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What pay do you get as a posted driver?

For the days you are posted, you are entitled to at least the remuneration conditions of the host country. Payment per kilometre that endangers road safety is prohibited.

Applies in: EU Last updated:

This translation was made automatically and has not been reviewed yet. If in doubt, the Dutch text and the official legal text prevail.

Host country pay for the posting period

If you are posted (during cabotage or cross-trade), you are entitled for that period to at least the terms and conditions of employment of the country where you work. This applies, among other things, to:

  • pay, including all mandatory pay components under the laws and universally applicable collective agreements of that country (allowances, bonuses, …);
  • maximum working times and minimum rest periods;
  • paid annual leave;
  • health and safety at work.

If your own pay (under your contract) is higher than that of the host country, you keep your own pay. The host country pay is a minimum, not a maximum.

Example: your employer is based in Poland and you do three days of cabotage in Germany. For those three days you must receive at least the German minimum wage, applied to the hours you worked there.

Allowances for accommodation and travel

A posting allowance counts as pay, except for the part that is a reimbursement of expenses actually incurred (such as travel, food and lodging). So your employer may not give you "low pay + high expense allowance" to stay below the host country pay.

The cost of your accommodation during a regular weekly rest period is in any case borne by the employer (see Where are you allowed to rest?).

Payment per kilometre: restricted prohibition

Article 10 of Regulation 561/2006 prohibits a transport undertaking from paying you or giving you a bonus based on distances travelled, delivery time or the quantity of goods carried, if this endangers road safety or encourages infringements of the driving time and rest period rules.

A system in which your pay depends heavily on the number of kilometres, putting you under pressure to cut rest periods, is therefore not allowed.

What if you are underpaid?

  1. Collect evidence: payslips, tachograph data, trip lists, CMRs and copies of the posting declarations.
  2. Ask your employer for an explanation in writing.
  3. Contact a trade union or the labour inspectorate of the country where you were posted. They can request information from your employer through the IMI system.

You can find the official pay rates and conditions per country on the national websites on posting (every EU country must have such a website). See also the chapter Rules per country.

Sources