Posted Worker Remuneration: Pay, Allowances and the Article 3 Terms and Conditions

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), and host law decides who is a worker (Article 2(2)). The Directive binds Member States, so employers that send posted workers in the EU apply the host State's posting act.

The sections below cover the meaning, the nine host terms, the gross comparison, posting allowances, the sources of pay rules, three national acts and a six-step check.

What Does Remuneration Mean for a Posted Worker?

Remuneration is the pay of the host Member State in all its constituent elements: the third subparagraph of Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC defines it by national law, regulation or administrative provision, or by collective agreements declared universally applicable or applying under Article 3(8), in that Member State. It is the matter of point (c) of Article 3(1), overtime rates included, guaranteed "on the basis of equality of treatment" (consolidated text on EUR-Lex). More favourable terms stay allowed (Article 3(7), first subparagraph).

The host State defines the constituent elements, and the employer calculates the amount owed, as the European Commission's Practical Guide on Posting of 4 December 2019 explains. Every other article is covered on the page on the Posting of Workers Directive 96/71/EC.

From Minimum Rates of Pay to Remuneration in 2020

Until 29 July 2020 the Directive guaranteed only the host State's "minimum rates of pay"; since 30 July 2020 it guarantees "remuneration" (Article 1(2)(a) of Directive (EU) 2018/957).

Directive (EU) 2018/957 of 28 June 2018 (OJ L 173, 9.7.2018, p. 16) entered into force on 29 July 2018 and has applied since 30 July 2020, to road transport only since 2 February 2022. In Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein it has applied since 1 January 2023 (EEA Joint Committee Decision 19/2022). Switzerland and the United Kingdom apply their own posting regimes.

In COM(2024) 320 of 30 April 2024, the Commission found that Ireland and Portugal had kept the "minimum rates of pay" wording, and saw no need to propose amendments. The other changes are listed under the 2018 revision of the Posting of Workers Directive.

Which Host-Country Terms and Conditions Apply During a Posting?

Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC guarantees posted workers nine matters of host law, points (a) to (i), and remuneration is only one of them. The table lists the nine matters and what each means for pay.

Two short-posting exemptions touch pay. Under Article 3(2), points (b) and (c) do not apply to initial assembly or first installation where the posting does not exceed eight days, except for the building work listed in the Annex; under Article 3(3) and (4), a Member State may exempt postings of up to one month from point (c), only for postings under Article 1(3)(a) and (b).

Accommodation, Travel, Board and Lodging: Points (h) and (i)

Point (h) covers the conditions of accommodation an employer provides to workers away from their regular place of work, and point (i) covers allowances or reimbursement for travel, board and lodging.

The second subparagraph of Article 3(1) limits point (i) to travel to and from the regular workplace in the host State, or from it to another workplace in that State. Travel from the home country stays under the law of the employment relationship (Article 3(7), second subparagraph). Austria mirrors point (i) in § 3 Abs. 7 LSD-BG for travel between Austrian workplaces.

How Is a Posted Worker's Pay Compared with Host Remuneration?

The comparison is made on gross totals: recital 18 of Directive (EU) 2018/957 compares the total gross amount the posted worker receives with the total gross remuneration due in the host Member State, not each element separately. A lower base rate can be offset by other elements that count, and a higher home gross total needs no top-up. The table compares three workers posted to a host State where EUR 3,000 gross is due for the period.

These are illustrative figures, calculated, not a rate of any country: worker A's undivided allowance counts entirely as reimbursement, while worker B's split lets EUR 400 count as pay. Poland writes the gross-total rule into Article 4(4) of its Act of 10 June 2016.

What Counts Towards Remuneration and What Does Not

Only elements the host State makes mandatory, paid for the work done in the host State, enter the comparison. The two groups are listed below.

