HOTREC, the European hotel, restaurant and cafe association, is concerned about the legislative package on quality traineeships proposed at the end of March (see EUROPE 13375/14), according to a position paper published on Wednesday 26 June.
“Since the aftermath of the pandemic, the hospitality sector is faced with skill gaps (which was already an issue before the pandemic) and labour shortages. (...) But the wording of the proposed Directive and the revision of the Council Recommendation will not help the sector”, explains HOTREC.
With regard to the Directive, “it is unclear what type of traineeship is intended”. In countries “where open-market traineeships exist, the trainee is already protected by national labour law or collective bargaining, as there is a labour relationship. Further legislation is not needed”.
The Directive shouldn’t create a new category of workers, red tape should be reduced and reasonable timeframes considered, particularly for SMEs.
HOTREC believes that the definitions of traineeship and trainee are “inconsistent” and that collective bargaining agreements should “be able to derogate from the Directive”.
Not all traineeships should be included in the recommendation, subsidiarity must prevail. And “remuneration should not be made compulsory”, with compensation being a fair alternative.
The Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council has included this ‘package’ on the agenda of the Employment and Social Affairs Council on 2 and 3 December, with a general approach on the Directive and adoption of the recommendation.
Link to HOTREC’s position paper: https://aeur.eu/f/cu0 (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)