Long-Term Posting: The 12-Month Rule, the Motivated Notification for 18 Months and What Applies After

A posted worker is "a worker who, for a limited period, carries out his work in the territory of a Member State other than the State in which he normally works" (Article 2(1) of Directive 96/71/EC). The 12-month and 18-month thresholds run on the labour-law clock and have applied since 30 July 2020 in the EU and since 1 January 2023 in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein (EEA Joint Committee Decision 19/2022). The Directive binds Member States, so employers that send posted workers in the EU follow the host State's posting act.

The sections below explain how the 12 months are counted, which host terms apply afterwards, how the motivated notification works in 12 States, why no end date exists, how the separate 24-month social security clock runs and how to prepare a long posting in six steps.

What Is Long-Term Posting under Article 3(1a)?

Long-term posting is the Commission's name for a posting whose effective duration exceeds 12 months: Article 3(1a), first subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC then adds all applicable host terms and conditions of employment to the nine matters of Article 3(1). The Directive itself does not use the term (consolidated text on EUR-Lex). Article 1(2)(b) of Directive (EU) 2018/957 of 28 June 2018 (OJ L 173, 9.7.2018, p. 16) inserted the paragraph; that amending Directive entered into force on 29 July 2018 and has applied since 30 July 2020.

Article 3(1a) of Directive 96/71/EC has five subparagraphs, each with one rule. The first adds the host terms after 12 months, the second excludes two matters, the third moves the threshold to 18 months on a motivated notification, the fourth adds together the postings of workers who replace each other, and the fifth sets the test for "the same task at the same place". The other articles of the act are explained on the page on the Posting of Workers Directive 96/71/EC.

Counting the 12 Months When Workers Replace Each Other

Where a service provider replaces one posted worker with another who carries out the same task at the same place, the durations of all their postings are added together for the 12-month threshold (Article 3(1a), fourth subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC). Rotating workers therefore does not restart the clock. In a calculated example, a first worker is posted for eight months and a second worker takes over the same task at the same site: the cumulative duration exceeds 12 months once the second worker has been posted for more than four months.

The fifth subparagraph of Article 3(1a) decides when the task and the place are the same. The assessment takes into account, among other things, the nature of the service to be provided, the work to be performed and the address or addresses of the workplace. The threshold therefore follows the task at a place, not the individual worker, and one 12-month period can run across a chain of workers.

National acts copy the counting rule. Germany mirrors it in § 13c AEntG, which does not apply the cumulation to drivers (§ 13c Abs. 8 AEntG), and drivers in international road transport follow their own rule under Article 1(8) of Directive (EU) 2020/1057. Article 3(1a), with its counting rule, is one of the changes of the 2018 revision of the Posting of Workers Directive.

Which Host Terms Apply After 12 or 18 Months?

After 12 months, or 18 months following a motivated notification, the host Member State's applicable terms and conditions of employment apply to the posted worker in addition to the nine Article 3(1) matters, with two exceptions. Until then only the nine matters, points (a) to (i) of Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC, are guaranteed. The table shows the three periods on the labour-law clock.

Two national acts show the rule in practice. Austria applies Austrian labour law in full after 12 months where it is more favourable, except the BMSVG (staff provision), the BPG (company pensions) and the conclusion and termination of the contract, including non-competition clauses (§ 2 Abs. 3 LSD-BG). Poland excludes contract conclusion and termination, non-competition clauses and the PPE and PPK pension schemes (Articles 4a and 4b of the Act of 10 June 2016 on the posting of workers).

The Two Matters That Stay with the Home Law

Article 3(1a), second subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC keeps two matters out of the host terms even after 12 or 18 months. The two excluded matters are listed below.

• (a) Procedures, formalities and conditions of the conclusion and termination of the employment contract, including non-competition clauses.
• (b) Supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes.

The Directive lists no other exclusion, so every further applicable host term applies from month 13 or month 19. In months 1 to 12 the guarantee stays limited to the nine Article 3(1) matters, and what they mean for pay is explained under posted worker remuneration.

How the Motivated Notification Extends the Period to 18 Months

A service provider that submits a motivated notification to the host Member State moves the threshold from 12 to 18 months (Article 3(1a), third subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC). The Directive leaves the form, the recipient and the deadline to national law. In COM(2024) 320 of 30 April 2024, the Commission found that every Member State except Ireland requires a motivated notification for the extension and that the timeframes vary (as of 30 April 2024).

Germany shows how one host State fills these gaps. Under § 13b Abs. 2 AEntG the employer sends a Mitteilung (notification) in German, in text form under § 126b BGB, to the Generalzolldirektion of German customs before 12 months of employment in Germany expire. The Mitteilung states each worker's surname, first names and date of birth, the place of work (for construction work, the site), the reasons for exceeding 12 months and the expected duration. German customs on zoll.de names the mailbox mitteilung.langzeitentsendung@zoll.de and accepts e-mail without a signature.

The Generalzolldirektion confirms receipt but does not keep the notification, so the employer keeps the notice and the confirmation. Receipt is confirmed only for the first 10 e-mails from the same address within one hour (zoll.de, checked 5 November 2026). Where employment in Germany began before 30 July 2020, the notification is deemed given (§ 41 Abs. 2 AEntG).

A Notification, Not an Authorisation

The motivated notification informs the host State; it is not a request for permission, and the European Commission's Practical Guide on Posting describes it as a notification that may have to state reasons. The 18-month threshold follows from a notification made in the form and within the deadline of the host State's act, not from a decision of an authority.

The Practical Guide on Posting of 4 December 2019 is Commission guidance, not law. National acts decide what the notification contains, as the four German data items under § 13b Abs. 2 AEntG show.

