IR Notes

On 5 July, by an overwhelming majority, MEPs passed a resolution on “Mental Health in the Digital World of Work”, calling on the Commission and the Member States to take action as soon as possible. This further resolution follows the one on the new EU strategic framework on health and safety at work (IR Notes 182 and Strategic Framework on Health and Safety at Work). Irish MEP Maria Walsh (EPP), who is the rapporteuse for this text, says that EU law needs to be updated to “reflect the new realities of digital working”.  MEPs believe that the current measures are insufficient and ineffective, as far as the assessment and management of psychosocial risks are concerned, and they are calling for the adoption of “prevention plans for mental health risks in all workplaces”. MEPs want the Commission: 1/ “to establish mechanisms for the prevention of anxiety, depression and burnout and the reintegration into the workplace of those affected by psychosocial problems”; 2/ to propose “a legislative initiative, in consultation with social partners, on the management of psychosocial risks and well-being at work in order to effectively prevent these risks in the workplace, including online”; 3/ to propose “a legislative framework to establish minimum requirements for teleworking across the EU”; 4/ to prepare, in consultation with social partners, a “directive on minimum standards and conditions to ensure that all workers are able to effectively exercise their right to disconnect” (see IR Notes 156) and to “regulate the use of existing and new digital tools”. MEPs emphasise that “women are at greater risk of stress, exhaustion, burnout and psychological violence due to new teleworking arrangements and the lack of regulation to control abusive labour practices”. They also stress the need to “protect workers from exploitation by their employers in the use of AI and algorithmic management”  (see Artificial intelligence) and express their view that “technology and AI in the workplace should never be used to the detriment of workers’ mental health and well-being” and “the deployment of AI at work must not lead to excessive monitoring in the name of productivity or the surveillance of workers”.

> See also: the European Trade Union Confederation’s positive reaction.

Outcome of the Employment and Social Affairs Council meeting : The action plan on the European Pillar of Social Rights has set a target of at least 60% of all adults participating in training activities every year by 2030. With this target in mind, on 16 June, European Ministers of Employment adopted three recommendations, relating to: 1) individual learning accounts (see press release); 2) a European approach to micro-credentials (see press release); 3) learning for the green transition and sustainable development (see press release). Ministers also approved the guidance contained in the European Semester (see Council press release and adopted a recommendation on ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality that “leaves nobody behind”. The recommendation defines “the people and households that are most affected by the green transition”; “people and households in vulnerable situations”; and the notion of “energy poverty”. It invites Member States to analyse the impact of the green transition on health and safety at work and to “promote measures to address new risks or the potential aggravation of existing risks”.  Member States should also provide for “the full and meaningful involvement, including information and consultation, of workers at all levels and their representatives as regards the anticipation of change and the management of restructuring processes including those linked to the green transition”. A discussion took place regarding the proposal submitted by Belgium and Spain (see press release issued by the Spanish government, following the presentation to the October 2021 Council meeting), which seeks to strengthen the social dimension of the European Semester by introducing a procedure for tackling social imbalances. It would involve identifying imbalances in the area of social rights and responding to them rapidly and effectively, drawing inspiration from the existing mechanism for dealing with macro-economic imbalances. Some countries, including Germany, Finland, Luxembourg and Portugal, appear to be ready to experiment with a mechanism of this kind.

> See also: ETUI, working paper, A ‘Social Imbalances Procedure’ for the EU: towards operationalisation

Czech Presidency of the EU: : The Presidency has announced in its work programme, that its “priority […] will be to achieve a general approach of the Council” on the Directive on working conditions of workers on online platforms (see Presidency website). With a view to making progress on this point, it has sent out a questionnaire to governments in preparation for a meeting to be held on 14 July. It plans to: 1/ take forward negotiations on the proposal for a directive on exposure to asbestos at work (which has not yet been presented by the Commission); 2/ pursue negotiations regarding the proposal for a directive on ensuring transparency in the remuneration of men and women; 3/ pursue discussions on the proposal to strengthen the role and independence of equality bodies and on the proposal for a recommendation on setting minimum income standards. It wants to find solutions for tackling “energy poverty”, which it sees as “one of the key challenges of social cohesion in the EU”.

