IR Notes

“I’m issuing a solemn appeal to the social partners, inviting them to reach an agreement on the right to disconnect. Allowing the negotiations to fail would have serious consequences for social dialogue, at a time when this is needed more than ever”. However, the appeal issued by Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights, did not bear fruit, and the negotiations broke down. As early as 9 November, the date of the final meeting, Eurocadres announced that two of the three employers’ delegations had walked away from the negotiating table, meaning that the process had effectively come to a halt (see IR Notes 218). It took 15 days for the ETUC and the Commission to issue an official reaction, but the employers’ organisations have remained silent (see ETUC press release).
The Commission tells IR Notes that it “regrets the fact that the social partners’ negotiations have not reached a positive conclusion. It is now going to look at how best to proceed, in full compliance with the principles of proportionality, subsidiarity and better legislation – in light of the President’s undertaking concerning resolutions under Article 225 of the TFEU”. Ursula von der Leyen had promised to deliver a positive response to these resolutions, which allow Parliament to call on the Commission to submit a legislative proposal, in the way that it did on this issue (see IR Notes 156).
In view of the European social partners’ inability to negotiate on matters that are their natural preserve, the Commission is invited to put forward two proposals for a directive – one on telework and the right to disconnect, and the other on revision of the European Works Council directive, within a very short timeframe – before the European elections due in 2024. This situation raises questions about the current effectiveness of cross-industry social dialogue, which – it must reluctantly be concluded – appears to be frittering away the “super powers” bestowed on it by the TFEU.  In point of fact, if they do manage to reach agreement on a text, the European social partners can ask – as foreseen by them in the event of an agreement on telework and the right to disconnect (see IR Notes 189) – for this to be transcribed via a directive that will be binding on all Member States, without either the Council or Parliament being able to amend its contents. This is how the directives on parental leave, part-time working and fixed-term contracts came to be passed (see European social dialogue). However, EU social partners have not played this “quasi-legislator” role since the early 2000s, when the negotiations on agency work broke down. This new failure will reverberate at the Val Duchesse social summit, taking place in January next year.

Boosting workers’ mobility : On 15 November, the European Commission unveiled new initiatives on mobility of talent and skills “to make the EU more attractive to talent from outside EU and facilitate mobility within” (see Third-country nationals): 1/ A Communication on Skills and Talent Mobility. 2/ A Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council Establishing an EU Talent Pool in the form of a digital platform, to facilitate the recruitment of non-EU jobseekers in occupations experiencing labour shortages. 3/ A Recommendation on the Recognition of Qualifications of Third-Country Nationals to simplify and speed up the process of recognising the skills and qualifications of those involved. 4/ A Proposal for a Council Recommendation ‘Europe on the Move’ – learning mobility opportunities for everyone, aimed particularly at promoting the mobility of pupils, students and apprentices in the EU (see Commission press release and Questions and Answers). The IndustriAll Europe trade union federation believes that this package of measures, “which focuses mainly on attracting migrant workers to Europe through the Talent Pool platform, misses the target on skills shortages”, which can only be met with “a long-term sustainable approach based on training and quality jobs” and the recognition of a “right to training”, given the enormous scale of the effort required to boost skills in order to meet the dual challenge posed by the green and digital transitions (see press release).

Occupational health and safety : On 14 November, negotiators from the Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement regarding the directive amending Directive 98/24/EC and Directive 2004/37/EC as regards the limit values for lead, its inorganic compounds and diisocyanates. The text will have to be formally approved by the Council and Parliament before it is published. The occupational exposure limit for lead is reduced to 0.03 mg/m3 and the biological limit value to 30 µg/100 ml, before being lowered further, to 15 µg/100 ml, following a three-year transition period. Member States will have to introduce regular medical surveillance for workers who are exposed to lead over a period of several years. For the first time, the future directive fixes limit values for diisocyanates, at 6µg NCO/m3 (the maximum concentration to which a worker can be exposed for an eight-hour working day) and at 12µg NCO/m3 for 15 minutes’ exposure. The Committee promises to re-examine these limits by 2029 (see press releases issued by the Commission and Parliament).

