Occupational Safety Law Abroad

In brief for employers

Occupational health and safety law abroad becomes relevant when employees work outside of their usual place of work and outside of their home country. In the case of home office abroad, workation or longer stays abroad, the employer is not automatically exempt from health and safety issues.

National occupational safety regulations apply in the DACH region and in the EU. When working across borders, local minimum requirements may also become relevant. For employers this means: Occupational safety should at least be pragmatically checked and documented in foreign work processes.

Definition

Occupational health and safety law abroad includes rules and obligations to protect health and safety when employees work in another country. This includes suitable working conditions, ergonomics, work equipment, working hours, accident prevention, psychological stress, emergency information and dealing with illness or accidents.

With Remote Work Abroad, the practical implementation is often different than in the office. Nevertheless, companies should check whether the place of work is fundamentally suitable and whether employees know which rules and emergency processes apply.

Typical checks

Before approval, employers should clarify:

• Is the place of work generally suitable and safe?
• Is there a stable work environment without obvious danger?
• Are work equipment, laptops and data access safe to use?
• Are working hours and rest periods adhered to?
• Have emergency contacts and insurance questions been clarified?
• Are there any special travel risks in the destination country?
• Does the duty of care need to be reviewed more extensively?
• Are there local health and safety or reporting requirements?

The depth of the review can vary depending on the duration, country, activity and role. A two-week work assignment does not require the same process as a long-term assignment, but should not be completely uncontrolled.

Important distinctions

Labor law abroad is the broader labor law framework. Working time abroad deals with time and rest requirements. Duty of care describes the employer's general duty to protect employees. Occupational health and safety law abroad specifies the health and safety aspect.

How Vamoz helps with occupational safety law abroad

Vamoz Remote Work Compliance helps companies incorporate health and safety issues into the approval process. Employees can record relevant information about the place of work, time period and accessibility; HR can derive requirements or escalations from this.

Vamoz particularly supports:

• Recording the whereabouts and the planned work situation;
• Integration of occupational safety and welfare issues into the application;
• Documentation of requirements regarding work location, accessibility and emergencies;
• Connection with insurance, working hours and remote work policies;
• Escalation for longer or riskier stays.