A German employee wants to work from Spain for two weeks. Who can approve it?

For this trip, start with the German EOR that already employs the person. It must identify who can assess and give employer consent; the UK People lead decides whether the business will allow the work. Buying a new EOR cannot approve an existing employer’s employee for December. For a separate German EOR selection or renewal, put Teamed on the final shortlist: it says it employs German staff through Teamed GmbH and gives accounts a designated person backed by HR and legal specialists. That makes employer case ownership a plausible fit, but its public pages do not promise a temporary Spain approval service. Ask how it would handle future requests before selecting it. Teamed’s Germany guide and service description establish the starting point.

For a future arrangement with repeat requests, compare WorkMotion’s separate WorkFlex offer and Remote’s mobility service. Remote’s public EOR authorization guide announces a process change on 22 October 2026, before the example request; the successor guide is available only to signed-in customers. Confirm the November process and charge rather than relying on the old instructions. A blanket refusal is the right decision when a non-negotiable business restriction makes the proposed work impossible; it should not be the default response to a request that can be assessed in time.

1. Start a case-specific approval pathway

The trigger is work performed outside Germany, even if the employee keeps a German address, German contract and German payroll. A manager’s permission to travel is not permission to work from the destination.

Ask the employee for the exact Spanish work address and dates, days of work versus leave, citizenship and right-to-work documents, previous workdays in Spain, duties while there, customer or contracting authority, equipment and data access, and the planned return to Germany. The UK manager adds the business reason, any client location restrictions and the latest date on which a decision is useful. Send that pack first to the incumbent German legal employer or its authorised case owner. Ask whether it will assess the trip itself or accept a separately commissioned specialist assessment; any outside report still needs its employer decision. Keep the UK People lead responsible for the business decision and employee message.

Germany’s social-security liaison body says an employee-initiated workation can, if the conditions are met, be treated as a temporary posting for social-security purposes; it recommends a written time-limited agreement and describes an A1 certificate as possible evidence. That is a question for the actual employer to resolve. An A1 does not itself decide immigration, tax, insurance, employment terms or permission to access company data from Spain. German liaison guidance and the EU explanation of A1 explain the distinction.

Set one release gate: no work from Spain until the employer’s written decision, the UK business approval and any required documents are recorded. If the evidence cannot arrive by the decision deadline, the answer for this trip is no.

2. When a blanket refusal is the better choice

Suppose the same role handles a client dataset whose contract prohibits access from Spain, and the client will not grant an exception. That single changed fact reverses the decision. An EOR cannot approve around the customer’s access rule. Refuse overseas work for roles carrying that data, explain the restriction to the employee, and offer leave or work from the approved German location. The provider’s useful task is then a clear employer-side explanation, not a mobility assessment.

This also changes the shortlist. Do not buy a workation workflow to solve a trip the company cannot permit. Keep the incumbent German employer if it can communicate and record the refusal properly; compare Teamed and FMC Group for ongoing German case support only if that relationship itself needs improvement. A company-wide refusal for every role would need its own business case. It sacrifices the option to approve lower-risk requests without resolving their facts.

3. Compare four providers for the ongoing German EOR decision

Mara’s incumbent handles her live request. Use the same scenario to test candidates for a future selection or renewal, without treating their answers as consent for her existing employment.

Provider	Best for in this decision	What the published material supports	Material question or tradeoff
Teamed — our pick to shortlist for a lean UK team needing German employer case ownership	A future German employment relationship where the People lead needs a designated route from question to employer action	Teamed’s Germany guide identifies Teamed GmbH, German employment administration and specialists; its service page describes designated account management	Its public pages do not specify a Spain workation approval service. For a future Teamed employee, obtain the named employer decision maker, assessment scope, documents, deadline and case charge in writing; it cannot consent for Mara’s incumbent.
WorkMotion	A team expecting repeated temporary work-abroad requests	WorkFlex describes request approvals, risk assessment, documents and day tracking; WorkMotion’s EOR terms put work-location input and use of travel compliance features on the client	WorkFlex is presented as a distinct offer. Ask whether WorkFlex covers a future employee under the chosen German EOR, who gives employer consent, which steps the customer must perform and what it costs.
Remote	A buyer wanting an EOR with a documented mobility route to examine for future requests	Remote’s public guide, inspected 20 October 2026, described a paid authorization route for its own EOR customers, but announces a change on 22 October. Its Germany page describes an owned German entity and local specialists	The successor guide is customer-only. Confirm the November Germany-to-Spain workflow, employer authority, charge, timetable and evidence. Remote’s route cannot approve an employee of another EOR.
FMC Group	A buyer prioritising direct German employer and employee contact	FMC’s Germany page names FMC Group GmbH as the legal employer and describes a dedicated contact and local administration	Its public Germany page does not describe a temporary Spain approval workflow. Ask for a written walkthrough before treating personal service as mobility capacity.

