IR Notes

At his hearing before the European Parliament, the Commissioner-designate for Jobs, former Luxembourg Minister of Work Nicolas Schmit, sought to charm his audience by quoting Jacques Delors, the former President of the European Commission, who first had the idea of a Social Europe, and reminding them that the European project could only succeed if it enjoyed the confidence of its citizens. In terms of substance, essentially he set out the contents of his mission letter, while at the same time demonstrating his professionalism in this area. The main plans announced are as follows:  1° An action plan for pursuing the implementation of the European Pillar of Social Rights, at EU level and at the level of each country, via both legislative and non-legislative instruments. 2° Reinforcing the Youth Guarantee, which was introduced via a Council recommendation, to ensure that young people do not find themselves without either a job or a training course, six months after leaving the school system. In particular, Nicolas Schmit plans to add training in basic digital skills. 3° Creating a “Child Guarantee” to combat the poverty that affects children within the EU. 4° Introducing a European Unemployment Benefit Reinsurance Scheme to reduce the pressure on the unemployment benefit system of a country that is coping with an external shock. 5° Establishing a European minimum wage that would guarantee a decent standard of living for workers in the absence of a collective agreement. 6° Considering the creation of an individual learning account. 7° Encouraging the development of social dialogue at all levels and of collective bargaining, which is a component of the social market economy. 8° Giving consideration to setting a minimum income, to ensure that everyone can have a decent standard of living – even those unable to access the employment market. 9° Better social protection and better working conditions for employees working in the digital economy, with the launch of a major conference on this subject. 10° A commitment to take the initiatives necessary to improve health and safety in the workplace, especially in the area of harmful substances, although this topic does not explicitly feature in his mission letter, as emphasised by the European Trade Union Confederation in particular. 11° Performing an analysis to examine whether the differences in contribution levels that exist between the various national social security systems have an impact in terms of unfair competition in the context of posting of workers. After the hearing, his appointment was confirmed by the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs.

No revision of the “Posting of Workers” Directive : On 25 September, the European Commission published its Report on the application and implementation of Directive 2014/67/EU of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers. The task involved was that of evaluating its application, to check the text’s compliance and whether there would be any benefit in revising it. The outcome is that “taking into account the limited period of time the Directive has been in force and the fact that no further problems were indicated that would require amendments to the Directive”, the Commission “does not consider it necessary to propose any amendments to the Directive at this stage”. On the other hand, it is publishing a practical guide, in English only, which is intended to enlighten the stakeholders concerned and to facilitate interpretation of the directive. The Commission emphasises the improvement achieved in administrative cooperation between Member States, even if this is not optimal, and the diversity of the sanctions put in place at national level to combat abuse linked to the posting of workers. This diversity is set out in a working document. The Commission reminds States that they must comply with the principle of proportionality in any sanctions.
> See also: Questions – Answers on the Commission’s report.

• European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF): On 16 September, the European Commission published the Report on the activities of the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, which was set up to co-finance, in conjunction with Member States, actions to support employees who are made redundant in the context of major restructuring exercises, with their efforts to find a new job. Over the period 2017-2018, it spent 41 million euros (compared to 70 million euros during 2015-2016) on providing assistance to 12,896 workers who had been made redundant. Since 2007, the Fund, whose remit is set to be expanded to include restructurings linked to digitalisation and to ecological transition, has spent 634 million euros on aid, i.e. slightly more than the budget assigned to it for a single year (500 million euros).
  > See also: Annex to the report on activities and the proposal for a regulation adopted by the European Commission to broaden the scope of the EGF’s interventions in order to support workers made redundant as a result of the likely economic disruptions caused by a withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU without a withdrawal agreement. 


• EGF mobilised to assist Carrefour Belgium: On 4 October, the European Commission proposed granting Belgium the sum of 1.6 million euros from the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF), to help 400 workers made redundant by Carrefour Belgium to find a new job (see press release).

Entitlement to organise one’s own working time: An employee engaged on a shift work system asked his employer for permission to cease working on a rota of morning, afternoon and night shifts, so that he could take care of his children. He asked if he could work exclusively in the morning team, but that request was rejected. The Court of Justice emphasises that “neither Directive 2010/18 nor the Framework Agreement on parental leave contain any provision which would require Member States, in the context of a request for parental leave, to grant the applicant the right to work a fixed working time when his usual pattern of work is shift work with variable hours.” (CJEU, 18 September 2019, case C-366/18, Ortiz Mesonero).

