Staffing and temporary work agencies in Europe for companies based outside the EU
You run a staffing, temporary work or labour-supply company in the US, the UK, the Gulf, Turkey or India, and clients in Europe want your workers. The EU sets equal treatment and the posting rules, but each country decides who may hire out workers, what guarantee they lodge and where agency work is banned. This guide compares 15 countries, with the official text for each rule.
Agencies that hire out workers to clients in Europe
Your company employs the worker, and a client directs the work.
Agencies based in the US, UK, Gulf, Turkey or India
Staffing and labour-supply companies with no EU entity that place their own employees, including non-EU nationals, with European clients.
EU agencies working across borders
Agencies authorised in one EU country that hire out workers to a client in another. Posting rules, the A1 form and host-country agency terms apply to them too.
What each country adds to the EU rules
Rules in force on 6 November 2026, each with its official source.
| Country | What differs there | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Germany | Licence (Erlaubnis), refused when the work is run from establishments outside the EU or EEA (§ 3 AÜG). | On request |
| France | No licence, but a declaration and a guarantee of at least 8% of the previous year's turnover (L1251-45, R1251-12); posting by agencies based outside France is not reserved to EU agencies (L1262-2 Labour Code). | On request |
| Netherlands | Supply only through a company in the trade register for hiring out (Waadi art. 7a); the Wtta admission scheme starts on 1 January 2027, with inspections from 1 January 2028 (toelatinguitleenmarkt.nl). | Netherlands guide |
| Spain | One nationwide authorisation, with a guarantee of 25 times the annual minimum wage in the first year; agencies authorised in another EU or EEA country can post without it (Ley 14/1994, arts. 2, 3 and 22). | On request |
| Italy | Ministry of Labour register (art. 4) for limited companies or cooperatives with a seat or branch in the EU, EUR 600,000 of paid-up capital and a EUR 350,000 deposit for the first 2 years (art. 5 D.Lgs. 276/2003). | On request |
| United Kingdom (outside the EU) | Acting as a gangmaster without a licence is an offence, with up to 10 years in prison (Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004, s.12); an agency may not supply the workers it sponsors to clients (see below). | On request |
| Poland | KRAZ registration for PLN 1,000; a business from outside the EU or EEA qualifies only as a company (spółka) operating in Poland (2025 Act, arts. 305 and 310). | Poland guide |
| Ireland | Licence before starting (Employment Agency Act 1971, s.2), EUR 500 for 1 year (WRC). | On request |
| Belgium | Four regional approval authorities (FPS Employment); Flanders requires approval even with a head office elsewhere, and a EUR 75,000 deposit (Flemish government). | On request |
| Sweden | Mostly the EU rules: no licence (Lag 2012:854); posting agencies notify the Work Environment Authority by the start of work and name a contact person in Sweden (§ 29 Posting Act). | On request |
| Austria | Clients using workers hired out from outside the EU or EEA need permits from the AMS and the trade authority (USP); EU or EEA agencies declare to the ZKO (USP). | On request |
| Portugal | IEFP licence with premises and a deposit of 150 times the guaranteed minimum monthly wage plus social contributions (IEFP); no official guidance found for agencies based abroad. | On request |
| Latvia | Placement licence from the State Employment Agency, EUR 500 for 3 years (NVA); posting agencies notify the labour inspectorate in Latvian beforehand, with proof of their right to provide the service at home (Labour Law, s.14). | Latvia guide |
| Lithuania | Official sources could not be read yet, so no national rule is stated here. | On request |
| Estonia | No licence, only a notice of economic activity before starting (§ 26 Labour Market Measures Act); agencies from outside the EEA cannot supply third-country workers (see below). | On request |
No single EU licence for staffing agencies
Each country keeps its own licence, register and guarantee.
The EU Services Directive does not apply to temporary work agencies (article 2(2)(e) and recital 14 of Directive 2006/123/EC). An agency authorised in one EU country has no passport to the others, so a company from outside the EU meets a separate system in each country it supplies.