European Semester : On 21 November, the European Commission launched the European Semester cycle, which aims to coordinate Member States’ economic policies (see European Semester). The objective is “promoting environmental sustainability, productivity, fairness, and macroeconomic stability, with a view to fostering competitive sustainability.” (see press release). The Commission’s recommendations to Member States  call on them to “support wage developments that mitigate purchasing power losses, especially for low-income earners, taking due account of competitiveness dynamics and avoiding lasting divergences within the euro area”. Another recommendation is to gradually reduce labour shortages via “upskilling and reskilling”, “active labour market policies” and “legal migration of third countries’ workers in shortage occupations”, in full complementarity to “harnessing talents from within the EU”.  The Joint Employment Report notes that “despite nominal wage increases, real wages fell in almost all Member States in 2022, to various degrees, highlighting the importance of well-balanced wage setting mechanisms”, based on, among other things, “strong social dialogue and effective collective bargaining, in accordance with national practice”. For the first time, the report sets out the progress made towards achieving the 2030 EU headline and national targets in the fields of social affairs, employment and skills. All of these documents will be submitted to EU institutions and European social partners with a view to adoption in spring 2024.

Just transition : On 23 November, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on job creation – the just transition and impact investments in which, among other things, it calls on the European Commission to propose, following consultation with the social partners, “an EU framework on maximum working temperatures, including the interruption, reduction or reorganisation of working time and longer breaks above certain temperatures, the obligation to set up effective ventilation systems for indoor working, mandatory protective equipment and compensation for working hours lost due to extreme weather events, with the support of national social security systems”. It also calls for “the introduction of an enforceable and individual right” to training and “a new framework directive on the anticipation and management of the transition that guarantees timely and effective information and consultation of workers and trade unions on companies’ plans and strategies impacting workplaces”, and an update of Directive 2002/14/EC in order to include information and consultation rights in transition plans (see Just transition).

Integration of Ukrainians : The government has announced that it wants to speed up the integration of Ukrainian refugees into the world of work by introducing the “Jobturbo” plan, which will encourage employers to recruit refugees, even if they don’t yet have a good knowledge of German, while at the same time allowing them to continue to follow a language training course (see press release). To this end, on 20 November, various bodies, including the Ministry of Employment, the Federal Employment Agency and the social partners, signed a joint declaration that is intended to support this programme (see press release).

Toilets for everyone : On International Toilet Day (19 November), the Vida trade union federation strongly criticised the country’s main passenger road transport company: PostBus (4,000 employees, 90% of whom are men), which offers its drivers bottles to urinate in, if they are unable to go and “relieve themselves behind a tree”. The trade union deplores this solution, especially given that urinating in public is punishable with heavy fines in Austria, and calls for “toilets and washbasins with running water, to be available at route departure and arrival points, at the very least” (see press release). A similar situation has also been condemned in Lower Austria, where the trade union criticises the fact that access to toilets does not feature in the terms and conditions of the invitations to tender issued for urban passenger transportation services (see press release).

A teleworking law : Parliament has definitively adopted a draft law overseeing teleworking in the private sector. The law requires the employer to cover costs incurred by the employee, and to provide him or her with the necessary technical support. The employer must ensure that a written assessment of telework-related risks is performed, so that teleworkers have an appropriate guarantee regarding their health and safety conditions, and their right to disconnect (see Ministry of Employment press release).

A law on value-sharing : On 22 November, Parliament definitively adopted the draft law transcribing into law, the national cross-industry agreement of 10 February 2023 on value-sharing within the company (see IR Notes 203). On an experimental basis, for a five-year term with effect from promulgation of the law, companies with between 11 and 49 employees will be required to put in place at least one value-sharing mechanism (profit-sharing), including a new one known as a “company value‑enhancement sharing scheme” [plan de partage de la valorisation de l’entreprise]. It also includes measures intended to simplify value-sharing mechanisms and develop employee share-ownership.