• Proof of indirect discrimination: in a case concerning an Austrian academic who alleged that she was the victim of indirect discrimination, the Court of Justice states that, in view of the need to ensure that Article 19, paragraph 1, of Directive 2006/54/EC is effective, this provision must be interpreted as meaning that it allows a worker who believes they have suffered indirect sex discrimination to rely, for evidence of apparent discrimination, on general statistical data on the employment market in the Member State concerned, if the person in question cannot be expected to produce more specific data relating to the relevant group of workers, because such data is difficult to access, or even unavailable.(CJEU, 3 October 2019, case C-274/18, Schuch-Ghannadan, not available in English).

Campaign in favour of collective bargaining : On 26 September, the IndustriAll Europe trade union federation launched a major campaign to demonstrate the positive impact of collective bargaining in delivering a better life for workers (“Together at Work”). It will run until March 2020 (see press release issued by IndustriAll Europe). “This is a timely campaign to repair the harm that was done” in the wake of the 2008 economic and financial crisis, says MEP Gaby Bischoff (S&D) (see press release issued by IndustriAll Europe).

• Leave for employees who are caring for someone close to them : A leave entitlement for carers who are looking after someone who is in a situation of dependency came into force on 1 October 2019, under the law of 17 May 2019. To benefit from this entitlement, the worker must have built up a relationship of trust or closeness, whether emotional or geographical, with the person they are caring for. The worker must also be permanently and actually resident in Belgium. The care and support must be provided free of charge and in cooperation with at least one professional care provider (see press release).

Increased flexibility : a new law on working time, passed during the summer, aims to facilitate working-time flexibility in companies and to improve work-life balance. The law, which will come into force on 1 January 2020, extends the option of negotiating collective agreements governing working hours at company level without the relevant provision appearing in branch-level agreements, and in particular the option of allowing the employer and the employee to freely agree flexible working hours if the nature of the tasks involved is such that the employee can decide independently how he/she will divide up at least one half of his/her total working hours, and can choose his/her place of work, e.g. at home or in a coworking space. The law also provides for extending to all employees the option of benefitting from a “working time bank” system that enables the employee to exchange any overtime worked for subsequent reductions in working hours, for leave or for monetary benefits, and vice versa. This reform has been fairly well received by the trade unions, insofar as it may increase the freedom enjoyed by employees to tailor their working hours to suit their own personal needs. The employers, for their part, fear a risk of disorganisation if employees have greater control over their working time.

Large-scale robotised automation at Volkswagen : German car-maker Volkswagen has announced a major investment in its Poznan site (11,000 employees), where the level of automation on one production line will increase from 42% to 80%, resulting in the loss of 750 jobs. This is one of the first times in Poland that robotised automation has led to so many job losses (see article in English in Poland in).

Revised agreement : On 24 April, the group management of the vehicle rental company Europcar revised the agreement setting up its European Works Council. The new agreement includes an “anti-Brexit” clause: a country that left the EU “would remain within the scope of application of the agreement, and its delegation would comply with the conditions governing the appointment of its members, such as they were defined prior to the separation.” A provision rarely seen in European Works Council agreements states that “the signatory parties agree that in general terms, a subject will become transnational – and will thus concern the Works Council – as soon as it exceeds the remit of national management”.

Fundamental rights : On 25 September, the Global Union Alliance set up within the German healthcare group Fresenius (280,000 employees) denounced workers’ rights abuses within the group and called on management to sign a global agreement (see press releases issued by IndustriAll Global Union, UNI Global Union and EPSU).

• Duty of vigilance binding multinational companies: the international and European transport union federations (ITF and ETF) and the Global Union Alliance formed within the transport and logistics group XPO have sent a letter to the group’s management, calling on it to comply with its duty of vigilance regarding human rights in its supply chain (see press release).
  > See also: letter sent to the XPO Group’s Chief Executive Officer and analysis produced by ITF.

The European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) has published several studies: 1° A comparative study of working time in the EU, which remains stable at 38 hours per week on average. The gap between newer and longer-established Member States is tending to close (Working time in 2017-2018). 2° A summary of trends in social relations, social legislation and working conditions in each Member State in 2018 (Annual review of working life 2018). 3° A report on employment and working conditions in three types of platform work (Employment and working conditions of selected types of platform work).  This report is supplemented by national contributions.