Remote work made it look simple: if you can do your job from a kitchen table in Cologne, why not from a flat in Lisbon or your parents’ home in Mumbai? Under a German employment contract you have no unilateral right to work from abroad — and working outside Germany without your employer’s clear consent can quietly damage your tax position, your social-security coverage and, for non-EU nationals, your residence permit. This article explains what actually changes when you cross a border with your laptop — and what stays firmly German.
No right to relocate your desk
The employer determines the place of work through its right of direction (§ 106 GewO), within the limits set by the contract. A home-office arrangement — even a broad “remote” clause — is generally understood as remote work within Germany; it does not include a right to work from another country, which raises foreign tax, social-security, regulatory and data-protection questions a domestic home office does not.
The practical consequence: working from abroad without consent can be treated as unauthorised absence — grounds for a written warning (Abmahnung) and, in extended or repeated cases, for dismissal. If you want to work from abroad, obtain written consent naming the country, the maximum duration and the return date. An approving chat message from a team lead is better than nothing — it has saved clients in litigation — but it is no substitute for a documented agreement.
Tax: the 183-day rule and treaty basics
As long as you keep your home (and therefore your tax residence) in Germany, you remain subject to unlimited German income-tax liability on your worldwide income. Whether the country you work from may also tax your salary is governed by the applicable double-taxation treaty (DBA). Most treaties follow the OECD Model: employment income is taxable where the work is physically performed — unless you spend fewer than 183 days in the host state within the relevant period, your salary is not paid by an employer resident there, and the cost is not borne by a permanent establishment there (Art. 15 OECD Model Convention).
For a genuine short workation — a few weeks, German employer, German residence maintained — the tax position usually does not change. For longer stays, taxing rights can shift to the host state and your employer may face foreign payroll obligations. We are employment lawyers, not tax advisors: coordinate any stay beyond a few weeks with a tax advisor who knows the specific treaty.
Social security in the EU, EEA and Switzerland
The A1 certificate
Within the EU/EEA and Switzerland, Regulation (EC) 883/2004 ensures you are covered by only one country’s social-security system at a time. An employer-approved, time-limited work stay in another member state is generally treated as a posting: German coverage continues for up to 24 months (Art. 12 Regulation (EC) 883/2004), documented by an A1 certificate that your employer applies for electronically. Without one, you risk on-site fines and host-state contribution claims.
The 2023 Framework Agreement: up to 49.99% telework abroad
Since 1 July 2023, the Multilateral Framework Agreement on habitual cross-border telework allows employees who regularly telework from their state of residence to remain in the employer state’s social-security system if the telework share stays below 50% of total working time. A German-employed engineer living in the Netherlands can therefore work up to 49.99% from home without dropping out of German social security — on application, documented again by an A1 (issued under Art. 16 Regulation (EC) 883/2004). Most — not all — EU/EEA states and Switzerland have signed; check the current list case by case.
Third countries: the Ausstrahlung trap
Outside the EU/EEA/Switzerland, German social-security coverage continues only under the narrow “Ausstrahlung” rules: the stay must be a genuine posting in the employer’s interest, limited in time in advance (§ 4 SGB IV). An employee-initiated workation from Dubai, Bali or Cape Town typically does not qualify. The consequence can be brutal: you silently drop out of German health, pension, unemployment and accident insurance while abroad — often unnoticed until a claim arises.
Bilateral social-security agreements (with the US, India, Turkey and others) soften this only partially — many cover pension but not health or unemployment insurance. Resolve the coverage question in writing before any third-country stay.
The real blocker: permanent-establishment risk for your employer
When employers refuse workation requests, the stated reason is often “compliance”. The real reason is usually corporate tax: if your foreign home office is treated as a fixed place of business of the employer, or if you habitually conclude contracts abroad on the employer’s behalf, the employer can be deemed to have a permanent establishment in that country (Art. 5 OECD Model Convention) — triggering foreign corporate-tax registration and filing obligations. Sales roles, managers with signing authority and senior executives are the highest-risk categories.
Knowing this helps you negotiate: employers who reject open-ended requests often accept a strictly time-limited stay, in a treaty country, with a written commitment that you will not negotiate or sign contracts while abroad.
