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October 2010

• 25 Oct 2010
  Sweden: Mixed reaction from social partners to new employment minister

  The appointment of a new employment minister in Sweden has been greeted with approval by representatives of some of the country’s trade unions, as Hillevi Engström has a history of being closer to the union movement than is common for her conservative Moderate Party. Ms Engström was formerly a trade union representative when she worked in the police. Other social partners are reserving judgment on the new minister and it remains to be seen if her appointment will lead to a policy shift.

• 25 Oct 2010
  Malta: Industrial action by nurses over staff shortages

  The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) has long complained about the acute shortage of nurses, which, it claimed, was causing its members work-related stress. The union took action when it felt that this shortage, although acknowledged by the government, was not being addressed adequately. When the University of Malta rejected applicants for a nursing course, the union organised industrial action to express its support for them and its dissatisfaction with the government.

• 25 Oct 2010
  United Kingdom: Government consults on future of ‘time to train’

  A new UK law, giving employees in big companies the right to request time for training, is already under threat, only a few months after it was introduced in April 2010. The recently elected coalition government has launched consultations on whether the Act should be kept as it is, repealed, or extended to smaller companies in 2011. The government’s move received a mixed reaction from social partner organisations. Trade unions fear that the outcome could weaken the new entitlement.

• 25 Oct 2010
  EU Level: Debate on EU framework for managing restructuring

  Restructuring in the workplace is becoming more commonplace across Europe due to economic and technological changes. The European Trade Union Confederation has called on the European Commission to develop an EU-level instrument to manage restructuring. The Commission has indicated that this issue will be addressed in a new industrial policy communication later in 2010 and that it may invite EU-level social partners to negotiate a European framework instrument in this field.

• 19 Oct 2010
  EU Level: Commission issues report on EU-level sectoral social dialogue

  In July 2010, the European Commission issued a working document on the achievements and functioning of the sectoral social dialogue at EU level. Overall, since 1998, a total of 40 sectoral social dialogue committees have been created, covering 145 million workers around the EU. The document contains a full list of the sectors covered by these committees and the texts that have been negotiated. It also identifies possible improvements to the quality and scope of the dialogue process.

• 19 Oct 2010
  Poland: Autumn’s union protests put pressure on government and employers

  September 2010 was marked by major union demonstrations in Warsaw. Public sector unions protested on 22 September against government plans to freeze wages in 2011. Rail unions protested on 28 September against privatisation projects and lack of investment. And union confederations nationally decided to support the European Day of Action on 29 September, called by the European Trade Union Confederation. More protests are expected in the mining and retail sectors.

• 19 Oct 2010
  Estonia: Employers want more flexibility and a reduced tax burden

  Ideas to improve the competitiveness of the Estonian economy have been suggested by the country’s employers. Some of the proposals, which appear in their confederation’s manifesto for 2011–2015, were also in their 2007 manifesto. However, heated debate has been sparked by their calls for partial tuition fees and a higher education scholarship system, welcoming non-EU migrant workers and shifting the burden of social security tax to employees from employers.

• 19 Oct 2010
  Norway: No agreement on extending worker representation

  A public committee established to examine industrial democracy in Norway presented its report in March 2010. It concluded that current arrangements for codetermination in the workplace enjoy broad support in Norway. However, there is some disagreement between labour market parties about whether current provisions should be extended to include smaller companies and groups of companies, and on the rights and responsibilities of safety officers and working environment committees.

• 19 Oct 2010
  France: Unions oppose government bill on pension reform

  With the number of pensioners in France set to increase rapidly, the French government has introduced reforms to the public pension system, which include increasing the age at which French citizens will be entitled to a state pension from 60 to 62 years. It will increase by four months a year from 2011 to 2018. Four out of five of France’s large trade unions, and opposition parties, have expressed their opposition and French workers generally want to preserve the status quo.

• 19 Oct 2010
  Italy: Agreement signed on redundancies at Telecom Italia

  An agreement on redundancies at Telecom Italia was signed on 4 August 2010 by the government, company and trade unions. The agreement amends the Industrial Plan for 2010–2012, presented by the company in April, which had proposed 6,822 redundancies. However, this was changed when protesting unions asked the government to set up social partner talks. Now, 3,900 workers will enter ‘voluntary mobility’, and more than 2,000 employees will receive ‘solidarity’ contracts.

