The Framework Exemption Agreement – Social Security Protection for Cross-Border Teleworkers in the EU and EFTA

Social security has always been an important aspect of the EU cross border employment, ensuring that migrant workers are protected by the social security coordination system. With the rise of cross-border telework, there has been a need to adapt EU social security regulations to accommodate the changing nature of work. Therefore, it was enacted a temporary special regulation to protect cross-border teleworkers in EU/EEA. It was implemented during the Covid-19 and expired on June 30, 2023. Even after the pandemic, the popularity of the telework has continued and an enactment of a new Exemption Agreement seemed to be necessary. The EU’s Exemption Agreement, in force, is relevant only for cross-border tele-commuters/teleworkers who regularly telework in their state of residence, and the general provisions of the EU social security coordination rules will not be applied automatically to them. Instead, the Framework Exemption Agreement (hereinafter: Agreement) facilitates between the signatory states the conclusion of individual derogations in the interest of a category of employed cross-border teleworkers and their employer(s). Legally speaking, the Exemption Agreement based on the application of Article 16 (1) of Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 in cases of habitual cross-border teleworking employees. The aim of this paper is to introduce the legal framework and essential procedurial issues of the Exemption Agreement on the EU social security coordination and to formulate some critical views on it.