Future of the personal care sector : On 6 July, the European Parliament passed a resolution entitled “Towards a common European action on care”, calling for “decent working conditions for [all] care workers”. This resolution, which has been adopted before the European Commission has unveiled its European care strategy, paints a comprehensive and gloomy picture of the personal care sector, catering for the needs of the elderly and/or people with disabilities. It calls on Member States to “increase the attractiveness of the care occupations by ensuring social recognition, decent working conditions and fair remuneration, including adequate working hours, which would as a consequence help to tackle the existing labour shortages”. The resolution calls for “recipients of funding” to respect “applicable labour law and strong standards”. Member States must also “ensure and enforce […] the right for all workers to establish and join a representative trade union, and to engage in collective bargaining in the care sector, both formal and informal”. MEPs call on the Member States to “strengthen social dialogue” and to “promote collective bargaining and collective agreements” in both public and private, and profit and non-profit, care sector settings. They also call for occupational health and safety to be strengthened, by paying special attention to the specific challenges of work in the care sector (exposure to hazardous substances or medicinal products, work in potentially infectious environments, as well as mental and psychosocial risks related to emotionally demanding work and encountering adverse social behaviour), in order to reduce the resulting problems of absenteeism, staff turnover and poor workers’ health. The resolution has been welcomed by the European Public Service Union (EPSU), which points out that, in conjunction with the Federation of European Social Employers, it has called for the establishment of a dedicated social dialogue committee for this sector (see press release).

> See also: reports on the thematic seminar organised by Social Employers and EPSU, dealing with workforce challenges in social services (see press release) and the meeting held between EPSU and European Commissioner Nicolas Schmit to discuss the EU’s future care strategy in light of the Orpea scandal (see press release).

Textiles, clothing, leather and footwear industries : On 4 July, European social partners issued a joint statement setting out their joint demands, aimed at allowing the European textile industry to become “more resilient, sustainable and digital”, as provided for by the EU strategy for textiles (see IndustriAll Europe press release).

A guide to the use of algorithms : On 29 June, the Ministry of Employment published a Guide to Corporate Obligations on the Use of Algorithmic Information in the Workplace. The guide, which is drafted by a group of experts, sets out the rights and obligations linked to the use of algorithms, and also the employer’s obligations in terms of the information they are required to provide to employees and their representatives on the one hand, and the information they are lawfully entitled to ask their employees to provide, on the other. The guide also examines the company’s obligations with regard to conducting negotiations concerning algorithms and to impact assessments.

Monitoring of working hours : A digital work card system for bank and supermarket employees was introduced on 1 July, under Article 74 of Law 4808/2021 of June 2021. Under this new system, employees working in these businesses will receive unique QR codes that will transfer data to the Ergani system being trialled by the Ministry of Employment. At this stage, the system only applies to employees who are physically present at their workplace, and therefore excludes teleworkers and other categories. Within a few days of the system going live, approximately 79.9% of supermarket employees and 78.8% of bank staff were using their digital work card (see press release). This system will be applied to all of the country’s employees from 2023 onwards, so that their working hours, breaks, leave and overtime can be monitored. The data held on the card will be transferred to the Ergani system in real time and will be available to employees. Kostis Hatzidakis, Minister of Employment and Social Affairs, explains: “As the system is implemented and gradually extended to all businesses, it will become easier to detect undeclared work and clandestine work, while workers themselves will have a powerful weapon to help them defend their rights”.

• Parental leave increased to 7 weeks : On 1 July, Parent’s Leave was raised from five to seven weeks, during which parents will receive an allowance of 250 euros per week. Parent’s Leave and Benefit is available to anyone with a child under 2 years of age or who has adopted a child within the last 2 years. In 2021, a total of 51,400 parents were supported – compared to just 16,700 in 2020. Overall, 28,000 applications have been approved since the start of the year. The government has also said that it is committed to raising Parent’s Leave to 9 weeks (see press release).

