On 20 March 2024, the European Commission put forward a proposal for a directive and a proposal for a recommendation to Member States, which is aimed at improving the working conditions of trainees in the EU and preventing the misuse of traineeships (see Traineeship). MEPs and youth organisations have long been calling for this proposal for a directive, which aims to supplement the revision of the current Council recommendation of 10 March 2014 on a reinforced Quality Framework for Traineeships. The main aspects of the proposal for a directive apply only to trainees who have an employment relationship and not to all trainees – for example, those whose traineeship is part of a training course are not covered. The proposal seeks to:
1/ Affirm the principle of non-discrimination, which has already been applied to employees who are on a fixed-term contract, so that trainees are treated on an equal footing with regular employees, in terms of their working conditions, including pay. However, objective reasons, such as having different tasks to undertake, lower levels of responsibility, less work intensity or the amount of time taken up by the traineeship’s learning and training component, can provide justification for treating these trainees differently.
2/ Ensure, by means of controls and inspections based on analysing six criteria, such as the “excessive duration of the purported traineeship” or “the requirement for previous work experience”, that traineeships are not used to disguise regular employment relationships. To this end, the law will require employers to provide information to the authorities, on request, on the number and duration of traineeships, and the working conditions associated with them. Member States will also have to set “a time limit indicating excessive duration of a traineeship and of repeated, including consecutive, traineeships with the same employer”. In addition, employers will have to provide trainees with “information on the expected tasks, working conditions, including pay, social protection, learning and training elements” in advertisements for traineeships.
3/ Protect trainees against retaliatory measures if they seek to assert their rights. The law will enable workers’ representatives to bring judicial or administrative proceedings, on behalf or in support of one or more trainees, in order to enforce their rights. Moreover, given the vulnerability of trainees, Member States will have to establish “channels” allowing trainees “to report malpractice and poor working conditions”.
