The status of British workers seconded to France changes following Brexit. What are the impacts of this change?
Brexit defines the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union, and came into force on 1st January 2021. The so-called “transitional” period, provided for by the withdrawal agreement established by the European Council on 17th October 2019, ended on 31st December 2020.
At this point European law ceased to apply in the United Kingdom. The UK is therefore definitively considered a third country to the European Union.
Consequently, British employers who have posted or who plan to post employees to France will have to comply with the new administrative formalities that apply to them, from 1st January 2021, with regard to Labour and Immigration laws.
The application of French labour law does not change for seconded British workers
French regulations on the posting of employees apply to all workers posted to France, regardless of their nationality. Therefore, Brexit does not impact the situation of posted workers with regard to labour law.
Thus, employers or mandating parties must, except in special cases, make a prior posting declaration for each employee seconded and appoint a representative on French territory.
As a reminder, the decree of 28th July 2020 and its new rules concerning posting to France came into force on 30th July 2020.This concerns in particular the term for which the legal provisions relating to a secondment apply. In effect, the duration of a secondment is now limited to twelve months. An extension of up to six months will be possible when the situation warrants it.
For more information on the new regulation relating to the posting of employees in France, see our article dedicated to this >>
Application of Immigration Law has changed for posted UK workers
UK employees seconded before 31st December 2020
The administrative situation of British workers posted to France has been impacted by the UK’s exit from the European Union.
As the United Kingdom is no longer a member state of the European Union, French immigration law provides for specific provisions for British nationals, and especially to posted employees.
Thus, according to Article 5 of Decree No. 202-1417 of 19th November 2020, from 1st October 2021, employees seconded to France for an assignment that began before 31st December 2020, are required to have:
- A valid passport;
- A residence permit which bears the wording “accord de retrait” (withdrawal agreement), the duration of which depends on the following situations:
- Posted employees who have resided in France for at least 5 years, without being absent from French territory for a period exceeding 5 consecutive years, will be granted a residence permit valid for 10 years;
- Posted employees who have resided in France for less than 5 years will be granted a residence permit valid for 1 to 5 years.
Furthermore, any request for a residence permit must be made via the dedicated portal before 1st July 2021.
Employees with an optional residence permit, marked “Citoyen de l’Union européenne” (Citizen of the European Union), will have to apply to change their residence permit using the same portal. They have until 1st July 2021 to apply. This new residence permit will be issued to them free of charge.
Furthermore, Article 30 of the Withdrawal Agreement states that posted workers with a residence permit bearing the words “accord de retrait” (withdrawal agreement) are not required to have a work permit for the duration of their secondment on French soil.
The document bearing the wording “withdrawal agreement” is effectively a work permit, so posted employees are exempt from this obligation.
In addition, the rights they acquired during previous periods, as well as their social security coverage will be maintained until the end of their assignment, provided that their situation remains unchanged and that their assignment has not been interrupted.
Family members of posted UK workers will be subject to the same regulations.
British employees seconded from 1st January 2021
Any British employee posted to France after 1st January 2021 will not be required to obtain a short-stay visa if the duration of their assignment is less than or equal to 90 days.
On the other hand, if a seconded British employee carries out an assignment on French territory for a period of more than 90 days, then common law regulations apply. In which case, they will have to obtain a work permit before their arrival in France.
This permit can take one of the following forms:
- A long-stay visa serving as a residence permit;
- A residence permit;
- A document separate from the residence document. This could be:
- A provisional residence document bearing the wording “autorise son titulaire à travailler” (authorises the holder to work);
- A provisional work permit (APT)
ASD Group specialises in the management of employee posting with the help of its So Posting Worker online platform, to support you in complying with the obligations relating to the posting of employees, and takes care of all your administrative procedures.
For any request for information on posting obligations and administrative procedures, contact our experts.
