Brussels, 01/03/2016 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 29 February, the European Federation of Building Woodworkers (EFBWW) and the European Construction Industry Federation (FIEC) jointly presented their proposal to revise the legal framework on posted workers in the EU. The European Commission proposal is expected for 8 March (see EUROPE 11498).
The two social partners sent the Commission a list of proposals in response to the “dramatic changes” the building sector has experienced over the past decade and which is undermining “its competitiveness and long-term viability”. The question of posted workers is on their list. The proposals are based on the implementation and strengthening of current legislation (particularly the regulation on coordination of the social security systems), as well as suggesting the introduction of new control instruments and (very) targeted revision of the basic 1994 directive.
The Commission has postponed the revision of Regulation 883/2004 focusing on coordination of the social security systems, although it has referred to its intentions in this connection (see EUROPE 11430). The EFBWW and FIEC also support the idea of amending formula A1, which sets out the legislation applicable to a worker who is not affiliated in the country where he is working because they believe it is “inadequate and fosters fraudulent practices”. They would like these workers' period of validity to be reduced to 6 months and for its reliability to be strengthened (adding a photo of the worker and the name of their employer), which can be revoked by the authorities of the state where the worker has been posted.
They are also proposing that a traceability system of the detached worker's activities is set up (to determine their usual place of work) with a derogation included in the regulation that will allow the member state where the posted worker is sent to collect social contributions before transferring them to the worker's country of origin.
The two social partners are subsequently proposing to strengthen the control instruments by creating a European register of companies (identifying the owners, legal representatives, VAT number, number of employees, etc.), particularly in view of dismantling practices by so-called “letterbox” companies. All workers should also have a standard identification number for social security, which contains essential data accessible to the national inspection authorities, such as the name of the employer, status and social contributions paid.
The EFBWW and the FIEC are also calling on the Commission to propose a harmonised model for the preliminary declaration for the posted worker, in an effort to provide more exposure to this instrument that is already available to member states under the 2014 application directive. They are also calling on the Commission to make the legal framework more intelligible for temporary job agencies, which are sometimes subject to two different directives when they are involved in the posting of workers.
The two social partners ultimately failed to agree on jointly proposing an exact limit on the period of posting, whereas the Commission would suggest two years. With the exception of the Swedish member of the FIEC, they all agreed, however, that a temporary limit is defined at a European level. It should be pointed out that their joint statement does not make any reference to the principle that the Commission and even the EFBWW are putting forward, namely, “equal work, equal pay at the same workplace”. (Original version in French by Jan Kordys)