Hiring in a second European country is rarely blocked by a single rule. It goes wrong in the gaps: an obligation that exists in one market and not the next, a document that had to be obtained before the employee travelled rather than after, a pay structure that was defensible until a reporting duty made it public.
- What the pay transparency directive changes at the point of hiring
- The social security document that has to exist before the first day
- Where contractor arrangements are being reclassified
Pitfall one: treating the EU as one employment market. It is not one. The directives set a floor; the obligations that bind an employer are in the national implementing law, which differs in scope, timing and penalty. The practical error is assuming that what was checked in the first country has been checked everywhere.
Pay transparency is already a hiring obligation
Directive (EU) 2023/970 had to be transposed by 7 June 2026. Where it is in force it changes recruitment directly:
- the pay level or range has to be given to candidates, set on objective, gender-neutral criteria, before the interview stage;
- employers may no longer ask candidates about their current or previous pay;
- gender pay gap reporting begins, with first reports due 7 June 2027 for employers with 150 or more workers, and from 2031 for those with 100-149;
- where a report shows an unjustified gap of 5% or more in a category of workers and it is not remedied within six months, a joint pay assessment with worker representatives becomes mandatory.
The trap in 2026 is not the directive. It is that transposition has been uneven: the same group can be fully exposed in one market and not yet in another, while running one salary grid across both. A pay structure that cannot be explained on objective criteria is a problem the moment the first report is filed — and it has to be fixed before then, not after.
The A1 certificate is a before, not an after
Under Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 an employee working temporarily in another Member State normally remains insured in the home country, and the A1 certificate is what proves it. It has to be obtained before the assignment starts. Without it the host country can claim contributions, and the employer can end up paying twice for the same person — once correctly at home, once again where the inspection happened.
This catches short assignments most often, because nobody thinks of a two-week secondment as mobility.
Posted workers: the host country's terms apply
Directive 96/71/EC, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/957, requires posted workers to receive the host country's terms on remuneration and working conditions — not only the minimum wage. The home contract does not displace them. For assignments beyond 12 months (extendable to 18 on notification), the host country's labour law applies more broadly still.
Contractors: the direction of travel is one way
Engaging someone as a contractor does not settle how a national authority will classify the relationship. The test is substance — direction, control, integration — and the burden is moving towards the employer. Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on platform work, in force since 1 December 2024 and due for transposition by 2 December 2026, introduces a rebuttable presumption of employment where facts indicate control and direction.
Its scope is platform work specifically. Its significance is wider: it is the clearest signal yet of where European law places the burden of proof when a relationship is disputed.
Two more that recur
- Mandatory registrations before day one. Several markets require the employer to be registered with social insurance carriers, and sometimes to notify the authorities, before the employment starts — not within a grace period after it.
- Collective agreements. In markets such as Italy and Austria, the applicable agreement sets minimum pay, classification, notice and severance. Choosing the wrong one is not a payroll error; it changes the entire employment relationship.
Most of these are avoidable, and all of them are cheaper to handle before the hire than after. HTLC Network runs employment and payroll compliance across more than 30 countries under one engagement, so that what is checked in one market is checked in the others. See HR & Employment Advisory, or the country pages for the framework that applies in each market.
Sources
- Directive (EU) 2023/970 on pay transparency — EUR-Lex
- Directive (EU) 2024/2831 on improving working conditions in platform work — EUR-Lex
- Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems — EUR-Lex
- Directive 96/71/EC and Directive (EU) 2018/957 on posting of workers — EUR-Lex
Legal references checked on 26 October 2026. EU directives bind through national implementing law, which differs by Member State in scope, timing and penalty: the national law, not the directive, is what applies to a given employer. Verify before relying on any figure or date here.