Characteristics of foreign teleworking

Since the advent of the COVID-19, many French companies have been adopting telecommuting as a way to continue their business. However, many employees are taking advantage of this opportunity to request to work remotely from another country. Although the concept seems very appealing, such a decision needs to be carefully reviewed. Indeed, telecommuting employees from abroad can have various impacts: labor law, social security…

What the labor law says

From a legal point of view, no regulations prohibit an employee to telework from abroad. But this does not mean that he can decide it unilaterally. First of all, the employee must inform his employer of his decision. The employer remains the final decision-maker in this case. If both parties agree, then it is recommended that they draw up a number of elements in a document that will form an addendum to the employment contract.

As for the law applicable to the employment contract, the employer and the employee are both free to choose it. However, the rules concerning the protection of the worker in the host country must be respected, such as the working hours, the minimum pay, etc. If there is no law chosen, the law of the country where the company is located will apply.

What about Social Security ?

When an employee is teleworking abroad, the applicable social security depends on the country where the employee is located :

• If telecommuting takes place within the European Union, the employee is covered by the social security system of the country from which he/she works, provided that he/she resides and carries out at least 25 % of his/her activity there. In the opposite case, the social security of the country where the company is established is applicable.
• If the employee decides to telework in a country outside the European Union, it is necessary to check the convention signed by the two countries and which concerns the applicable social security. If such agreements exist, they usually allow the employee to remain subject to French legislation. Otherwise, the social security of the host country applies, except if the telework lasts less than 6 years and the employee notifies it to the NSSO.

Other conditions for foreign telework

A number of elements must also be considered by the employer, before allowing one of his employees to operate from abroad. The first thing to do is to specify the time slots during which the employee must be available. But it can be difficult to set up if the time zone difference is important. Nevertheless, it is possible to check the time the employee is online with the computer system.

The second point is that teleworking abroad entails additional costs for the employer. The employer has to pay all the expenditures that the employee needs to carry out the professional activity : internet connection, mobile phone… But besides, he has to pay the travel fees between the host country and France when the presence of the employee is necessary within the company.

And last but not least, the employer has to be extremely careful about computer security when teleworking overseas. The employee will have to access the company’s computer network and confidential files to work. In this case, the employer should respect the National Agency for Information Systems Security (ANSSI) recommendations.
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