• 19 Oct 2010
  United Kingdom: Report challenges legality of unpaid internships

  A report calling for fair wages for young graduate interns received widespread media attention when it was published in July 2010. It argued that employers, generally in the media, fashion and politics, providing internships for no pay, or below the national minimum wage, were acting unlawfully. The government said that it would give careful consideration to the report. Trade unions are also campaigning in a variety of ways to improve interns’ working conditions.

• 19 Oct 2010
  Belgium: Interventions of justice in labour disputes: Techspace Aero case

  There is a growing trend among employers in Belgium to resort to the courts to resolve employment disputes, outside the labour courts or the usual bargaining and conciliation procedures. Trade unions and commentators regularly express concern at what is perceived as a trend towards the ‘judicialisation’ of disputes and some commentators see it as a challenge to the Belgian concertation model and the right to strike. The recent case of a dispute at Techspace Aero illustrates this.

• 11 Oct 2010
  Belgium: Trade unions outline priorities for next government term

  Bart De Wever, President of the New Flemish Alliance which won the June elections in northern Belgium, has been appointed informateur by the King, and is consulting with key organisations to form a new coalition government. Mr De Wever has received a joint memorandum from the Belgian General Federation of Labour and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions outlining their hopes of ‘a greater contribution from people less affected by the crisis’.

• 11 Oct 2010
  Ireland: Job cuts reduce wage bill more than pay cuts during crisis

  A special analysis by Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO) of wage bill reductions at the height of the economic crisis shows that job losses were the most significant element in reducing the overall wage costs of private sector companies. Other measures applied by employers included reduced working hours and a reduction in average hourly earnings. Overall, employment declined by 8% among those enterprises involved in the survey.

• 11 Oct 2010
  Malta: STMicroelectronics employees resist austerity measures

  Austerity measures proposed by the management of STMicroelectronics were overwhelmingly rejected by employees through a postal vote organised by the General Workers’ Union. Following negotiations with the union, management agreed to minimise pay cuts and held a second vote, in which the employees agreed with the watered-down measures. Pressure exercised by the Maltese government, which had pledged to give the company financial aid, helped influence the employees’ decision.

• 11 Oct 2010
  Slovakia: Textile workers strike against low wages

  Workers in the textile companies Kali Agro and Slo.vi in the east Slovakian city of Hencovce demanded a 15% wage increase and better working conditions. Management at the companies, owned by VMC Vignoni of Italy, refused and almost 400 workers went on strike on 24 August 2010. It was the first strike in Slovakia since 2007. After several bargaining rounds, members of the Metal Trade Union Association reached an agreement with management and the strike ended on 30 August.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Norway: Norway: Posted workers

  The Norwegian government has in the last few years introduced several measures to combat social dumping. These measures are targeted on protecting foreign workers as such and have seldom only the posted worker in mind. Research indicates that there is often no strict distinction between posted workers and individual immigrants – posted workers have seldom worked for their employer in their home country.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Italy: Italy: Posted workers

  The report provides information on workers employed by foreign firms posted to Italy or workers of Italian firms posted to European countries. In particular, the attention is focused on both the Italian legal framework and the positions of the social partners.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Ireland: Ireland: Posted workers

  This national contribution examines the situation in relation to posted workers in the Irish context as of May 2009. Ireland does not have specific legislation transposing the Posted Workers Directive (PWD). Rather, it was transposed under Section 20 of the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001. Some commentators believe the Irish legislation does not comply with the PWD – especially in the wake of recent ECJ judgments – but the Irish Government insists that it does.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Hungary: Hungary: Posted workers

  In Hungary, the current situation of posted workers, in terms of protection by law and collective agreements, reflects the case and concerns of a country that is an “exporter” of posted workers rather than an importer, as the important differences were laid out in the 1999 EIRO study. In addition, the most important target countries are those which have specific legislation for posted workers (immanently Germany and Austria). At the same time, since 1 May 2004 Hungary has been a Member of the European Union with the important obligation of fully applying the provisions of employment of workers posted to Hungary.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Estonia: Estonia: Posted workers

