Due to generally much lower tax rates than in Western European countries, temporary workers (especially from Eastern European countries) are covered by social security in the country of establishment of the temporary employment agency and not in the country of deployment.

Which national social security law is applicable to temporary agency workers working across borders? The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now dealt with this explosive question (judgment of 03.06.2021, ref. C-784/19).

The continuing globalisation of the economy means that companies have to deploy their employees very flexibly – sometimes worldwide. This in return creates a significant challenge not only for the companies but also for their employees in terms of social security law.