The Administrative Commission for the Coordination of Social Security Systems has issued guidelines for obtaining A1 certificates for employees performing remote work from European Union countries. According to these guidelines, workers in such a situation should be treated equally with posted workers for the purposes of determining insurance legislation.

However, this approach is possible in cases where the remote work will be limited in time, will not be part of the usual work pattern (i.e., will be performed incidentally) and will be agreed upon between the employer and the employee.

Until now, employees working remotely from abroad were, as a rule, subject to the insurance legislation of the country in which the work was performed, unless they obtained an A1 certificate on an exceptional basis. The procedure for obtaining A1 certificates under this mode required agreement between the insurance authorities of both countries, was lengthy, and the outcome was uncertain.

Now, according to the guidelines, workers in such a situation will be able to remain in the Polish insurance system and obtain an A1 certificate under a simplified procedure - just like posted workers. It will be enough to submit an application and wait for its "confirmation" by the Social Insurance Institution. The certificate under this procedure will be obtainable for a period of no more than 24 months.

News reports indicate that ZUS will follow the above guidelines.