Financial guarantees
The guarantees in the table grow with the business. After the first year, Spain asks for 10% of the previous year's wage bill, never below 25 times the annual minimum wage (art. 3 Ley 14/1994). After 2 years, Italy replaces the deposit with a guarantee of at least 5% of turnover and at least EUR 350,000 (art. 5 D.Lgs. 276/2003). Flanders takes EUR 25,000 at the start and the other EUR 50,000 within 30 days of approval, and a guarantee already paid abroad is in principle not paid twice (Flemish government). The Dutch admission scheme adds a deposit too (Eerste Kamer), whose amount we have not found in an official source.
An unlicensed agency puts the client at risk too
In Germany, hiring out without a licence makes the contracts void and an employment contract is deemed concluded with the client (§§ 9 and 10 AÜG). Dutch clients may not use workers from an agency missing from the trade register (Waadi art. 7a). In Italy, the client faces the same fine as the unauthorised agency, EUR 60 per worker per day (art. 18 D.Lgs. 276/2003).
Equal pay, banned uses and time limits
The principle is European. The exceptions and the bans are national.
An agency worker's basic working and employment conditions must be at least those of a direct hire by the client for the same job (article 5 of Directive 2008/104/EC). Countries may depart from this under conditions:
- Germany: a collective agreement can depart from equal pay for the first 9 months, or longer if equivalent pay is reached within 15 months (§ 8 AÜG).
- United Kingdom: after 12 weeks with the same hirer (GOV.UK).
- Ireland: from the first day, with a pay exception for workers on a permanent contract with the agency (2012 Act, s.6).
France adds an end-of-assignment allowance of 10% of total gross pay (L1251-32 Labour Code), and Spain 12 days' pay per year of service (art. 11 Ley 14/1994).
Bans are allowed only on grounds of general interest, such as protecting agency workers, health and safety or preventing abuse (article 4(1) of Directive 2008/104/EC), and each country draws its own list.
Where agency work is not allowed
Germany bans hiring out to building firms for work usually done by manual workers (§ 1b AÜG). Spain bans replacing strikers, especially dangerous work and posts cut in the previous 12 months by unfair or objective dismissal (art. 8 Ley 14/1994). Poland bans especially dangerous work, replacing strikers and the post of an employee dismissed in the last 3 months (art. 8 Temporary Work Act).
How long, and for what reason
Germany caps an assignment at 18 consecutive months with the same client, unless a sector agreement differs (§ 1 AÜG). Poland caps it at 18 months within 36 months (art. 20 Temporary Work Act). Belgium allows agency work for six reasons only, such as replacement or a temporary increase in work (FPS Employment).
Hiring out workers across a border
Posting rules apply on top of the agency licence.
Hiring out a worker to a client in another EU country, while the agency stays the employer, is a posting (article 1(3)(c) of Directive 96/71/EC), and a company from outside the EU may not get more favourable treatment than an EU one (article 1(4)).
Since 30 July 2020, the posting agency must apply the equal-treatment conditions that host-country agencies apply, and the client must tell it what working conditions and pay it applies. If the client sends the worker on to another EU country, the agency counts as the posting company (Directive (EU) 2018/957).
National notices come on top. France wants the declaration to name the body behind the agency's financial guarantee, or an equivalent guarantee at home, and a representative in France (R1263-6 Labour Code), with fines of up to EUR 4,000 per posted worker (L1264-3). Estonia wants it before work starts, with a contact person for the agency and for the client (Posted Workers Act, § 5^1).
The A1 form needs real activity at home
Authorities assess all the facts to decide whether a worker is genuinely posted (article 4(1) of Directive 2014/67/EU). On 3 June 2021, the Court of Justice ruled that an agency normally carries out its activities in its home country only if a significant part of its hiring out is to clients established and operating there. Registration alone does not get it the A1 social security form (case C-784/19, Team Power Europe).
