Following the European Commission initiative on revision of the “written statement” directive on Thursday 21 December (see other article), employers’ organisations and trade unions have welcomed certain provisions and are unhappy at others.
BusinessEurope, the organisation representing the employers, stated in a press release that it supported the need to modernise the directive but that it was concerned about certain provisions. It rejects the introduction of the notion of “worker”, which it believes should be defined at national level. It considers that this proposal introduces inflexibility and legal uncertainty because the definition is in danger of coexisting with those that already exist at national level. The organisation also rejects the introduction of a maximum probation period. The UEAPME, which represents SMEs and craft workers, welcomed the fact that self-employed workers were not covered by the directive. It did, however, regret the introduction of rights that change the nature and objectives of the draft law. Overall, it considers that the directive will bring more constraints for SMEs.
The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) welcomed many of the measures introduced by the European Commission which it considers as a “significant improvement”, particularly the fact that workers will be informed in writing from their first day about the terms and conditions of work.
The organisation welcomes the proposals for tackling “unfair” practices such as training that has to be paid for by the worker or long probation periods and the position reserved for social partners and cover for insecure contracts.
On the other hand, the trade union organisation considers that the right given to employees to expect a response from their employer when they request a change of contractual status “is not really a meaningful right” for particularly vulnerable workers. The trade unions particularly regret that the self-employed have not been covered and are “left out in the cold”, which could potentially undermine the future proposal on access to social security, which is going to be presented next spring.
The European Commission presented a proposal after the social partners were unable to agree between themselves (see EUROPE 11906). In this connection, the CEEP, the organisation representing public service employers, regretted the Commission’s proposal and considered that the social partners were in able to find a balanced solution. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)