Fiscal restrictions on cross-border workers working from neighbouring countries were relaxed during the lockdown period to reduce the spread of coronavirus. As lockdown eases, employees have been returning to workplaces in waves, to enable employers to adopt compulsory safety measures and implement safe social distances between employees to avoid spreading the virus.

In a press release published on Tuesday, Aleba said that if fiscal provisions with Belgium authorities expire on 30 June, it will be “impossible for companies to accommodate them [returning staff] under the required health conditions.”

“Belgian cross-border commuters constitute an important part of the workforce in the financial sector. In some companies, they represent up to half of the staff!” Aleba secretary general Laurent Mertz said. “Companies should therefore choose to send them back to work at home, with the fiscal and even social impacts that this could quickly have for them, depending on the number of days that will then be worked from home. Or, worse, to send home resident employees, for whom there is no limit to teleworking, which would be completely absurd!”

The union is calling on the Luxembourg government to call for extending fiscal rules for Belgian residents teleworking for Luxembourg employers to 1 September 2020. “By then, the health situation will have evolved, the holiday period will have allowed companies to organise themselves and a gradual return will have been achieved. Obviously, the same will have to be done with regard to French and German cross-border commuters, who are also present on a massive scale in the financial sector, where large-scale teleworking has clearly proved its worth,” Aleba president Roberto Mendolia said.

According to Statec, 48% of workers worked remotely full-time during lockdown, while 21% teleworked in rotation. In the administrative and financial services sector, six out of ten staff worked remotely. A petition to make teleworking a right in Luxembourg is expected to be debated in parliament in the coming months after garnering over 4,500 signatures.

Before the pandemic, remote working was only permitted for a maximum of 19 days each year in Germany, 24 days in Belgium and 29 days in France. Otherwise income tax and social security charges are due in the country of residence.