• Counts: the constituent elements of pay made mandatory by host law or applicable collective agreements, such as overtime rates, and the part of a posting allowance not paid as reimbursement (Article 3(1), third subparagraph, and Article 3(7)).
• Does not count, according to the Commission's Practical Guide on Posting: overtime under home-country rules, reimbursement of posting expenses, and compensation for additional work or particular conditions.

How Do Allowances Specific to the Posting Count?

An allowance specific to the posting is part of remuneration unless it is paid to reimburse expenditure actually incurred on account of the posting, such as travel, board and lodging (Article 3(7), second subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC). The employer reimburses that expenditure under the law that applies to the employment relationship. A posting allowance, such as a daily payment, is either pay that counts or reimbursement that does not.

Can the employer recover board and lodging from pay instead? The European Commission's Practical Guide on Posting of 4 December 2019 says board and lodging may not be deducted from the posted worker's pay. Which part of an allowance is pay and which is reimbursement is for the employer to state in the terms of employment.

The Reimbursement Presumption and the 2019 Corrigendum

Where the terms of employment do not say which parts of a posting allowance reimburse expenditure and which are pay, the entire allowance counts as reimbursement and adds nothing to remuneration (Article 3(7), third subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC).

The corrigendum in OJ L 91, 29.3.2019, p. 77, corrected the cross-reference in that subparagraph. The consolidated text now refers to expenditure "as referred to in point (i) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1", meaning travel, board and lodging, not to point (h) on accommodation.

Daily Allowances in the Case Law on the Pre-2020 Wording

Two judgments on the old "minimum rates of pay" wording show how the Court of Justice treats posting allowances. In C-396/13 Sähköalojen ammattiliitto (12 February 2015) a daily allowance paid on the same conditions as to workers posted within the host State, and travel-time compensation, counted towards the minimum wage, while accommodation and meal vouchers did not; in C-428/19 Rapidsped (8 July 2021) a duration-dependent daily allowance was a posting allowance that counted unless it reimbursed expenditure.

The other judgments, including those on scope and limitation periods, are explained in the posting of workers case law.

Where Do the Host Pay Rules Come From?

Host pay rules come from two sources only: national law, regulation or administrative provision, and collective agreements that are universally applicable or that a Member State relies on under Article 3(8) of Directive 96/71/EC. Article 3(10) lets Member States add public policy provisions on matters other than those in Article 3(1), but only on equal terms for national and foreign undertakings.

Collective Agreements under Article 3(8)

Article 3(8) applies the host State's universally applicable collective agreements and lets a Member State, in the absence of, or in addition to, a system for declaring agreements universally applicable, rely on other agreements. These are agreements or arbitration awards generally applicable to all similar undertakings in the geographical area and the profession or industry concerned, and agreements of the most representative employers' and labour organisations at national level applied throughout the national territory, provided equal treatment with national undertakings in a similar position is ensured (Article 3(8), second subparagraph).

Before 30 July 2020 collective-agreement terms had to be extended to posted workers only for the Annex building activities; since then in all sectors. In COM(2024) 320, 18 Member States applied universally applicable agreements in all sectors and nine had none (as of 30 April 2024). Holiday funds are covered under posting in construction.

Where the Constituent Elements of Pay Are Published

Each host Member State must publish the constituent elements of its remuneration on its single official national website (Article 3(1), fourth and fifth subparagraphs, of Directive 96/71/EC, with Article 5 of Directive 2014/67/EU). It must indicate clearly, free of charge, which terms and parts of national law apply (Article 5(1) and (2)(a)).

Where the website does not indicate the applicable terms, that circumstance is taken into account in determining penalties, to the extent necessary for proportionality (Article 3(1), sixth subparagraph); fines are not excluded. COM(2024) 320 named six Member States without this rule as of 30 April 2024: Ireland, Spain, France, Cyprus, Slovenia and Slovakia.

Website wording can lag behind the Directive: the English page of zoll.de (German customs) still reads "Minimum wage rates, including overtime rates" (checked 5 November 2026). Every national portal is listed under single official websites.