  The issue of posted workers is not well-covered in Estonia. The information on the number of posted workers is only partly available and the social partners have paid only limited attention to this. The posted workers Directive is implemented in the Estonian legislation, though the monitoring system set up is passive in identifying cases of deviation from regulations. A need for a special research on the working conditions of posted workers is evident as there is currently no information available.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Czech Republic: Czech Republic: Posted workers

  The Czech Republic has implemented the Directive no. 96/71 EC at the accession date to the European Union, i.e. on 1 May 2004, when the new wording of provisions under Article 6, Act no. 65/1965 Coll., Labour Code, became effective, concerning posting of employees to other member states of the European Communities. Simplification and detailing of the legal regulation has been brought by the new Labour Code.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Cyprus: Cyprus: Posted workers

  Although on the legislative front there has been since 2004 a full framework of protection for workers posted to Cyprus to perform temporary work, on the practical level the implementation of the existing legislation involves an extremely small number of enterprises and workers in just two sectors of economic activity.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Belgium: Belgium: Posted workers

  The posted worker Directive was transposed into Belgian legislation by the law of 5 March 2002. The law forecasts any employment regulations to be applied to workers as soon as work is performed in Belgium irrespective of its scope and duration. The law is thus more wide-ranging than the Directive limited to pay and working conditions. The government’s and social partners’ will was to ensure a perfect equality of conditions among workers in order to avoid ‘social dumping’. The second part of the law established a simplified system of documentation aiming at simplifying the administrative procedures for foreign employers.

• 08 Oct 2010
  Austria: Austria: Posted workers

  While in both quantitative and qualitative terms the issue of posted workers is only poorly documented in Austria, the country’s legislation appears to fully comply with the EU posted workers directive. This is mainly because foreign enterprises have to respect the collectively agreed minimum wage standards and working time regulations, as applicable to comparable employment in the relevant sector, for their employees posted to Austria. Moreover, the whole range of employee protection law applies to these workers. Since in Austria collective regulations are primarily set at sectoral and national level, corresponding rulings by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to the cases of Viking, Laval and Rüffert are of minor relevance for the situation in Austria.

• 08 Oct 2010
  EU Countries: Posted workers in the European Union

  This report examines the extent of the phenomenon of the posting of workers, the respective roles played both by European and national-level legislation in determining the employment and working conditions of posted workers and the relative roles played by legislation and collective bargaining – and how these two domains interplay. The report is in part an update of earlier work carried out in 2003 by Eurofound into the issue – not least, updating the findings with data from the new Member States, which had not joined the Union at that time. Importantly, the research looks at the possible implications of a number of high-profile decisions taken by the European Court of Justice in cases of posting of workers, which highlighted the at times tense relationship between the twin EU goals of economic freedom and social cohesion.The study was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by the EIRO correspondents. The text of each of these national reports is available below. The reports have not been edited or approved by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The national reports were drawn up in response to a questionnaire and should be read in conjunction with it.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Sweden: Sweden: Posted workers

  The principle of free movement has resulted in more open borders for the citizens in the EU and several revisions in the Swedish legislation. In Sweden the debate on posted workers has mostly involved the regulations and laws on posted workers and the difficulties of combining the posted workers directive and the Swedish model which states that the labour market is regulated by collective agreements. The views differ among social partners on how serious the problem of posted workers is. The data on posted workers in Sweden is very limited and consists of imprecise estimations.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Slovenia: Slovenia: Posted workers

  In 2008, there were 6,324 posted workers in Slovenia and there are no data available on the number of workers posted to other countries by domestic companies. There is no information on the trade union affiliation of workers posted in Slovenia. The law adopting the posted workers directive is The Employment Relations Act, which requires the application of the whole system of labour law to posted workers. The maximum period for considering a worker a “posted worker” is five years. The Employment Service shall monitor and inform on the terms and conditions of employment and work of such workers.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Netherlands: The Netherlands: Posted workers

  Data on posted workers are scarce in the Netherlands. A large group comes from Poland (of which half as temporary workers). Most sectors are covered by generally binding collective agreements, with the result that the same terms of employment apply to Dutch and posted workers alike. Moreover, the collective agreement for temporary agency workers has also been declared generally binding. The main problem seems to be fraudulent temporary agencies, which do not comply with the terms of the collective agreement applicable (apart from the fact that such agencies do not pay taxes and social security contributions).

