To go abroad when working from home?

It's nothing to do with whether your contract is remote or in-person, and everything to do with what country you're legally employed in, where your employer is legally incorporated, the legalities of the jurisdiction you're working in, the nature and location of the data you're working with, and your employer's IT and cybersecurity setup.

From Google

, you can work remotely for a UK company while based in the EU after Brexit, but it's crucial to understand the implications for both the employee and the employer, including potential tax and social security obligations.

Here's a breakdown of key considerations:

For the Employee:
Tax Residency:
If you spend a significant amount of time in the EU country, you may become tax resident there, potentially requiring you to pay income tax in that country, even if you're working for a UK company.

Social Security:
Social security contributions may be due in the country where you're working, not necessarily the UK, depending on the specific circumstances and any relevant agreements between the UK and the EU country.

Visa Requirements:
As a UK citizen, you may need to obtain a visa to live and work in the EU country, depending on the specific country and your nationality.

Employment Law:
Your employment contract will likely be governed by UK law, but you should be aware of the employment laws of the EU country where you are working, especially regarding working conditions, pay, and social security.

Double Taxation Agreements:
You may be able to avoid double taxation through double taxation agreements between the UK and the EU country.

For the Employer:
Compliance:
UK companies need to ensure they comply with the employment laws of the EU country where their remote employees are based, including tax and social security obligations.

Tax Obligations:
The company may need to register for tax and social security in the EU country where the employee is based.

HR and Payroll:
The company may need to set up a payroll system and HR processes that comply with the laws of the EU country.

Data Protection:
Companies need to comply with data protection laws, including GDPR, when processing personal data of employees working remotely in the EU.

Secondment or Project Basis:
Companies can consider sending employees to work abroad on a secondment or project basis, which may simplify some compliance issues.

You’d need to check with your employer. Mine specifically forbids it (WFH must be from a UK location), they claim it’s for tax purposes IDK if that is true

For my work, you would need to ask for permission and most of the time it is agreed. We don't even have a particularly sophisticated IT set up but if someone logins from somewhere that is not there normal Wifi network, they have to go through two-factor authentication and I and others get an alert - we can see a rough location - City, Country. If you had not asked in our organisation and had it agreed, you would be in trouble.

You will need to seek permission from your employer … there may be security implications.

A remote contract on its own doesn't mean you can do this unless you contract specifically states you can work from anywhere in the world (which it may do but a sensible company wouldn't agree to for the reasons on this thread!). Even if your contract doesn't state that, presumably your employer's policy permits work in France. As everyone is saying, the OP needs to check with her employer because it is by no means a given!

Presumably your father was not spending so much time in France that he incurred a tax liability for his company, and it was when UK nationals were permitted to work in France. Whether or not your father's company would have checked the tax point and put restrictions in place, who knows but they always should have.

My contract is remote, not home, so I can do (and have done) this.

We access the companies systems via vpn on dedicated laptops.

I wouldn’t assume a UK company is going to have everything covered…

the reality is that if you quietly WFH in a gite/rental etc, and don’t broadcast it to the locals you’ll probably be OK for a few weeks only but there are factors you can fall foul of.

I can’t vouch for the complete accuracy of the below but it’s from a Brits in France website and is worth consideration:

“Can I work remotely in France, for a UK company?

Yes, but it’s complicated.

• You must have the right to work in France – e.g. you are an EU passport or UK WARP (Withdrawal Agreement Resident Permit) card holder.
• While tax is fairly straightforward, differences in social security and employment law are more complex and must be understood.
• Your employer will need to register in France and comply with French employment law, pay all charges here and collect or hand over the employee costs. In the first instance, there is a government service called TFE that runs a free payroll service for small foreign employers. Some companies may find the costs and extra admin (such as providing you with compulsory top-up health insurance) off-putting. Alternatively, you can use an umbrella company, which can act as your employer.”

Another issue for the OP to maybe consider is the 90-180…caps what is possible anyway.

www.completefrance.com/living-in-france/can-i-work-remotely-in-france-for-a-uk-company/

I would if I could! Unfortunately, I have to work from a desktop provided by work, and the VPN only works in the UK. 😒

Our employers liability policy excludes workers overseas as we are a UK company. If you work for a global company presumably they would have this cover already.
Your home WIFI is under your control. With Hotel or Airbnb WIFI, a third party has access to it as well and therefore the network you are working on is not secure.

