The European Parliament and the Council made progress on the Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions, including the information to be provided by the employer to his employee in the future, at an inter-institutional meeting (trilogue) held on Friday 21 December 2018 on the European Parliament's premises.
Thus, the co-legislators agreed to set the maximum probationary period at 6 months (with certain exceptions) and, in the case of fixed-term contracts, agreed that the probationary period should be proportionate to the duration of the contract. In other words, a person who works for a period of 12 months will not be subject to an 11-month probationary period. In addition, the co-legislators agreed that Member States should create similar forms to provide this information.
In addition, Member States must ensure that workers will be able to take up parallel work, as long as it does not compromise trade secrets and does not present any conflict of interest. Information on working hours should be aligned with Directive 2003/88/EC on working time and should include leave.
The next trilogue at political level will take place on 10 January and will not be conclusive, as positions between the European Parliament and the Council are still far apart, particularly on the scope of the Directive's scope, the definition of the term 'worker' or the deadlines for providing essential and secondary information (see EUROPE 12142). Some people are hoping for an agreement on February 6. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)