IR Notes

The Court of Justice has pronounced judgment on a case concerning an employee in the building sector who disputed the amount of remuneration to which he was entitled in respect of his paid annual leave (CJEU, 13 December 2018, case C-385/17, Hein). Under German law, periods of short-time work must not impact on the amount of this remuneration, which is calculated on the basis of the ordinary remuneration received during periods of actual work. However, this law allows the social partners to depart from this principle. Thus, the collective agreement applicable in the building industry allows periods of short-time work, during which the employee was not working, to be taken into account in the remuneration calculation. The Court of Justice holds that this waiver is in breach of EU law. An employee who undergoes periods of short-time work is entitled “to enjoy, during his period of rest and relaxation, economic conditions which are comparable to those relating to the exercise of his employment” (see press release issued by the Court).

Carcinogens and mutagens: On 6 December, the Council issued a general approach regarding the proposal amending Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work (see press release issued by the Council and the Commission). This third revision of the directive fixes limit values for exposure to five substances: cadmium, beryllium, arsenic acid, formaldehyde and 4,4’-methylene (MOCA). The negotiations with a view to the final adoption of this directive will commence with the European Parliament, whose position, approved on 20 November, is more favourable on two points to the Commission’s proposal (see analysis produced by the European Trade Union Institute). On 11 December, the Parliament also adopted its position on the second revision, which relates to eight other agents, including diesel engine exhaust gases (see press release). This text now has to be approved by the Council, before being definitively adopted.

• Access to social protection for all workers: On 6 December, the Council reached unanimous political agreement on a proposal for a Council recommendation on access to social protection for workers and the self-employed (see Commission press release).


• European Labour Agency: On 6 December, the Council adopted a general approach on the proposal for a regulation establishing the European Labour Agency (see press release issued by the Council and the European Commission). This body, which Member States have called an “Agency” rather than an “Authority”, as it was described in the Commission’s initial proposal, will be competent to rule on matters linked to cross-border mobility of labour and to coordination of social security systems within the EU. The negotiations will commence with the European Parliament, which has adopted its report on this text (summary), with a view to its adoption.


• European Adjustment Fund: In its report adopted on 27 November, the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs announced its intention to expand the role of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund to include restructurings linked to the impact of climate change. Its new name will be the “European Fund for Transition” (EFT).


• Working conditions for drivers in the road transport sector: On 4 December, the Council set out its position on reforms of the road transport sector, and in particular of drivers’ working conditions (see press release). These reforms were adopted by a qualified majority, with eight countries voting against them. One provision seeks to combat the use of so-called “letterbox companies”. This involves ensuring that road transport operators established in a Member State have a real and continuous presence in that territory and conduct their business from there. One of the texts sets out the application of posting rules, and especially of the “equal pay for equal work” principle. These texts will have to be scrutinised again by the Parliament’s Transport Committee.

• Regulation of employment on platforms: the Council has taken formal note of the key messages transmitted by the Employment Committee and the Social Protection Committee on the social aspects of digitalisation and on the digitalisation and robotisation of work.

Digitalisation in the banking industry: On 30 November, the European social partners in the banking sector adopted a joint declaration on the impact of digitalisation on employment. In this way the social dialogue committee of the banking sector, which has a reputation for lack of dynamism, is addressing the challenge of digitalisation in the wake of the joint declarations adopted by the following sectors: local and regional administration, insurance, the chemical industry, the metal industry and the pulp and paper sector. It is noteworthy that the declaration accepts that “new forms of work may include freelance work”.

Self-employed workers are entitled to conclude collective agreements: the decision on the merits, made by the European Committee of Social Rights on the complaint submitted by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions v. Ireland, (no. 123/2016) was published on 12 December following the adoption of a resolution by the Committee of Ministers. This decision is an interesting one, as it takes the view that self-employed workers are entitled to negotiate collective agreements that fix a minimum remuneration, without violating the rules governing competition and prohibiting anti-competitive agreements. The European Trade Union Confederation has welcomed this decision.

• Social protection expenditure in the EU: in 2016, social protection expenditure in the EU stood at 28.2% of GDP, down slightly compared with 28.4% in 2015 (see Eurostat press release).

• An increase in the minimum wage: from 1 January onwards, the monthly minimum wage will rise from 12,200 crowns (472.87 euros) to 13,350 crowns (517.44 euros), i.e. a rise of 9.4%. This is the second-largest nominal rise since the minimum wage was introduced in 1991 (see press release, in Czech).

A social revolt staged by the “yellow vests”: On 19 December this week, the government was due to present legislative measures translating the promises made by President Macron to the gilets jaunes [“yellow vests”]: a net rise of 100 euros per month in the minimum wage; cancelling the tax increase (‘CSG’) imposed at the beginning of 2018, for pensioners living on less than 2,000 euros per month; scrapping tax on overtime pay; and removing tax from end-of-year bonuses paid up to a value of 1,000 euros. A major national debate will be launched on: ecological transition, taxation, democracy and how the State and public services are organised.

• Employment law reform: On 3 December, following the general election held on 14 October, the parties making up the coalition in power adopted a coalition agreement with a view to forming a new government. This programmatic agreement comprises numerous reform projects in the area of employment law: a revision of the circumstances in which temporary workers and fixed-term contracts can be used; an increase in the legal minimum amount of annual leave from 25 to 26 days a year; the introduction of a new public holiday (9 May); a social consultation to create an entitlement to part-time working in certain special circumstances, together with the right to return to full-time work; a bill on prevention of bullying, which “will be presented as soon as possible”, etc.

• A sharp rise in the minimum wage: The government has decided to promulgate, on 21 December, a decree-law increasing the minimum wage by 22.3% from 1 January onwards. It will rise from the current figure of 637 euros per month to 900 euros (based on 14 monthly payments, i.e. 1,050 euros per month over a 12-month period).

> To find out more: the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions has published a detailed summary of developments in the industrial relations and working conditions landscape compiled by its network of correspondents (Editor’s Note: IR Share, which publishes IR Notes, is part of this network, and is responsible for France), and classified by topic and by country. The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) has also published the November edition of the Collective Bargaining newsletter.

Managing digitalisation: At the council’s next plenary meeting in March 2019, the European Works Council of Airbus SE and the group’s management will sign a declaration of intent (the text is not yet available on our website) to “use digital technology for the benefit of employees” and to promote “respect for the protection of personal data and privacy”. The signatories will ensure that “the technologies and algorithms that we use will remain under the control of human beings.”

• A duty of care, and health and safety in the workplace: the European Works Council of the construction group Eiffage organised a training course for its members, at Ostend (Belgium), from 10 to 12 December, to finalise an action plan. The council plans to work on implementing the duty of care incumbent on multinational companies, and on the topic of health and safety in the workplace. We understand that the course was arranged with a view to organising themed workshops covering various identified risks, such as dust, handling chemicals, and working at height or on moving parts.

• Recognising the win-win nature of transnational agreements: the European employers’ organisation BusinessEurope and the European Trade Union Confederation have published the final report on their project relating to “a win-win approach to transnational industrial relations in multinational companies“, based on an analysis of eight transnational agreements: Barilla, Enel, Engie, Metro, Safran, Schneider Electric, Suez and Thyssenkrupp Elevator.

• Agreements covering restructuring plans: the IndustriAll Global Union federation reports a declaration concluded in Germany between Bayer and the IG BCE trade union on maintaining jobs in Germany through to 2025, while the European trade-union federation Effat has expressed its delight at the agreement concluded regarding the closure of the Coca-Cola logistics site at Fuenlabrada in Spain, following a four-year-long dispute.