Workers

Updated : 12/2012

Benefits

As a migrant worker — employed or self-employed — you and your dependants are covered by your host country's social security system.

Its laws determine your benefits related to sickness, maternity/paternity, pensions, occupational accidents and diseases, death grants, unemployment, early retirement and family.

Common problems due to differences in benefits systems

Qualification periods

In many countries, your entitlement to benefits may depend on your previous contribution periods.

Benefit entitlement varies in different countries

EU countries remain free to determine what benefits you are entitled to under their own laws, as well as the periods of work required to be entitled to unemployment benefits, the rules for calculating benefits and the duration of the benefits. For example, you might be entitled to 24 months unemployment benefit in your home country but only 12 months in the country where you live.

Regarding unemployment benefits, you should pay special attention to:

• the required periods of work for receiving unemployment benefit
• the applicable rates for calculating benefits and
• the duration of the benefits.

If you lose your job, in general you should claim unemployment benefits in the country where you last worked.

To find out if you can go back to your country of origin to register as a jobseeker there, contact the employment services of that country.

There may be significant differences in the amount of benefits received when you work in another country. This is especially true for family/parental benefits, which not all countries offer.

More on:

Family and parental benefits

If you claim an invalidity pension, each country where you have worked may require you to be examined by a doctor. One country may consider you 70% disabled, whereas another country does not consider you disabled at all.

Becoming unemployed after working abroad

If you lose your job, in general you should claim unemployment benefits in the country where you last worked.

If you worked as a cross-border worker (employed or self-employed), you will have to claim benefits in your country of residence.

If during your last period of employment or self-employment you were residing in a different EU country than the one in which you worked but you returned there less than once a week, you can claim unemployment benefits either in your country of residence or in the country where you last worked.

Under certain conditions, you can transfer your unemployment benefits to another EU country while looking for a job there. The transfer of benefits usually lasts 3 months, but may be extended to a maximum period of 6 months.

To find out about your entitlement to unemployment benefits, you should contact the employment services of the relevant country.

Staying in your country of employment

If, after losing your job, you choose to remain in the country where you were employed, you must register there as a jobseeker. You will be treated as a national of that country.

If you need to certify your previous periods of employment and social security cover abroad, you may need to apply for a U1 form (former E 301 form) in the country where you worked before.

If you don't submit this document to the authority dealing with your claim, it can obtain the necessary information from other countries directly. However, submitting a completed U1 form can help the authority process your claim more quickly.

Returning to your country of origin

If, after losing your job, you choose to go back to your home country, you must contact the national employment service there to ask whether you are still entitled to unemployment benefits despite your time abroad.

If you are, you'll have to:

• register directly as a jobseeker there, and
• apply for a U1 form (former E 301 form) in the country where you last worked.

If you don't submit this document to the authority dealing with your claim, it can obtain the necessary information from other countries directly. However, submitting a completed U1 form can help the authority process your claim more quickly.

If you are not entitled to benefits in your country of origin, you can apply for an authorisation to transfer unemployment benefit for 3 months from the country where you became unemployed either:

• back to the country where you used to live, or
• to any other country where you wish to look for a job.

See also:

Jobseekers' rights to transfer unemployment benefits to another EU country

Necessary forms

To successfully move from one country's benefits system to another, you might need the following form when you arrive in your new country of employment:

U1 form (former E 301 form) — statement of insurance periods to be taken into account for calculating unemployment benefits. You can obtain it from the national employment service of the last country(ies) where you worked and you should submit it to the national employment service of the country where you wish to apply for benefits.

Travelling within the EU

If you travel outside the country you live in, you will be covered for any medical treatment that becomes necessary during your stay in any other EU country — with your European Health Insurance Card — even in your country of origin, if you no longer live there.

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