No EU business trips without an electronic A1 certificate: Integrate the process into your DocuWare system and avoid unnecessary penalties and fines.
Since 2010, employees working in the EU are required to carry an "A1 Certificate" when travelling on business or posted to another EU country or EFTA countries like Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. Nevertheless, many companies have handled the regulation very casually or even ignored it.
In Germany, for example, the document is issued by health insurance institutions. It serves as proof that the employee is covered by domestic social security regulations. In this way, for example, it helps avoid that social security contributions are due simultaneously in two EU countries.
Since the beginning of the year, all A1 applications and certificates must be applied for and returned electronically.
Stricter Controls: Fines and Penalties Threaten
Since this switch to electronic submission, compliance with the regulation has been increasingly monitored in many EU states. Those affected have been reporting checks in hotels, at business premises and at borders. If a business traveller is unable to present the certificate, this may result in the employee having to stop work immediately or not having access to a company‘s premises. In addition, employers and employees face substantial fines, including imprisonment.
Huge Additional Costs Thanks to Bueaucracy
The EU Directive is handled differently in each member country. If a flat-rate application can be made in France or Spain for an entire calendar year, in countries like Germany a separate application must be made for each EU business trip, however short it may be. This is an enormous additional effort for employees and the Human Resources departments handling these issues. Against this background, it is all the more critical that the application process is as simple and efficient as possible for everyone.
Simplifying and Accelerating the Process with DocuWare
DocuWare is ideal for simplifying and accelerating this process. Use DocuWare Forms to create a form for entering the required data: Name of the employee, time period and destination of the stay abroad, etc.
Then publish it as a Web form. This means it is available to all employees and can be filled out quickly and easily - on mobile devices, even while on the move.
The workflow is automatically triggered by the form transmission and the form is forwarded to the personnel department or the responsible payroll office with an email alert. After passing through payroll/accounting program, it then continues to the responsible health insurance institution or whichever local government institution is in charge of this. As soon as they have created the A1 certificate, it goes back to the respective payroll/ accounting program and is finally sent to the applicant via DocuWare.
Automation offers numerous advantages for everyone involved in the company:
- Advantages for Management
Legal compliance
No doubling of social security contributions or fines - Advantages for the HR department
Uniform data collection
Complete data guaranteed, therefore no follow-up necessary
Fast and transparent processing
Automatic notification to the HR department and, if necessary, external service providers (payroll office)
Full transparency for planned business trips of employees to (EU) foreign countries. - Advantages for Employees
Easy use
Mobile application also possible
Certificate quickly available
Avoidance of fines
Additional Information