Non-EU nationals: your residence permit has a shelf life abroad
For third-country nationals, extended work from abroad endangers the German residence permit itself. Most residence permits expire automatically if you leave Germany for a non-temporary purpose or stay abroad for more than six months; for EU Blue Card holders the limit is twelve months (§ 51 AufenthG). Longer absences can sometimes be pre-approved by the Ausländerbehörde — but only on application, before departure.
Practical checklist before you go
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Get written consent
Country, duration, return date and who bears which obligations — signed, or at least confirmed by e-mail from someone with authority.
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Secure the A1 or coverage confirmation
EU/EEA/CH: A1 certificate via your employer before departure. Third countries: written confirmation of how health, pension and accident coverage continue.
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Clear the tax position
Coordinate the 183-day rule, treaty allocation and host-state filing duties with a tax advisor — before departure, not after.
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Check your residence permit
Non-EU nationals: verify the § 51 AufenthG limits and, for longer stays, apply for pre-approval from the Ausländerbehörde.
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Keep a German service address monitored
Formal documents — including a dismissal letter — go to your German address. Arrange for someone to open and scan your post weekly.
Dismissed while abroad? German rules still apply
A temporary stay abroad does not change the law governing your employment: where the habitual place of work remains Germany, German employment law — including the Kündigungsschutzgesetz — continues to apply (Art. 8 Rome I Regulation), and German labour courts remain competent. Crucially, the 21-day deadline for a Kündigungsschutzklage runs from receipt of the dismissal letter — and a letter delivered to your German address can count as received even while you are on another continent (see our article on the three-week deadline) — which is why the monitored German mailbox in the checklist above is not optional.
Worked example
A senior developer at a Frankfurt fintech, 4 years of tenure, €7,000 gross per month (€84,000 per year). In spring she asks to work from Lisbon “for a while”; her team lead replies in the company chat: “fine by me, keep the overlap hours.” Seven months later, a new HR director discovers the arrangement and the company issues an ordinary dismissal for unauthorised absence, offering a severance of 0.5 × monthly salary × years of service = €14,000.
Our assessment: the chat approval by a supervisor with apparent authority undermines the “unauthorised” narrative; no warning (Abmahnung) was ever issued; and the employer tolerated the arrangement for seven months. The Kündigungsschutzklage is filed within 21 days. At the Gütetermin, the employer’s counsel concedes the conduct case is weak. Settlement: severance at a factor of 1.0 — €28,000 — plus a Grade-1 reference and garden leave through the 3-month notice period (a further €21,000 gross in salary).
The unresolved part was not employment law: the stay exceeded 183 days, so Portugal had acquired taxing rights over part of her salary, and no A1 had ever been applied for — both went to a tax advisor, and both would have been avoided by proper paperwork before departure.
Frequently asked questions
Can my employer simply forbid me from working abroad?
Yes, in almost all cases. The place of work is subject to the employer’s right of direction (§ 106 GewO), and there is no statutory entitlement to work from another country. What the employer cannot do is discriminate: if workations are routinely approved for others, an unexplained refusal may be challengeable.
How many days per year can I work from abroad without consequences?
There is no single safe-harbour number. The 183-day threshold is a tax rule, not a general permission; social-security and residence-permit rules have different limits. Short stays with an A1 (EU/EEA/CH) and employer consent are usually unproblematic; anything beyond a few weeks needs individual review.
I worked from abroad without asking. Can I be dismissed for it?
A one-off short stay rarely justifies dismissal without a prior warning. Extended or repeated unauthorised work from abroad — especially after an explicit refusal — can. Have the facts reviewed: tolerated practice, supervisor approvals and missing warnings frequently make these dismissals contestable. Severance expectations follow the usual German mechanics — see our severance-calculation article.
I am a Blue Card holder. Can I work from my home country for three months?
A three-month absence does not by itself lapse a Blue Card (the limit is twelve months, § 51 AufenthG). But the stay still requires employer consent, and the tax and social-security questions remain. For stays approaching six months or longer, involve the Ausländerbehörde before departure.