ADVISORY DECISION No. 02/2025

of the Joint Administrat be Committee established by Article 69 of the Convention on Social Security Coordination between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation

of 27 November 2025

concerning the interpretationof Article 44 of the 2021 ConventIon on Social Security between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Swiss Confederation (“the Convention”) on the legislation applicable to detached workers and setf4mployed persons temporarily working outside the competent State,

THE JOINT ADMiNISTRATIVE COMMiTrEE, Having regard to Article 69(2) and (3) of the Convention, under which the Joint Administrative Committee is responsible for monitoring, reviewing the intelpntaHon, implementationand application of the Convention and may make recommendations and may adopt decisions in respect of all matters where the Convention so provides, Having regard to Article 14 of the Convention, Havingregardto Articles 5, 6 and 13 to 19 of Annex 1 to the Convention, Whereas:

(1) Pursuant to Article 69(3) of the Convention, the Joint Administrative Committee has the power to adopt decisions in respect of all matterswhere the Convention so provides , (2) The provisions of Article 14 of the Convention, which provide for an exception to the general rule laid down in Article 13(3)(a) of the Convention aim, in particular, to facilitatethe provision of services forthe benefit of employers which send workers to the State other than that in which they are established . (3) The purpose of these provisionsis to avoid, for workers, employers, and social security institutions,the administrativecomplications which would result from the application of the general rule laid down in Article 13(3)(a) of the Convention where the period of d8tachment b of short duration in the other State. (4) To thisend, the first decisiveconditionfor the appIIcationof Article 14(1) of the Convention is the existenceof a direct relationshipbetweenthe employer and the worker it engages. (5) The protectionof the workerand the legal security to whIch the worker and the institutionwith which the worker is insured are entitledrequire full guarantees that the direct relationship be maintainedthroughouthe periodof temporarywork activityin the other State (pent>dof detachment). (6) ILe second decisive_condition for applicationof Article 14(1)of the Convention is the existence of ties between the employer and the State in which it is established. The possibility of a perk>d of detachment in the other State should therefore be confined solely to undertakings normally carrying on their business in the territoryof the State whose legislation remains applicable to the detached workers assuming therefore that the above provisions apply only to undertakings which onIinadlyperform substantialactivities in tho territory of the State in which they are established . g) Pursuant to Article 13(1)(b) and (3) of Annex 1 to the Convention, prior minimum peHods for employedpersons and selfemployedpersons should be agreed by the Joint Administrative Committee.

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(8) There can no longerbe any guaranteeof maintainIngthe dIrectrelationshipif the detached worker in the other State is made available to a third undertaking. (9) It is necessary to be able to carTy out, throughout the period of detachment in the other State, all the checks, in particular with regard to the payment of contrIbutions and the maintenance of On direct relationship,required to prevent wrongful use of the abovementionedprovisions, and to ensure that administrativebodies, employers and workers are suitably informed. (10) The detached worker and the employer should be duly informedof the conditions under which the detached worker in the other State is allowed to remain subject to the legislation of the country from whichthey have been sent. (11) ILe duty of mutualinformationand cooperation is required by institutionsand persons Covemi to ensure the correct implementationof the Convention.

HAS ADOPTED THISADVISORY DECISION: Article 7 1. The provisions of Article 14(1) of the Convention should apply to a worker subject to the legislationof a State (sending State) by virtue of the pursuit of an activity in the employ of an employer and yao is sent by that employerto the other State (State of employment)in order to perform work there for that employer. 2. Ihe work should be regarded as being performed forthe employer of the sending State if it has been establishedthat this work is beingperformed for thatemployer and that there continues to exist a direct relatiQnshipbetweenthe worker and the employerthat sent the worker, 3. In order to establish whether such a direct relationship continues to exist, assuming therefore that the worker continues to be underthe authority of the employerwhich sent them, a number of elements have to be taken into account, includingnsponsibility for recruitment,employment contract, remuneration(withoutprejudice to possibleagreements betweenthe employer in the sending State and the undertakingin the State of employmenton the paymentto the workers), dismissal, and the authorityto determine the nature of the work. 4, For the applicationof Article 13(1)(b) of Annex 1 to the ConventIon, the Joint Administrative Committeehas agreed that, as an indicatIon,havIng been subject to the legislationof the State in which the employeris established for at least one monthcan be considered as meeting the prior minimumperiod of time. Shorter periods would require a casbby4ase evaluation takirB account of allthe otherfactors involved. 5. In order, vWren necessary and in cases of doubt, to determine whether an employer ordinarily performs substantial activities in the territory of the State in which the employer is established, the competentinstitution in the latteris required to examineall the criteria characterisingthe activities carried on by that employer, including the place where the undertaking has its regIstered offimand administration, the number of administrative staff working in the State in which it is established and in the other State, the place where detached workers are recruited and the place where the majorityof contracts withclients are concluded, the law applicable to the contracts concluded by the undertakingwith its workers, on the one hand, and with its clients, on the other hand, the turnover during an app©pHately typical period in each State concerned and the number of contracts performed in the sending State. This is not an exhaustive list, as the criteria shouki be adapted to each specific case and take account of the nature of the activitiescarried out by the undertaking in the State in which it is established.

