices and to notify them, and it requires the Commission to publish and regularly update the list. Directive 2014/67/EU has applied in the EEA since 1 January 2020, so Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway designate their bodies too.

A competent authority, in Article 2(a) of the Enforcement Directive 2014/67/EU, is the authority a State designates for its posting tasks. The Commission publishes the list on Your Europe. The definitions and the control duties are set out in the Enforcement Directive 2014/67/EU.

Eight Kinds of Posting Authority and Where Each Is Explained

A posting meets eight kinds of public body: the liaison office, the single official national website, labour inspectorates and other competent authorities, the A1 institution, the European Labour Authority, IMI, the Administrative Commission and the European Commission. The national bodies answer questions and check postings, while the EU bodies connect them. The table gives each body's task, its legal basis and where it is explained.

Every obligation before, during and after a posting is listed in the posting compliance checklist.

Single Official National Websites: What Each State Must Publish

Each Member State must indicate clearly on a single official national website, accessible and free of charge, which terms and conditions of employment and which parts of national or regional law apply to workers posted to its territory (Article 5(1) and 5(2)(a) of Directive 2014/67/EU).

The website must also name a contact person at the liaison office who deals with requests for information (Article 5(2)(e) of Directive 2014/67/EU). Since Directive (EU) 2018/957, the fourth subparagraph of Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC ties the host State's publication of its terms to this website. Under the sixth subparagraph, where the website does not indicate which terms apply, that gap is taken into account when posting penalties are determined. National fine levels are compared under posting penalties.

In its 2019 report on Directive 2014/67/EU (COM(2019) 426 of 25 September 2019, section 3.3), the Commission stated that all Member States had set up the website, most also in English. The Your Europe business page lists 27 national websites for the EU States and none for Iceland, Liechtenstein or Norway (last checked by the Commission on 30 September 2026; confirmed on 12 November 2026).

Liaison Offices and Official Websites in 30 EU and EEA States

The table below lists the liaison office and the national posting website of each of the 30 States on the Commission's Your Europe lists: the 27 Member States, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The liaison offices come from the Your Europe citizens page, last checked by the Commission on 29 September 2026, and the websites from the business page, last checked on 30 September 2026; both lists were confirmed on 12 November 2026.

Where a cell refers to the national website or the liaison office, that is the contact route. Declarations, documents and fines for each State are set out under posting rules by country.

Your Europe lists: liaison offices last checked by the Commission on 29 September 2026, national websites on 30 September 2026; both confirmed on 12 November 2026.

Labour Inspectorates and Other Bodies That Check Postings

For twelve of the 30 States on the Your Europe list the liaison office is a labour inspectorate: Bulgaria, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania and Slovakia (list confirmed on 12 November 2026). Greece lists its ministry alongside the Labour Inspectorate (Independent Authority), Hungary and the Netherlands list the inspectorate together with the ministry, and Norway's office is the Labour Inspection Authority.

National law names the competent authority that checks postings. In Poland it is the National Labour Inspectorate (Państwowa Inspekcja Pracy, PIP) under Article 9(1) of the Polish posting act. In Romania, Inspecția Muncii (the Labour Inspectorate) is the competent authority with liaison-office duties under Article 14(1) of Law No. 16/2017. In Germany, the customs authorities are competent under § 16 AEntG, and notifications go to the Generalzolldirektion (the Central Customs Authority) under § 1 AEntGMeldstellV.

Inspections across borders follow the law of the State where they take place and need its agreement, also when the European Labour Authority supports them (Articles 8(3) and 9(2) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149). Before any check, the host State expects the posting declarations it requires; what to file and when is set out under posting declarations.

The EU Bodies Behind the National Authorities

Four EU bodies stand behind the national authorities: the European Commission publishes their list, IMI carries their requests, the European Labour Authority coordinates them and the Administrative Commission settles social security questions between States. Administrative cooperation under Articles 6, 7, 10(3) and 14 to 18 of Directive 2014/67/EU must run through IMI (Article 21(1) of that Directive). The European Labour Authority, set up in Bratislava by Regulation (EU) 2019/1149, coordinates and supports national authorities but does not fine companies or inspect on its own. A proposal to revise its mandate, COM(2026) 985 of 15 September 2026 (procedure 2026/0272(COD)), is pending and awaits a decision of the European Parliament's EMPL committee as of 12 November 2026.

The Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems is set up under Article 71 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004. When the European Labour Authority mediates a dispute between Member States, social security issues go to the Administrative Commission (Article 13(11) of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149; Article 74a of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, inserted by Article 45 of Regulation (EU) 2019/1149). This mediation runs between States only, never for a company or a worker.

What National Posting Authorities Do Not Decide

Posting authorities apply labour-law posting rules; they do not decide which State's social security covers a worker, and they do not grant residence or work permits, which the host State's immigration authority decides.

Social Security Questions Go to the A1 Institution

The social security institution of the State whose legislation applies issues the A1, not the liaison office (Article 19(2) of Regulation (EC) No 987/2009). The A1 certificate shows which social security legislation applies. What the A1 certificate proves is explained under A1 certificate.

Where two States disagree on which social security legislation applies, the question goes to the Administrative Commission, not to a labour-law liaison office.

Switzerland and the United Kingdom: Outside the EU Lists

Neither Switzerland nor the United Kingdom appears on the Your Europe lists of liaison offices and national websites (confirmed on 12 November 2026). Switzerland is not bound by Directive 2014/67/EU and runs its own notification under the Swiss posting act, the Entsendegesetz (EntsG, SR 823.20).

For posting workers to and from the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom requires no posting declaration for inbound postings, and a detached worker keeps the social security of the sending State for up to 24 months under Article SSC.11 of the Protocol on Social Security Coordination of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. Both directions are set out under posting workers to and from the United Kingdom.