On staff leasing assignments, the place of work is not always the usual location – on installation work, for example. Accommodation then has to be provided and travel costs settled. Both raise questions of responsibility and tax.
The legal basis for accommodation
Under § 2 ArbStättV, worker accommodation counts as a workplace and therefore falls under the German Workplace Ordinance. It has to be provided where safety, health protection or humane working conditions require it. On construction sites it is mandatory where there is a hazard; otherwise it is provided for operational reasons. Minimum standards apply: at most eight people per sleeping area, 6–6.75 sqm per occupant, and a supply of water, electricity, heating and working sanitary facilities.
Accommodation in staff leasing
In staff leasing, operational reasons such as temporary assignments are usually decisive. Because of the triangle of agency, hirer and temporary worker, uncertainty can arise about who is responsible. The BAP collective agreement states: in principle the staffing provider organizes and pays for the accommodation; if the employee organizes it themselves, the costs are reimbursed after approval and on presentation of a receipt. In practice, though, the client often offers accommodation too.
The legal basis for travel costs
For tax purposes, travel costs are expenses for work-related travel – transport, additional meal costs, overnight accommodation and incidental costs. Whether the employer can reimburse them free of tax depends on whether there is a „first place of work": a fixed establishment to which the person is permanently assigned – indefinitely or for more than 48 months. There is no tax-free reimbursement for journeys to the first place of work.
Travel costs in staff leasing
Since 2014 the first place of work can be at the agency or at the hirer, depending on the employment contract. If it is at the agency, the assignments count as work away from base: there is an entitlement to the mileage allowance (30 cents, and 38 cents from the 21st kilometer per kilometer driven) and – where the absence exceeds eight hours – to meal allowances for the first three months. If it is at the hirer, for example on assignments of more than 48 months or open-ended work, the commuting allowance of 30 cents per one-way kilometer applies instead.
If a temporary worker is assigned to a new place of work in the course of the work, the original assignment is no longer permanent – from then on there is again an entitlement to the mileage allowance.
Frequently asked questions
Who provides the accommodation in staff leasing?
In principle the staffing provider as the formal employer – that is what the BAP collective agreement says. In practice the client often offers accommodation too.
What standards does accommodation have to meet?
It counts as a workplace: at most eight people per sleeping area, 6–6.75 sqm per occupant, and a supply of water, electricity, heating and sanitary facilities.
How are travel costs treated in staff leasing?
That depends on the first place of work: at the agency the mileage and meal allowances apply, at the hirer the commuting allowance.
What is the „first place of work"?
A fixed establishment to which the person is permanently assigned – indefinitely, for the duration of the employment or for at least 48 months.
- German Workplace Ordinance (ArbStättV): gesetze-im-internet.de
- Pitfalls in staff leasing