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France has signed the European agreement on teleworking for cross-border workers

This multilateral framework agreement, offered to members of the EU and the European Free Trade Association, of which Switzerland is a member, came into force on the 1st of July, 2023, for a period of five years, which will be automatically extended. It allows cross-border workers who telework less than 50% of their working time in their country of residence to continue to be covered by the social security of their country of employment.

Germany, Austria, Belgium and Luxembourg had already indicated their intention to sign the agreement, but France waited until the last moment. According to Olivier Dussopt, "one point posed a difficulty", namely "the transfer of unemployment insurance rights". But the press release from the Ministry of Labour states that "at the end of a six-month period, an initial assessment of the consequences of signing this agreement will be carried out, particularly with regard to its short- and medium-term impact on employment, unemployment, social security and working conditions".

This agreement was eagerly awaited, particularly on the Franco-Luxembourg border, where 107,500 French cross-border commuters* travel to work in Luxembourg despite persistent transport problems.  

It should be noted that on June 27th in Paris, France and Switzerland signed an amendment to the bilateral double taxation agreement, which sets out new permanent rules for the taxation of teleworking income earned by cross-border commuters: "for this category of workers, 'home office' is possible for up to 40% of working time per year without any tax consequences. Clearly, within this limit, the hours worked at home remain taxable in the country where the company is based. [...] The next and final stage will be the approval of this amendment by the Swiss and French parliaments, which will then mark its entry into force. In the meantime, Bern and Paris have agreed to apply the teleworking arrangements, in principle until December 31st, 2024, on the basis of the transitional amicable agreement of December 22nd, 2022", concludes the Federal Council.

More info [FR]

* Statec, 1st quarter 2020
** Source: "La Suisse et la France s'accord sur le télétravail des frontaliers", 28 June 2023, 24Heures.

Photo : Shutterstock / Jacob Lund