Working abroad

Social security in the EU and the A1 form: where you pay contributions

If you work across European countries, one rule protects you: you pay contributions in only one country at a time. Here is how that country is chosen, what the A1 form is for, and what happens to your pension, healthcare and unemployment benefits.

7 min read

Who this is for

For people who work or look for work in an EU country other than their own, people who are posted abroad, people who work in two or more countries (including teleworking from the country where they live) and people returning after years abroad. The same rules also apply to Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland.

In short

  • You are subject to the legislation of only one country: as a rule, the one where you physically work.
  • If you are posted for no more than 24 months you stay insured at home, with the A1 form.
  • If you normally work in several countries, your country of residence applies if you do a “substantial part” (25% or more) of your work there.
  • A framework agreement allows, on request, staying insured in the employer’s country with telework from home below 50%.
  • Periods worked in different countries are added together for pensions and other benefits.

General information, not legal advice. Rules change and have exceptions. Always check the official text in the sources below and, for your own case, talk to a trade union, a qualified lawyer or the competent public authority.

One country at a time

Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 coordinates the social security systems of EU countries. The first rule: you are subject to the legislation of one country only. The general rule is that the law of the country where you carry out your work, as an employee or self-employed person, applies (Art. 11(1) and 11(3)(a)). [1] What counts is where you actually work, not where the company is based or where you live. [4]

Posting: up to 24 months in your home system

If your employer sends you to work in another EU country on its behalf, you stay insured in your home country as long as the expected duration does not exceed 24 months and you are not sent to replace another person. The same applies to a self-employed person doing similar work in another country (Art. 12). [1]

Work in two or more countries

If you normally work as an employee in two or more countries, the law of your country of residence applies if you do a substantial part of your work there; otherwise the law of the country where your employer has its registered office applies (Art. 13(1)). [1] Under Regulation (EC) No 987/2009, the “substantial part” is assessed using criteria such as working time and pay: a share below 25% indicates that no substantial part is done in that country. The assessment looks at the expected situation over the following 12 months (Art. 14(8) and (10)). [2]

Cross-border telework

Since 1 July 2023 the Administrative Commission for social security coordination applies the normal rules to telework: occasional, temporary telework can fall under posting (Art. 12); habitual telework in several countries falls under Art. 13 and the 25% rule. [4]

Several countries have signed a framework agreement based on Art. 16 of the Regulation, which allows agreed exceptions. [1] Under it, on request, you can stay insured in the country where your employer is based even if you telework from home, in your country of residence, for less than 50% of your working time. [4] It applies only between signatory countries and to employees, and both employer and employee must agree. Italy has applied it since 1 January 2024; the up-to-date list of signatories is published by the Belgian social security administration. [5]

The A1 form

The A1 portable document certifies which social security legislation applies to you. It is used by posted workers and by people working in several countries at the same time, to prove that they pay contributions in another country. [3] The competent institution issues it at your or your employer’s request (Art. 19(2) of Regulation 987/2009). [2] In Italy it is issued by INPS through an online procedure: depending on the case, the application is made by the worker (for example a self-employed person or someone working in several countries) or by the employer (for example when posting a domestic worker or a public employee); check the INPS page for the procedure that applies to you. [12]

Pensions: periods are added together

If a right depends on periods of insurance, employment or residence, the country must also count those completed in other EU countries (Art. 6, aggregation). [1] Each country where you worked pays its share of your pension. You apply to the institution of the country where you live or last worked, which collects data from the other countries. [6]

Healthcare during a stay: the EHIC

During a temporary stay in another country you are entitled to the care that becomes medically necessary, on the same terms as people insured there (Art. 19). [1] The proof is the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC), issued free of charge by your health insurer. [7] In Italy the EHIC is on the back of the national health card (tessera sanitaria). [13]

Unemployment: U1 and U2 forms

The U1 form certifies the insurance periods to be counted when calculating unemployment benefit in another country. The U2 form lets you keep receiving unemployment benefit while you look for work in another country. [3] The conditions: be registered as unemployed for at least 4 weeks before leaving (unless authorised earlier) and register with the employment services of the new country within 7 days; the benefit is kept for 3 months, extendable up to 6 (Art. 64). [1] [8]

United Kingdom and Switzerland

Switzerland applies Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 with EU and EFTA countries under the free movement agreement. [10] United Kingdom: after Brexit, the Protocol on Social Security Coordination of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement applies; here too a posted (“detached”) worker stays in the home system for up to 24 months, between the UK and the Member States listed in Category A of Annex SSC-8 (Art. SSC.11), with its own rules. [11]

A reform is under way

In April 2026 EU countries approved the agreement reached with the European Parliament to revise Regulations 883/2004 and 987/2009 (among other things: prior notification of postings and new rules on unemployment benefits). [9] On 28 September 2026 the Council gave its final approval to the revising regulation, which enters into force on the first day of the month following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. [14] The rules described on this page are those currently applied: check the official sources for when the new ones take effect.

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