Background:

The Estonian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications has commissioned a study from the Estonian Qualification Authority to forecast Estonia´s foreign labour needs by 2035. In order to better map the volume of foreign labour engaged in the Estonian labour market and the possible future needs, posted workers are also taken into account.

For the purpose of the above-mentioned study, the Estonian Contact Point to the EMN requested information from EMN Member and Observer Countries regarding (i) the main registration and documentation requirements for hiring a third-country national posted worker, (ii) additional conditions regarding third-country national posted workers outside the scope of the relevant Directives, (iii) sectors or occupations where employing third-country national posted workers is facilitated, (iv) criteria to be fulfilled by the employers, and (v) available data on third-country national posted workers.

Respondents:

20 EMN Member Countries (including BE) provided a public answer to this ad hoc query.

Findings:

A preliminary analysis of the results of the ad hoc query shows that:

• Concerning registration and documentation requirements, all responding EMN Member Countries require the registration of third-country national posted workers either before or on the day of posting, with the responsible authority varying across states. Nonetheless, the different ways of reporting on the forms of posting (extra or intra-EU) make comparison difficult.
   
• The majority of respondents indicated not to impose additional conditions for third-country national posted workers outside the scope of the Directives (e.g. maximum time limit for employment, labour market tests, sector-specific requirements, need to provide specific reasons for employment such as increased workload). In SE, for example, generally no additional requirements apply, even if within certain sectors the company must have a registered branch in SE in order for the employees to get a work permit if such requirement applies. In IT, the only limitation concerns the maximum duration of the posting, which generally cannot exceed 5 years, including any extensions. In the NL, this limit is 2 years.
   
• Most EMN Member Countries do not have a list of eligible sectors for third-country national posted workers, except for a few which exempt some sectors from labour market testing or based on regional labour shortages. In FI, some occupational sectors are exempted from the labour market testing. These exemptions are determined by the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment and are identified per region. Similar exemptions may apply in certain categories of posted workers (long-term) in BE, where the regions may exempt certain professions included in the regional shortage occupation lists. include the occupational sectors that can be regionally justified without the aforementioned testing because the availability of labour has become reduced.
   
• Most EMN Member Countries collect data on third-country national posted workers. Only BG, CY and DE indicated not to collect such data. Nonetheless, the type of collected data differs from country to country, with most reporting countries collecting data on residence permits, visas, work permits, and registration of posted workers. Some countries explicitly exclude certain data, such as information on the nationality of the posted worker.

For further information, please read the summary of the ad hoc query attached above.
For full details, please read the compilation of answers attached as well.