• New Covid-19 protocol : A joint memorandum of understanding updating the measures taken to combat Covid-19, was signed on 30 June by the government, the National Institute of Insurance against Accidents at Work (INAIL), and the social partners. The text advocates the use of a FFP2 filtration mask in the context of work performed in enclosed spaces that are either shared by several employees or open to the public, or where a one-metre distance between people cannot be maintained. The employer must ensure that FFP2 masks are available, so that all employees can use them (see press release).

The right to apply for teleworking : On 5 July, the lower Chamber of the Dutch Parliament has passed an amendment to the Flexible Work Act (Wfw), allowing an application for changes to the workplace to be dealt with in the same way as an application for changes to work schedules or to overall working time. Employees whose jobs can be adapted to teleworking will be entitled to apply to make this switch (and conversely, to return to the office), and if the employer then rejects this request, they will have to provide the employee with a reply setting out their reasons. The text of the amendment, which is based on a joint position adopted by social partners, will have to be approved in a vote by the upper Chamber (the Senate) before it enters into force (see press release issued by the GroenLinks party and Draft Law).

Renegotiation : The contract catering group Elior (72,510 employees in the EU) has renewed its 2005 European Works Council agreement. The new agreement takes the form of an amendment to the original agreement, and incorporates the main changes introduced by Directive 2009/38. The EWC, which is made up of 12 members, is consulted once a year, at the one and only plenary meeting, on the group’s strategic orientations over the coming five years, at European level. The text provides for EWC members to have visiting rights in their respective countries, so that they can hold talks with employee representatives at local level. In exceptional circumstances, the council must issue an opinion within 45 days after the initial information has been received (two months if an expert is involved). The EWC will receive ongoing assistance from a representative of the European trade-union federation EFFAT. EWC members are granted 30 hours per annum to discharge their duties(120 hours in the case of executive committee members, 150 hours for the secretary).
> Recently published on line: the Lyreco European Works Council agreement and the Nexter European Works Council agreement.

Punishing a breach of confidentiality : In a rare case involving a breach of confidentiality by a European Works Council member, France’s Supreme Court has approved the punishment imposed by the French subsidiary of HSBC bank on a female employee who held several positions as an employee representative, including that of EWC member.  The bank’s management accused her of repeated breaches of security and confidentiality rules at an EWC meeting that she attended in London. The ruling states that the employee prepared a list of questions, which she wanted to submit to the EWC, on her EWC laptop rather than on the secure Blackberry provided by her employer. She then transferred the document onto the EWC’s USB stick and printed it out on the London hotel’s printer, rather than using a computer belonging to her employer, which would have allowed the document – which contained information on trends in the company’s business in Greece – to be printed securely and remotely. At its French central works council (CCE) meeting, which was held a few days before the EWC meeting, and attended by the employee in question, the employer had warned everyone that this information was confidential. The judges emphasise that the document was printed “without due regard for the company’s confidentiality and IT security rules”; “in view of its nature and content, some of the information contained in this document was confidential, in terms of protecting the company’s legitimate interests”, within the meaning of Article L. 2342‑10, 2° of the Employment Code, and “this information had previously been declared” confidential “by the employer” (Cass. soc. 15 June 2022, Appeal no. 21-10.366).

Discussions on an appointment : as mentioned  (see IR Notes 186), to protect itself from irregularities, the internal rules of procedure of the Adecco Group European Works Council , signed by its members and central management, contain a provision to protect against irregularities of this nature: if the select committee has any doubts about the appointment procedure followed by local management, it must inform central management of its concerns, so that a joint investigation can be conducted, to check that the procedure was in order. In the meantime, the disputed appointment will be suspended. Faced with doubts about the regularity of the procedure expressed by the select committee concerning the election of a Hungarian member, the Adecco Group’s management clarifies that, for its part, the investigations carried out do not point to any irregularity and that the appointment of the new Hungarian member is valid. “The management remains open to discussion with the select committee to allow for a reconciliation of views,” says Menno Bart, Senior Manager Group Public Affairs and management representative on the Adecco Group EWC.