You are making a lot of assumptions here.

The employer and the employee most likely have all that covered.

juice jacking is a big threat

At the risk of taking the thread off the rails a bit: There's a good general interest explanation here of why "juice jacking" is not, in fact, a problem that anybody needs to worry about in the real world.

And that's over a USB cable. Wireless charging pads are even less of a threat because there is nothing in the wireless charging circuitry that connects to anything in the phone's data, other than the battery status indicator. So it's literally impossible to hack into your phone that way.

Obviously if it's company policy not to take your phone outside the country then you don't do it, but cybersecurity consultants by and large do not make a lot money by giving fully objective accounts of the actual risks or saying "You don't really need to worry about that". Theft and loss of the device remain vastly more plausible threats, but it's hard to charge £2,850 per day plus VAT to tell people that.

The people saying "just do it, they won't notice" are being ridiculous.

If OP does just go ahead without asking her employer, it's quite possible that the first OP will know of any problem is when they sit down and try to get on a network. If there is any sort of geolocation or network type restriction on their systems, someone will be getting a security alert - regardless of whether OP finds they can't actually get logged in anyway.

How would OP backtrack that one when the boss calls and says, "What the hell are you doing in Spain/Nicaragua/wherever?"

We can work from outside the UK for 4 weeks a year. We.just get sign off from our line manager before we book anything. I'd ask first to be safe.

I have a friend that does this. He goes to a ski resort twice a year for a month at time. His work gets done and he then goes on to the slopes. As he says, its no different from working at home and then going to pub or whatever when he is done.

Your employer is on dodgy ground here, unless they're paying social contributions to the Spanish tax authorities (unlikely) and your colleague has a visa that allows him to work.

So many British employers allowing employees to work (illegally) from abroad without considering tax implications, data protection, employer liability, health and safety, etc.

I work for a government arm's-length organisation. There is a short list of countries we can work from outside UK. The conditions are that we have line manager permission (good reasons might include caring for a sick relative, it's not encouraged for holidays); that we are abroad with equipment for less than 2 weeks; we arrange with IT the exact uk times and dates that we will be working and that they approve this before we go. The last colleague I know who did this, it took a month for approval. We also have to say that we will not be in charge of primary school aged children - this is a rule for WFH anywhere though.

That isn't the point. It's whether your employer allows it. It depends on whether you're going to ask permission or whether you're simply trying to wangle some extra days in a nicer climate by not telling them.

Absolutely fine to do this where I work. It’s particularly useful for those who want to go “home” for Christmas or other holidays.

Nobody on here can tell you whether or not it’s a problem where you work though OP.

Actually it would have been the same if she'd wanted to do as you suggest - all the data sharing agreements would still have to be checked, even if just for one day! (some of our data can't be accessed outwith the UK, others not outwith Europe etc - but with certain countries excepted. It's complicated). For us it's the type of work/data that's important rather than the length of time.

As others say there are two issues; your employer's attitude and the laws in the country you are visiting.

My employer won't allow it for IT security reasons.

I don't think a handful of days in an EU country remote working for your UK employer would be a problem.

Would my father have needed anything more than his passport to go to France to meet and work with his company's French suppliers?

I'm jobhunting at the moment and most of the job postings state 'this work must be carried out from the UK'. I'm public sector though so I don't know if it would differ in private sector...

You should discuss it with your employer first.

The reason being it can cause huge legal and tax implications for the employer if they are caught employing someone in another country, particularly one where they don’t have an employing entity. There are very specific rules in place that apply and it varies by country.

There are certain thresholds that apply, again your employer can only explore this if you communicate with them.

If you believe that you will still be able to fully carry out your role from the foreign location, and have the appropriate home working set up there - then there is no reason not to have the conversation. If you’re hoping to just wiggle your mouse and chill by the pool, I can see why that would be a conversation you’d want to avoid.

Absolutely specifically banned in the company I work for.