On Wednesday 2 October, Member States will discuss a new compromise proposal from the Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council on the Directive on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees the EU Council’s Working Party on Social Questions. It is the Hungarian Presidency’s second compromise.
The scope of the Directive, which does not explicitly prohibit unpaid traineeships, is further clarified: it should apply to trainees who have or should be considered as having an employment contract or employment relationship as defined by law, collective agreements or practice in the Member States, taking into account the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU.
“Trainees in vocational education and training relationships, apprenticeships, and traineeships which are carried out within the framework of formal education, including those that are a prerequisite to start a formal education or vocational education and training, and those that are obligatory in order to achieve a specific degree, are not covered by the scope of this Directive”.
The new text also specifies the definition of trainee remuneration.
“For the purpose of this Directive, ‘pay’ should be understood as including compensation, such as but not limited to travel facilities, housing or food allowances. The sole fact of being a trainee cannot constitute grounds for less favourable treatment compared to employees in the same establishment. At the same time, different tasks, lower responsibilities or work intensity in relation to comparable regular employees may constitute objective grounds for different treatment, where relevant, with regard to the employment condition at issue. The extent of different treatment should, however, be proportionate to those grounds”.
As far as labour inspections are concerned, the text continues to mention that these checks may be carried out in accordance with national law and practice, and deletes the passage on Member States taking coercive measures against practices which have the effect of granting lower levels of protection, including remuneration linked to working conditions, than those to which the worker concerned would be entitled under EU or national law, collective agreements or practices.
Instead, the Presidency suggests introducing effective measures to combat practices that result in a lower level of protection for trainees.
In line with previous discussions in the Working Party, the Presidency is also removing the clues for detecting disguised internships.
It is also modifying the information that “entities” (and no longer employers) must provide to national authorities to prove that they are not abusing traineeships, such as the duration of traineeships for trainees, broken down according to trainees’ employment status, or the tasks and responsibilities of trainees who are not supposed to be in an employment relationship. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)