How National Laws Mirror the Remuneration Rules

Employers apply the remuneration rules through the host State's posting act, and the three acts in the table below show how Germany, Austria and Poland wrote Article 3 into national law.

Wage levels and collective-agreement rates appear only on the dated country pages.

How to Meet the Remuneration Rules for a Posting

Run the remuneration check for each posting before it starts and again whenever the host rules or the posting change.

Every other duty is set out in the posting compliance checklist. The six steps are listed below.

1. Identify the host State and sector, then read its single official website.
2. List the constituent elements that host law and applicable agreements make mandatory.
3. Split any posting allowance in the contract into pay and reimbursement.
4. Compare gross totals for the work done in the host State and top up the difference.
5. Reimburse travel, board and lodging under the law of the employment relationship, without deducting them from pay (Commission Practical Guide on Posting).
6. Keep pay records for the posting declarations and inspection, see documents for posted workers, and know the posting penalties.

Article 3 rights can be enforced in the host Member State (Article 6 of Directive 96/71/EC), and under Rapidsped a breach of host minimum-pay rules can also be invoked before a court of the sending State.

Remuneration Beyond the Pay Check: Duration, Written Information and Social Security

Remuneration is one part of a posting, and five neighbouring rules decide what else the employer owes, each on its own page.

• Labour-law clock: after 12 months, or 18 on a motivated notification, all applicable host terms apply except contract conclusion and termination and supplementary occupational pensions (Article 3(1a) of Directive 96/71/EC); the worker stays posted. See long-term posting after 12 months.
• Written information: Article 7(2) of Directive (EU) 2019/1152 requires written information on host remuneration, posting allowances, reimbursement arrangements and the host website link, except where each work period abroad is four consecutive weeks or less, unless the Member State provides otherwise (Article 7(4)).
• Social-security clock: the A1 certificate shows which State's legislation applies, for an anticipated duration of up to 24 months under Article 12(1) of Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 (the 24-month posting rule).
• Drivers: Directive (EU) 2018/957 has applied to road transport since 2 February 2022 (posting of drivers).
• Agency workers and enforcement: posted agency workers receive the terms of Article 5 of Directive 2008/104/EC (Article 3(1b)); inspections and documents follow the Enforcement Directive 2014/67/EU.

The 12-month and 18-month labour-law limits and the 24-month social-security limit are separate clocks.

Posted Worker Remuneration Questions

Five questions come up most often about what a posted worker must be paid.

Do posted workers have to be paid the host country's minimum wage?

In the EU, the guarantee has been wider than a minimum wage since 30 July 2020: posted workers must receive the host remuneration in all its mandatory constituent elements, compared as a gross total (Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/957). In Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein the amended rules have applied since 1 January 2023. Dated national figures sit on each country page under posting rules by country.

Can board and lodging be deducted from a posted worker's pay?

No: the European Commission's Practical Guide on Posting (4 December 2019) says board and lodging may not be deducted from a posted worker's pay, and Article 3(7) of Directive 96/71/EC makes the employer reimburse such expenditure under the law that applies to the employment relationship.

Is a posting allowance part of the pay?

Yes, unless it reimburses expenditure actually incurred on account of the posting; if the terms of employment do not split the allowance, the entire allowance counts as reimbursement and not as pay (Article 3(7), third subparagraph, of Directive 96/71/EC).

Does equal pay mean posted workers earn exactly what local workers earn?

No: Directive 96/71/EC guarantees posted workers the host State's mandatory remuneration on the basis of equality of treatment, compared as a gross total, and an employer may always pay more under more favourable terms (Article 3(7)). Gender pay equality and pay transparency are a separate EU topic not covered here.

Who publishes the pay rules a posted worker must receive?

The host Member State publishes the constituent elements of remuneration on its single official national website (Article 3(1) of Directive 96/71/EC and Article 5 of Directive 2014/67/EU), and the employer calculates the amount owed.