Brussels, 27/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - As soon as a person is paid for services that have a economic usefulness, he/she must be considered to be a worker, and this applies also to handicapped people in a work-based support centre who carry out duties for which they are paid, said the Court of Justice of the EU in a ruling (case C-316/13) on Thursday 26 March.
The case relates to work-based support centres in France which take in handicapped people and, among other things, offer them the opportunity to engage in various activities for which they receive payment. These people do not, however, have contracts of employment. The only provisions of the French labour code that apply to them have to do with health and safety at work. Until January 2007, there was no paid holiday entitlement.
The French Court of Cassation asked the Court of Justice about the status to be accorded these people. Should they be deemed to be “workers” within the meaning of the working time directive (2003/88/EC)? The French authorities argue that this should not be the case because, within the centres, these people carry out non-core, ancillary activities, similar to the kinds of activities people in drug rehabilitation centres do.
To support their argument, the French authorities also used another case (C-344/87) in which the Court ruled that economic activities that are a means of reducing dependency or a means of reintegration into society should be considered real and effective. Such activities are not, then, carried out by “workers”.
Ultimately the Court rejected that line of argument. While work-based support centres are, indeed, for people who are not able to hold down a job under normal conditions, the activities these people carry out are paid, assigned and led by centre staff and management. Equally, the activities provide certain economic advantages for the centre and do not seek solely to find employment for the handicapped people. (Jan Kordys)