The trend of temporarily working from abroad is definitely there. As an employer you can decide on whether and how to facilitate this for your employees. It might be a good idea to make agreements with your employee in advance.
Subjects to think about and to discuss
When your non EU employee wants to work from abroad there are basic things that you best discuss, like:
- Period and duration: general guidelines on how long your employees can work from abroad. Planning of meetings, etc.
- Destination: guidelines on time differences and how this can impact/ affect the work.
- Accessibility: is there reliable internet connection and is the electricity network stable?
- Working days: let the employee inform colleagues and clients on working times.
Working from abroad with a Dutch residence permit
Depending on the country where your employee would like to work remotely, visa requirements might be applicable. A number of countries know procedures for a remote working visa.
A non EU employee can travel for max. 90 out of 180 days within the Schengen area. However, this does not mean that the employee may work! We recommend checking whether there are any extra conditions for working remotely in another Schengen area, as the relevant Member State’s national laws may be applicable.
Your employee must fullfil all the requirements for their residence permit at any time. One of the requirements is that your employee keeps the main residence in the Netherlands. In that light it is important that your employee is officially registered on a address in the Netherlands. An employee who holds a residence permit as a highly skilled migrant can immigration wise work maximumally 8 out of 12 months from abroad. Separate periods will be added up.
Indicators for other residence
As mentioned above, in most cases it’s important that your non EU employees stays registered in the Netherlands. Circumstances that could implicate that the main residence has been moved:
- Employee deregistered from the Tax Authority (in Dutch: Belastingdienst).
- The pension rights were bought off.
- Employee cancelled bank account.
- Employee deregistered from town hall.
- Employee has let or sublet their house.
Working from abroad and tax
Not only the immigration part is important. Please do also always check on tax consequences!
Tax regulations differs per country. Your employee could request an A1-certificate, which proves the employee falls under the social security system of the Netherlands. An A1-certificate can be requested from the Social Insurance Bank (in Dutch: Sociale Verzekeringsbank, SVB). The certificate will only be issued for working within the EU/EEA or in a treaty country.
More info
If you have any questions regarding working remotely with a Dutch residence permit, do not hesitate to contact us at info@settleservice.com.