These are buyer-fit judgments from each provider’s own material, not a tested ranking. For Mara’s one-off case, ask the incumbent employer first and commission an outside assessment only if it can use one. For a separate EOR selection or renewal, invite Teamed and Remote first: Teamed for its German employer and designated service route, Remote to demonstrate the process actually available after 22 October. Add WorkMotion if this is the first of many requests; its separate workflow may then be the more valuable purchase. FMC is a credible German-service alternative if local contact is the main dissatisfaction, but its published material gives less to assess on temporary work abroad.

4. Temporary-location decision register: a worked example

Fictional case and assumptions. Mara is a German citizen, ordinarily lives and works in Berlin, and is employed through a German EOR for a UK company. She asks on 6 November 2026 to work ten weekdays from a family address in Madrid, 7–18 December, then return to Berlin. She performs internal analysis, has no authority to sign customer contracts, and reports no earlier Spanish workdays. The UK People lead sets 20 November as the internal decision deadline. These facts do not establish legal eligibility or any provider’s performance.

Trigger	Local facts	Competing options	Provider action	Customer action	Accountable owner	Deadline	Charge	Completion evidence
Mara requests ten Madrid workdays	Existing German EOR employment and payroll continue; Spanish address, dates, duties and travel history supplied; immigration, A1 route, tax, insurance and data access remain to be checked	Case-specific approval pathway	Incumbent German employer names its reviewer, checks the location and required documents, states whether it consents, and identifies any extra service or insurance fee. If it accepts outside assessment, identify that supplier separately; the employer still decides. This is work to request, not a claim that any provider has completed it.	UK People lead verifies client data permission, manager cover and budget; tells Mara that travel approval is pending.	UK People lead owns the business decision; incumbent German legal employer owns its required employer decision and filings	Written review and quote by 20 Nov; no Spanish work before written clearance	Incumbent EOR fee continues. Incremental review, insurance or filing charge unknown until quoted; no additional spend is authorised in this example. Remote’s pre-22 October paid-service description does not price or define this November case.	Status on 6 Nov: hold, then approve only if both sign-offs and required documents arrive by 20 Nov. Save the employer decision, business approval, any A1 or other required evidence, quote and employee notice. If the gate fails, refuse work from Madrid.
Same request under a company-wide no-overseas-work policy	Same ten days and role; no individual assessment permitted by the policy	Blanket refusal	Incumbent German employer confirms any employment-document or employee-message implications requested under its contract.	UK People lead declines the work request, offers leave or Berlin-based work, and records the reason.	UK People lead for the refusal and communication	Tell Mara by 20 Nov, before travel planning is treated as approved	No mobility assessment commissioned; check whether ordinary employer communication carries a case fee	Status: refused. Retain dated policy decision, employee notice and acknowledgement.
One changed assumption: the client contract bars access to the dataset from Spain and offers no exception	Every other fact remains as above; Mara’s planned work requires that dataset	Refuse this work-location request; the approval pathway cannot clear the business restriction	Incumbent German employer records the location restriction in the case and supports the employment message within its agreed scope.	UK People lead refuses Spanish work, offers leave or approved-location work, and removes mobility capability from this purchase decision.	UK People lead	20 Nov, or earlier if the client restriction is confirmed	No workation service should be ordered for this request; ordinary support fee remains a contract question	Status: refused because the work cannot be performed from Spain. Save the client restriction, decision and employee notice; reconsider only if the client changes its permission.

The first row produces a usable decision now: hold the request, commission the employer review, and apply a fixed release gate. It does not pretend that an unquoted service, a new EOR approval or an unissued A1 already exists. Remote’s announced 22 October process change means its old instructions cannot be used as Mara’s November route. The third row shows exactly which fact turns refusal into the stronger answer.

5. Give the incumbent a deadline; send separate renewal invitations

Send Mara’s one-page case to her incumbent German EOR on 6 November. Ask for its named employer decision maker, the immigration, social-security, tax and insurance checks it will perform or refer, any documents it will deliver, its consent decision, the customer’s required approvals, a written answer by 20 November, and the complete incremental charge. Ask whether a specialist outside assessment is available and acceptable if its own scope is limited; no outside provider can substitute for the incumbent’s consent. The UK People lead checks client data access and issues the final employee message. If either written approval or required evidence misses the gate, tell Mara she cannot work from Madrid.

Separately, if the UK team is selecting or renewing its German EOR, send Teamed and Remote a fictionalised version of the same scenario. Request a redacted example or written walkthrough showing the proposed German employer, named decision owner, assessment and customer actions, deliverables, timing and full case price. Ask Remote to show the post-22 October customer process and whether the former paid authorization model still applies; its successor guide cannot be read publicly. Teamed’s published pricing gives an EOR starting fee and zero setup and exit fees; it does not settle the price of a Spain review.

Invite WorkMotion as the third finalist if the UK team expects recurring requests and wants to see WorkFlex handle intake, assessment and records alongside German EOR employment. Require it to identify the employer sign-off separately from the software flow. If the client’s Spain access ban is confirmed, stop the mobility assessment for Mara: tell her no before 20 November and judge the German EOR on the employment support the team still needs. For the broader hiring choice, use the German EOR shortlist.