Article2 1. 'Cross+)order telework' is an activitywhich can be pursued from any location and could be performed at the employer’s premises or place of business and :

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is carried out in the other State to which the employer’s premIses or the place of business is situated; and is based on informationtechnology to remainconnected to the employer’s or business's working environmentin order to fulfilthe employee’s tasks assigned by the employer or clients 2. The term "sent by that employer-in Article 14(1) of the Convention should also apply to those employees, who have the agreement of their employer, either formally or informally, to perform cross+>order telework on behalf of theIr employer for all of their working time for a temporary period, which takes place on a on hoff or ad-hoc basis and is not part of the habitual working pattern. Ihe other conditions for a period of-detachment laid down in Article 14 of the Convention and Article 13 of Annex 1 to the Convention need to be fulfilled in such situations.

Article3 For the applicationof Article13(3) of Annex 1 to the Convention, the fulfilmentof the requirements in the State where the person is establishedis assessed on criteriasuch as having use of ofFm space, paying taxes, having a professional card and a VAT number, or being registered with chambers of commerce or professionalbodies. The Joint AdministrativeCommittee has agreed that, as an indication,pursuing one's activity for at least two months can be considered as meeting the requirementreferred to by the words 'for a minimum pericxI of time before the date when they wish to take advantage of the provisions of that Article' . Shorter periods would require a case+3y4ase evaluatIontaking account of allthe other factors involved.

Article 4 1. Pursuant to the provisions of Article 1(1) of this Advisory Decision, Article 14(1) of the Convention should continue to apply to the detached worker, if the detached worker, sent by an undertaking in the sending State to an undertakingin the State of employment,is also sent to one or more other undertakings in the same State of employment, as long as the worker continues to carly out his work forthe undertaking Which sent that worker. This may be the case, in particular, if th undertaking sending the worker to a State in order to perform work there successively or simultaneously in two or more undertakIngs situated in the State of employment. The essential and decisive elementis that the work continues to be carried out on behalf of the sending undertaking. 2. Brief interruptionof the worker’s activities with the undertaking in the State of employmenl whatever the reason (holidays, iltness, training at the sending undertaking...), should not constitutean interruptionof the periodof detachment withinthe meaning of Article 14(1) of the Convention. 3. Once a worker has ended a periodof detachment, no fresh period of detachment for the same worker, the same undertakingsin the other State can be authorised untilat least tum months have elapsed from the date of expiry of the previous period of detachment. Derogation from ths principle is, however, permissible in specific circumstances.

Article 5 The provisions of Article14(1) of the Convention should not apply, or should cease to apply, if the undertakingto whichthe worker has been sent places him at the disposal of another undertaking in that State.

Article 6 1 The competent insHtutionofthe State to whose leglslationthe person concerned remains subject pursuant to Article 14(1) of the Convention, in the cases providedfor by this Decision, shouk! duly inform the employer, and tho worker concerned , of the conditions under which the detached worker may continue to be subject to its legIslation. The employer should , therefore, be informaJ

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of the possibility of checks throughoutthe pwiod of detachment so as to ascertain that thIs period has not come to an end. Such checks may relate, in particular,to the paymentof contribution and to the maintenance of the direct relationship. 2. The competentinstitutionof the State in which the person concerned is established, to whose legislationthe selfemployed person remainssubject pursuant to Article14(2) of the Convention should duly informthe self employed person of the conditions under which th.eperson concerned may continue to be subject to its legislation. The person concerned should be informed of the possibilityof cheGksthroughoutthe period during which they are active, so as to ascertain that the conditions applying to that activity have not changed. Such checks may relate, in particular, to the payment of contributions and the maintenance of the infrastructure needed to pursue their activity in the State in which they are established. 3. Moreover, the detached worker and their employer should inform the competent institutionof tIn sending State of any change occurring during the pedod of detachment, in particulars if the period of detachment applied for has in the end not taken place,

if the actIvIty is Interrupted in a case other than that provided for in Article 4(2) of this Advisory Decision, if the detached worker has been assigned by their employer to another undertaking in the sending State, in particular in the event of merger or transfer of an undertaking. 4. Ihe competentinstitutionof the sending State should, where appropriate and upon request, providethe institutionof theState of employmentwiththe informationreferred to in paragraph 3 of this Article. 5 Ihe competent institutionsof the sendIng State and of the State of employment should cooperate in carrying out the abovementionedchecks and where there is any doubt concerning the applicability of Article 14 of the Convention.

Article 7 Ihe competent institutionsshould assess and monitor the situations covered by Article 14 of ttn ConventIon. In particular,the criteria used forassessing whether an employer normallycarries out its activitiesin the territoryof a State, whether a direct relationshipexists betweenthe undertakIng and the worker, or whether a selfemployed person maintains the infrastructure needed to pursue his activityin a State, must be applied consistently and evenly in the same or similar situations.

Article8 The JoInt AdministrativeCommittee should encourage cooperation between the competed authoritiesand Institutions in theirStates for the purposeof implementing Article14 of the Convention as well as the exchange of information,experience and good practicewhen fixkg and gradingthe criteriafor assessing the situationsof undertakingsand workers, and in connectionWth the controlmeasures put in place. To this end, it may draw up in stages, forthe benefit of administrative authorities, undertakings, and workers, further guidance concerning detached workers and the pursuit by self.employed workers of a secondary activity outside the State in which they are established.

Article 9 IbIs Advisory Decision shaHenterinto force on the date of its adoption,

Done at Bem and London. on 27 November 2025

For the Joint Administrative Committee

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It( L The Co-Chairs

Stephan Cueni

d/7[bt Mike Haslam