How National Laws Set the Motivated Notification

Employers file the motivated notification under the host State's posting act, and the 12 national rules in the table below show that the recipient and the deadline differ from one State to the next. Ireland, in the last State row, sets no 12-month or 18-month notification: S.I. 374/2020 contains no such provision, and COM(2024) 320 records that Ireland applies the same terms regardless of the posting's duration. Every row reflects the national acts as of 5 November 2026.

Switzerland, outside the EU and the EEA, applies no 12-month or 18-month long-term rule under its posting act, the Entsendegesetz (EntsG). Its posting terms and declaration are explained under posting rules in Switzerland.

Does a Long-Term Posting Have to End After 18 Months?

No: labour law sets no maximum length for a posting, and after 12 or 18 months the worker stays posted while the extra host terms apply (Article 3(1a) of Directive 96/71/EC, recital 10 of Directive (EU) 2018/957). The threshold changes which terms apply, not whether the posting may continue. A snippet that "limits postings to 12 months" therefore misreads Directive (EU) 2018/957.

The worker keeps the status of a posted worker for the whole posting. The host State's posting declaration and document duties therefore continue after month 12 or month 18, alongside the extra host terms.

In COM(2024) 320 of 30 April 2024, the Commission reviewed the application of Directive (EU) 2018/957 and did not see any need to propose amendments (as of 30 April 2024).

Long-Term Posting and the 24-Month Social Security Clock

The 12 and 18 months of Article 3(1a) of Directive 96/71/EC are a labour-law clock and have nothing to do with the 24 months of Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004, which decide which State's social security legislation applies. The table compares the two clocks.

An A1 can cover an anticipated duration of up to 24 months while the extra host terms start in month 13, or in month 19 after a motivated notification, so one posting runs on both clocks at once. The conditions of the 24-month posting rule are explained on their own page.

Regulation (EU) 2026/2359, in force since 1 November 2026, inserts a new replacement rule into Article 12(3) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 from 2 November 2028: a person who replaces a sent person who did not complete the work stays under the sending State's legislation if the total duration of all persons concerned does not exceed 24 months. Persons sent before 2 November 2028 stay under the old Article 12 (Article 87b(4) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 as amended). The take-over of Regulation (EU) 2026/2359 by Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland is pending as of 5 November 2026.

How to Prepare a Posting That May Exceed 12 Months

Plan the long-term posting from the start date, because the national deadline for the motivated notification falls around the end of month 12: before it in Germany and Romania, within 5 days after it in Italy. The host State's act sets the latest date, as the national table shows.

Every other duty before, during and after the posting is set out in the posting compliance checklist. The six planning steps for the long-term part are listed below.

1. File the host State's posting declaration; Article 9(1)(a) of Directive 2014/67/EU lets Member States require it at the latest at the commencement of the service provision (posting declarations).
2. Record the start date and every earlier posting of a worker who did the same task at the same place.
3. Diary the national deadline from the host act, for example the day before the 12-month period ends in Romania.
4. Send the motivated notification with its reasons and keep the proof of receipt.
5. List the extra host terms that apply from month 13 or month 19, then adjust the contract and the records.
6. Check the social security period separately under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004; the A1 certificate shows which legislation applies.

Where the posting goes on past month 18, the extra host terms keep applying, because Directive 96/71/EC provides no second extension.

Long-Term Posting Beyond Article 3(1a): Drivers, Agency Workers, the A1 and Case Law

Five neighbouring rules change how the 12-month threshold works or what else the employer owes, and each is explained on its own page. The five rules are listed below.

• Drivers: under Article 1(8) of Directive (EU) 2020/1057, which has applied since 2 February 2022, a driver's posting in international carriage ends when the driver leaves the host State, and its periods are not cumulated for Article 3(1a) (posting of drivers).
• Agency workers: posted temporary agency workers receive the terms of Article 5 of Directive 2008/104/EC under Article 3(1b) of Directive 96/71/EC (posting by temporary work agencies).
• A1 certificate: how long the A1 certificate is valid and when it can be withdrawn.
• Beyond 24 months: cover under the sending State's legislation needs an agreement under Article 16 of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 (Article 16 exception agreements).
• Case law: on 8 December 2020 the Court of Justice (Grand Chamber) dismissed the actions of Hungary and Poland against Directive (EU) 2018/957 in C-620/18 and C-626/18 (posting of workers case law).

Long-Term Posting Questions

Five questions come up most often about postings longer than 12 months.

How long can a worker be posted under the Posting of Workers Directive?

Directive 96/71/EC sets no maximum: after 12 months, or 18 months following a motivated notification, the worker stays posted and receives all applicable host terms except two (Article 3(1a)). This rule has applied in the EU since 30 July 2020 and in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein since 1 January 2023.

Does the motivated notification need the host authority's approval?

No: under Article 3(1a), third subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC the motivated notification is a notification with reasons, not an authorisation. The host State's posting act sets its form, recipient and deadline, for example § 13b Abs. 2 AEntG in Germany.

Do host supplementary pension rules apply after 12 months?

No: supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes stay excluded after 12 or 18 months, as do the procedures, formalities and conditions of concluding and ending the employment contract, including non-competition clauses (Article 3(1a), second subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/957).

Is the 12-month limit the same as the 24 months of the A1?

No: the 12 and 18 months of Article 3(1a) of Directive 96/71/EC decide which host employment terms apply, while the 24 months of Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 decide which State's social security legislation applies. The two periods run side by side.

Does a replacement worker start a new 12-month period?

No: where a service provider replaces a posted worker with another who carries out the same task at the same place, the durations of both postings are added together for the 12-month threshold (Article 3(1a), fourth subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC).