Social partners propose new improved EU parental leave agreement

Work–life balance remains a key issue, which Europe’s social actors acknowledge is central to how the European Union’s labour market will develop in the future. In particular, managing parenthood and offering parents the opportunity to establish families with minimum employment disruption can make a major contribution to the EU’s fight to increase social cohesion. The new planned revision of the parental leave directive represents an important step to this end.

In June 2009, the European social partners – namely, the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (CEEP), BusinessEurope and the European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (UEAPME) – sought to revise the framework agreement on parental leave concluded in 1995. Nearly 15 years since this agreement was signed, the framework not only represented a major step in addressing the issue of work-life balance, but also a major milestone in European social dialogue. This decision to revise the agreement marks a new step in European social dialogue, representing the first time that the social partners have revised such an agreement.

Need for modernisation of provisions

Employers and employee representatives acknowledge the fact that advancing work–life balance support could play an integral role in fighting a number of problems faced by the EU, such as poverty and the ageing population. In particular, managing parenthood and offering parents the opportunity to establish families with minimum employment disruption can make a major contribution to the EU’s fight to increase social cohesion. This latest move is an attempt to modernise the parental leave directive (Council Directive 96/34/EC). Although the social partners acknowledge that the directive has had a positive impact on people’s lives, particularly in improving women’s access to the labour market, there is nevertheless a need to modernise provisions made available to potential parents.

The Secretary General of BusinessEurope, Philippe de Buck, noted:

The flexibility at the end of the parental leave to be in contact again with work life is very important for employees, but also for employers who have to organise their human resources.

The Secretary General of UEAPME, Andrea Benassi, conceded that the social partners are aware that society evolves and therefore that legislation needs to keep apace with the social changes that affect people’s lives.

Key proposals

The revised framework agreement on parental leave made a number of proposals that EU ministers should consider. These included the following suggestions:

• parental leave should be extended to four months (previously three months);

• one of the months should be non-transferable, in an attempt to promote equal opportunities in relation to parental leave;

• parental leave should apply to all employees irrespective of their contract arrangements – that is, temporary, fixed-term and part-time workers;

• parents who adopt children should also be covered by the parental leave directive;

• employees should have the right to request that their hours are changed;

• measures need to be taken to protect employees against unfair treatment in connection with parental leave.

Of particular value for parents is the return to work clause, which states that:

Member States and/or social partners shall take the necessary measures to ensure that workers, when returning from parental leave, may request changes to their working hours and/or patterns for a set period of time and that employers are encouraged to maintain contact during the period of leave and may make arrangements for any appropriate reintegration measures, to be decided between the parties concerned, taking into account national law, collective agreements and/or practice.

While the first option increases the possibility to return to work, the second provision can ensure that employees may return to work with the least disruption. In particular, it allows measures to be taken to ensure that employees’ skills sets and knowledge of internal processes remain up to date.

EU ministers sign off new rules governing parental leave

Having positively considered all of the points proposed by the social partners, the European Commission adopted the main points on 30 July 2009 and called on the European ministers to consider reforming the parental leave directive. With the social partners having successfully used their right to inform EU social policy through the social dialogue process, the European ministers’ approval was virtually a formality. Given that the EU Member States are required to adopt the revised directive within the next two years of it being signed, the EU has ensured that minimum standards covering parental leave have been greatly improved.

Commentary

This new move to improve the parental leave directive should be welcomed. In a year when the EU is committed to fighting poverty, this latest move to offer parents, in particular mothers, greater protection and flexibility represents an important step in fighting labour market exclusion. However, as Mr de Buck of BusinessEurope acknowledges: ‘A lot remains to be done to implement at national level this agreement according to national legislations.’ This latest development is also proof that European social dialogue – a central element of what is increasingly referred to as the European industrial relations system – has a role to play in European affairs.

Michael Whittall, Technical University Munich