• 06 Oct 2010
  Malta: Malta: Posted workers

  Although data available are limited, they reveal a low influx of posted workers in Malta. This subject has rarely been debated on a national level by the actors involved. The related Maltese legal framework can be assumed to be effectively protective against cases of social dumping particularly if one considers the lack of cases in front of law courts and collective disputes. The ECJ ruling on the Rűffert case has provoked a certain concern amongst Malta’s two general trade unions.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Slovakia: Slovakia: Posted workers

  The total number of posted workers in Slovakia has been increasing from 2004. The employment of posted workers is regulated mainly by legislation on public employment services, labour code and labour inspection. There were no significant changes in the regulation during the last years. The employment of posted workers is monitored by the Headquarter of Labour, Social Affairs and Family in cooperation with the National Labour Inspectorate and Social Insurance Agency. Posted workers are usually not organised in trade unions and are not covered by collective agreements. There were no collective labour disputes related to posted workers and respective case law does not exist in Slovakia.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Romania: Romania: Posted workers

  In 2009, the number of posted workers to Romania from European Union Member States and from the European Economic Area was 2,338 persons, which represents about 0.05% of total employment in Romania. The Directive 96/71/EC was transposed into Romanian legislation by Law no. 344 of 19 July 2006, regarding the posting of employees for the performance of transnational services, effective from 1 January 2007, the date of the Romanian accession to the EU. The relatively small number of posted workers to Romania is one of the reasons why the subject is not listed in the present social partners' agenda and the information on this category of workers is scarce.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Poland: Poland: Posted workers

  The issue of posted workers (either from Poland or to Poland) as understood by the EU Directive 96/71/EC is considered to be marginal by trade unions, employers and the government. All sides have little knowledge on posted workers and believe that general migration of workers to be of much greater importance. The issue is not non-existent however. Data is gathered and it focuses on workers posted from domestic companies abroad: their number has increased significantly between 2005 and 2007. The labour code adopts the posted workers directive. Monitoring and labour inspections are enforced, although their effectiveness is questionable.

• 06 Oct 2010
  United Kingdom: UK: Posted workers

  This report reviews the position of workers posted to work in the UK with respect to: the number and sectoral distribution of posted workers, the regulatory framework, the views and initiatives of the government and social partners, industrial disputes concerning posted workers and relevant case law. There are concerns that the use of posted workers in some sectors may be damaging the employment opportunities and terms and conditions of UK-based workers. There is pressure from trade unions for the government to revise the UK’s implementation of the posted workers Directive, notably to underpin collectively agreed pay rates.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Portugal: Portugal: Posted workers

  Objective data on posted work is scarce in Portugal. The general perception is that there are more Portuguese posted workers abroad than foreign posted workers from other Member States in Portugal. Most Portuguese posted workers seem to work in construction, maintenance, logistic and agriculture sectors, while foreign posted workers in Portugal tend to be highly qualified technicians and some Central and Eastern Europe workers in agriculture. The most recent revision of the Labour Code establishes the obligation of employers to inform authorities about posted workers. Thus we may expect that in future more data will be available about this issue.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Luxembourg: Luxembourg: Posted workers

  The European Posted Workers Directive was transposed into Luxembourg legislation by the law of 20 December 2002. Luxembourg has incurred an adverse ruling in the European Court of Justice for its transposition. Two of the charges made by the European Commission relate to the scope of the social provisions which must be applied to all workers, including posted workers. Two others relate to inspection arrangements. Although the trade unions have criticised the Court’s position, the government has downplayed the impact of the ruling on the regulatory framework in Luxembourg. Draft legislation amending the initial regulations has been submitted to the social partners for their opinion.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Lithuania: Lithuania: Posted workers

