We all find it self-evident that workers and employees affiliate with a health insurance fund. This is, moreover, a legal obligation. However, we note that many employers do not check this affiliation when they hire a cross-border worker. How exactly does the legislation work and how can you, as an employer, ensure that your foreign employees are correctly insured?

For social security, a cross-border worker is someone who works in another country of the European Economic Area (EEA) or in Switzerland and who returns daily, or at least once a week, to their usual place of residence.

According to European Regulation 883/2004, cross-border workers enjoy social insurance in the country where they work, because that is where the social contributions are paid. In addition, they must also insure themselves in the country where they live. The social security institutions then exchange, directly or via the person concerned, liaison forms to arrange everything in terms of insurability in both countries.

Without affiliation to a Belgian health insurance fund, cross-border workers end up in a precarious situation.

• They cannot claim reimbursement of their medical costs.
• They receive no benefits if they fall ill or have an accident in their private life.
• They have no safety net if they are the victim of a disputed occupational accident.