Participation check
A construction company based outside Germany must participate in the German leave scheme if it takes on a construction contract in Germany and it posts its commercial workers to Germany for this purpose.
Your business counts as a construction company if your employees predominantly carry out construction work. Their working hours are the only relevant factor. Other aspects, such as earnings and sales, do not matter.
The activities typically undertaken by construction companies are specified in the collective agreements for the construction industry. If you are not sure whether your company operates in the construction industry, please do not hesitate to contact us. We check whether you have to participate in the leave scheme.
Blue collar worker
Blue collar workers use their own muscular strength and/or construction machinery and technical equipment. This also applies to employees who perform unskilled labour such as cleaning, maintenance and clean-up work.
Employees who are not considered as blue collar workers are employees who have been entrusted by the employer to supervise construction work and who do not predominantly work with their hands and who are mainly responsible for planning, administration and office work.
Exemption from the leave scheme
There are leave funds that are similar to ours in several European countries:
- Belgium: Office Nationale de la Sécurité Sociale – ONSS und Office Patronal d'Organisation et Contrôle des Régimes de Sécurité d'Existence – OPOC
- Denmark: atp-FerieKonto
- France: Congés Intempéries BTP Union des Caisses de France – CIBTP
- Italy: Commissione Nazionale Paritetica per le Casse Edili – CNCE
- Austria: Bauarbeiter- Urlaubs- und Abfertigungskasse – BUAK
Are you already paying contributions to any of these funds for your posted workers? If you provide us with an appropriate proof, we exempt you from participating in the German paid leave scheme.
Temporary employment and personnel leasing
Do you lease out a worker who is posted temporarily to a construction site in Germany? If so, you have to participate in the leave scheme and pay us contributions for the temporary worker. The German statutory minimum wage also applies to temporary workers. Under no circumstances are you allowed to pay your workers a lower wage than that during their time in Germany.
Please remember that leasing workers in the construction industry is generally prohibited and only allowed under strict requirements.