Supplying third-country workers
Immigration rules often decide more than the agency licence does.
No supplying sponsored workers
A sponsor licence covers only workers the agency employs directly, and supplying a sponsored worker to another organisation gets it revoked. A client may sponsor an agency worker only if it controls the duties and pays the salary (Sponsor guidance, L5.12 and L5.14).
6 months of real activity first
Short-term work registration and agency-work residence permits require an agency in the Estonian commercial register, or an EEA company, with 6 consecutive months of real activity in Estonia or the EEA before applying (Aliens Act, § 106).
2 years before serving foreign workers
An agency can offer services for foreign workers only 2 years after its KRAZ entry, and only with an amended entry (art. 305, 2025 Act).
Two permits, strict conditions
For workers hired out from outside the EU or EEA, the client's permits require an urgent need for particularly qualified workers, available only through hiring out from abroad, with no threat to Austrian pay conditions (USP).
In Germany, fines for breaches involving foreign workers without a work permit go up to EUR 500,000 (§ 16 AÜG).
Do you need an EU company?
In a few countries no. In several others the law asks for one.
Possible in some countries
France does not reserve posting to EU agencies, though the declaration must name a financial guarantee, in France or an equivalent one at home. Sweden sets no licence.
Required or easier elsewhere
Germany refuses the licence when the work is run from outside the EU or EEA, and treats EEA companies like German ones (§ 3 AÜG). Poland accepts an EU business authorised at home, or a Polish company. Italy wants a seat or branch in the EU. Spain lets EU or EEA agencies authorised at home post workers without a Spanish authorisation.
An EU company still gets the A1 form only if a significant share of its hiring out goes to clients in its own country. Three points stay open, to confirm with the authority: whether French inspection guidance requires significant activity at home, which we could not read in full; whether Spain requires its own authorisation from an agency based outside the EU; and whether the Latvian licence covers hiring out.
If an EU company fits your plans, see our pages on EU company formation for non-residents and on a Latvian subsidiary for a foreign company.
What Balt Partners coordinates
One contact in Riga for the European side of your contracts. Filings abroad go through a licensed local adviser.
Obligation map per country
Licences, guarantees, banned uses, equal-treatment terms and posting notices for each country you supply, with the deadlines in one calendar.
Licence and registration files
We list what each authority asks for and bring in a licensed adviser in that country. The local adviser handles the filing.
Third-country workers
Permit and sponsorship rules for workers who are not EU nationals, country by country, with the applications handled by a licensed local adviser.
A Latvian company when it fits
A Latvian SIA with its bank account and accounting set-up, when your plans call for an EU company with real activity in Latvia.
Three countries have a full guide so far: the Dutch admission scheme for agencies, KRAZ registration in Poland and staffing rules in Latvia.
Questions from non-EU staffing agencies about Europe
No. The EU Services Directive does not apply to temporary work agencies, so each country keeps its own system. Germany and Ireland require a licence, the Netherlands and Poland a registration, France a declaration with a financial guarantee and Belgium a regional approval. The Swedish hiring-out law sets no licence.
Not from its home country. The German licence is refused when the activity is run from establishments outside the EU or EEA. Hiring out without a licence makes the contracts void, creates an employment contract with the client and can be fined up to EUR 30,000.
The French Labour Code lets an agency established outside France post its workers to a French client and does not reserve this to EU agencies. The declaration names the agency's financial guarantor and its representative in France. Fines go up to EUR 4,000 per posted worker.
In principle, yes. EU law requires basic working and employment conditions at least equal to those of a direct hire for the same job. National exceptions exist: German collective agreements can depart from equal pay for the first 9 months, and the UK applies it after 12 weeks with the same hirer.
A new admission scheme, the Wtta, takes effect on 1 January 2027. Registration for the transitional scheme runs from 1 November to 31 December 2026, applications for admission from 1 May to 30 June 2027, and the Labour Inspectorate checks compliance from 1 January 2028. Under the scheme, clients may use only admitted agencies.