  In Lithuania, the law governing the guarantees of posted workers was adopted in 2005. The collection of information on the number of these workers and their employment conditions has been delegated to three institutions – State Labour Inspectorate, Lithuanian Labour Exchange and State Social Insurance Fund Board. However, information collected by these three institutions is not compared or analysed on inter-departmental basis – each institution works with its own data only. Since the adoption of the law, there have been no collective disputes and case law on posted workers recorded in Lithuania; debates of the social partners on this issue have not been observed either.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Spain: Spain: Posted workers

  Over the last few years, Spain has undergone an intensive process of immigration from outside the EU. Although no official statistics are available, intra-EU posting appears to involve only a small number of workers, mainly managers and other highly qualified professionals, although there is also some evidence of low-paid posted workers in the agriculture and the construction sector. In this context, the situation of posted workers has not received very much attention until recently in the context of the decisions of the European Court of Justice on posted workers.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Greece: Greece: Posted workers

  Transnational posting of workers has not until recently been an issue of major interest in Greece. The EU posted workers Directive was transposed by Presidential Decree No. 219/2000, which repeats almost literally the Directive, but apart from that there are no specific regulations. Also, in spite of the fact that the Presidential Decree gives relevant competency to the Ministry of Labour and the Corps of Labour Inspectors, there are no official data available concerning posted workers. However, the trade unions have been unofficially monitoring the phenomenon and are trying to raise attention to it. The protocol for cooperation signed between the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria and the Greek General Confederation of Labour is of special interest. It plans the coordination of trade union action with the aim to defend the trade union rights, which are threatened by increased labour mobility.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Denmark: Denmark: Posted workers

  Data on foreign service providers and posted workers in Denmark is still not, or since the enlargement in 2004, comprehensive. In many cases because the foreign companies, which in this context are to a large degree Polish firms in the construction sector, neither register to the authorities in question, nor take up contact with the social partners. An increasing number of cases of industrial dispute has been a consequence.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Bulgaria: Bulgaria: Posted workers

  Bulgaria developed and adopted the regulation on the posting of workers in 2002. In 2006 this regulation was changed and EU Directive 96/71/EU was wholly transponed (SG. N 45 from 2006 and is in force from 1 January 2007). The regulation defines the scope and the conditions (according to Art. 3 of the EU Directive), as well as the way for cooperation with the member states for providing of information during its implementation. The administrative bodies in charge of the implementation of the regulation undertook measures for its enforcement. The measures included information of the interested sides and orders/instructions to the institutions responsible for its implementation.

• 06 Oct 2010
  Germany: Germany: Posted workers

  In Germany the situation of posted workers is regulated by the Posted Workers Act (Arbeitnehmer-Entsendegesetz) which came into force in 1996 - even before the EU Directive. In recent years this legislation has become much debated in so far as it was used to implement national collectively agreed minimum wages in a number of chosen industries. Overall data on posted workers does not exist in Germany, the available data for the construction industry indicates that some 53,000 workers were posted to Germany in this industry in 2008, indicating a substantial decline compared to 2004, when some 76,000 posted workers were registered in this industry.

• 04 Oct 2010
  Sweden: Foreign berry pickers take industrial action

  Concern is mounting over the poor pay and conditions for foreign workers picking berries in Sweden. The mainly Asian workers come to Sweden believing they can make a decent living, but travel and living costs leave some workers in debt, even after months of work. Social partners have made efforts to resolve the situation, but the issue has caused public unrest both in Sweden and abroad. There have been several incidences of industrial action and few workers are happy with the situation.

• 04 Oct 2010
  Luxembourg: New law on posted workers

  A new law affecting employees who come from companies based outside Luxembourg to work in the Grand Duchy has come into force. The Duchy had been criticised in a 2008 European Court of Justice ruling for posted worker regulations that interpreted European Commission and Council of Europe directives too rigidly. However, the Duchy has not changed its public and social policy, but instead has excluded posted workers from some provisions of labour legislation.

• 04 Oct 2010
  Hungary: Changes to Hungarian Labour Code in 2010

  Important changes have been made to the Hungarian Labour Code in 2010. The outgoing liberal left government changed the rules on subcontracting workers, childcare provisions and penalties for illegal work. The casual employment booklet was also abolished. The new centre-right government, elected in May, amended the employment rules for casual and seasonal workers which took effect in August. It has also been announced that a new Labour Code will be brought in later this year.