Banking sector : On 23 November, the social partners in the banking sector (260,000 employees) signed a new national collective agreement providing for pay rises and a number of innovations, such as a 30 minutes-per-week reduction in working hours, to 37 hours per week with effect from 1 July 2024. The agreement delegates to negotiation at company level, the task of implementing different forms of employee participation in the company’s management (see press releases issued by First CISL, FISAC CGIL, AIB and UNI Europa). The social partners have also extended the “Memorandum of understanding to encourage repayment of loans by women who are victims of gender-based violence” by two years (see press release).

Due diligence : On 16 November, the President of the United States published a memorandum comprising five lines of action to promote workers’ rights at global level, using trade and diplomacy. It calls on all government departments and federal agencies to commit to “ensuring high labor standards, bringing workers’ voices to the decision-making table, and enforcing rules against unfair labor practices, including forced labor and denial of the right to organize”. This is an interesting initiative, which indirectly concerns all large global corporations that continue to tolerate breaches of fundamental social rights.

Health and social care : On 20 and 21 November, the European Public Service Union (EPSU) organised a seminar to discuss how European Works Councils can facilitate the introduction of trade unions at companies that provide health and social care services. The EPSU, which is already present via its affiliates in the Fresenius, Orpea and Clariane groups, is currently engaged in establishing EWCs at Colisée and Norlandia, with plans for two other groups, Domus Vi and Dibber (see press release).

Reorganisation : The Clariane group is currently facing a difficult economic situation, which is forcing it to strengthen its financial structure and dispose of some of its assets (see press release), prompting the company’s management and its European company EWC to issue a joint declaration, at the council’s plenary meeting held to discuss the reorganisation. This step is in accordance with EU law, which requires social dialogue to facilitate company restructurings, by sharing information ahead of any decisions made. The declaration states that the European company’s EWC “wishes to cooperate with the group with a view to supporting its employees in the best interests of all stakeholders, in the face of the crisis that the sector is currently experiencing.” “In the case of the proposed asset disposals already announced”, the EWC will check “the terms of these disposals” and express “its opinions, so that they can be taken into account”. The EWC “will have access to expert advice of its choosing (…) for the purpose of evaluating the company’s plans”. The parties “jointly reaffirm that they will not accept any compromises regarding either the quality of care and services provided to residents and patients or the working conditions of Clariane’s employees”.

Diversity and inclusion : On 14 November, the EWC and the management of the Italian insurance group Generali signed a Joint Declaration on Inclusion, Equity and Diversity. The text is not prescriptive and contains no specific binding measures, but it lays down a number of principles that each group entity must adhere to. The text strengthens a previous Joint Declaration on Inclusion and Diversity EN ES DE IT), signed on 26 June 2019, by adding the concept of equality. The text makes reference to the European directive on pay transparency, with a view to achieving the group’s target of a zero “pay gap”, and to the right to disconnect. This initiative is motivated by a desire to enhance the group’s appeal, at a time when companies in the sector are struggling to attract and retain talent. Carole Bourner, the EWC secretary, comments: “while most of the group’s large countries – in terms of the size of their workforce – already have collective bargaining agreements covering these issues, the declaration will serve as a starting point for employee representatives from other countries when they come to discuss matters of diversity, equality and inclusion with their management, in accordance with their own country’s industrial relations practices”.

Employees aged over 50 : Following on from two charters (Phase I and Phase II) promoting the health and well-being of employees worldwide, the management of the Axa group and its European Group Council (CEG) have now signed a Charter Governing the Group’s Commitments to the Employment of Staff Over 50 Years of Age. This charter adopts the terms of the Landoy Charter, which has already been applied at one of its main entities in France, and will be rolled out worldwide in stages between 2024 and 2026. Among other things, the group wants to “communicate in a motivating, inclusive and rewarding way on the theme of employees over 50” and to reaffirm the right to training, “regardless of age”.