Tag Archives: Labour mobility

Combating social security fraud and undeclared work

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Combating social security fraud and undeclared work

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Employment and social policy > Social protection

Combating social security fraud and undeclared work (Code of conduct)

Document or Iniciative

Resolution of the Council and representatives of the governments of the Member States meeting within the Council of 22 April 1999 on a code of conduct for improved cooperation between authorities of the Member States concerning the combating of transnational social security benefit and contribution fraud and undeclared work, and concerning the transnational hiring-out of workers [PDF ][Official Journal C 125 of 6.5.1999].

Summary

Member States are invited to take the necessary steps and adopt the required procedures with a view to improving cooperation in the relevant areas, using the following practical means of cooperation and reciprocal provision of administrative assistance:

direct communication between competent bodies;
designation of national liaison offices in the Member States with a view to facilitating cooperation, and their notification to the other Member States and to the Commission;
forwarding of any request for cooperation to the competent body of a Member State;
reciprocal provision of administrative assistance between the competent bodies (supply of information, transmission of documents).

Member States are to encourage cooperation between their competent bodies in respect of data transmission and requests for information, while protecting the right to privacy in the processing of personal data.

Member States are invited to keep the Commission informed of measures taken in implementing this resolution.

Background

In cases where at least two Member States are involved, the code of conduct aims to improve cooperation between the competent authorities and institutions of the Member States in combating social security fraud * and undeclared work *, as well as in the area of the transnational hiring-out of workers *.

Key terms used in the act
Social security fraud: any act or omission to act, in order to obtain or receive social security benefit or to avoid obligations to pay social security contributions, contrary to the law of a Member State. Undeclared work: any paid activities that are lawful as regards their nature, but not declared in conformity with national law and practice. Transnational hiring-out of workers: the hiring-out of workers by an employer for the purpose of providing services to a user in another Member State, whose national legislation so permits, with continuation of the employment relationship between the workers and the employer.

Key terms used in the act

Social security fraud: any act or omission to act, in order to obtain or receive social security benefit or to avoid obligations to pay social security contributions, contrary to the law of a Member State.
Undeclared work: any paid activities that are lawful as regards their nature, but not declared in conformity with national law and practice.
Transnational hiring-out of workers: the hiring-out of workers by an employer for the purpose of providing services to a user in another Member State, whose national legislation so permits, with continuation of the employment relationship between the workers and the employer.

European Job Mobility Action Plan

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European Job Mobility Action Plan

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about European Job Mobility Action Plan

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These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Internal market > Living and working in the internal market

European Job Mobility Action Plan (2007-2010)

Document or Iniciative

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 6 December 2007 – Mobility, an instrument for more and better jobs: The European Job Mobility Action Plan (2007-2010) [COM(2007) 773 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

Summary

Although European workers seem more willing to be mobile than before, job mobility rates are increasing relatively slowly in the European Union (EU). Uncertainty as to the advantages of mobility and the numerous administrative and legal barriers present are among the reasons for this. It is thus essential to implement new actions to encourage mobility. This is why the Commission proposes, with a view to tackling the new challenges of mobility, an action plan consisting of four strands.

Action Plan 2007-2010

Improving existing legislation and administrative practices is the first objective. Four actions are proposed in this field:

examining whether Community legislation needs to be amended to allow workers to move freely, according to the new mobility patterns, without losing their social protection;
legally strengthening the role of the TRESS network of independent experts in the area of social security coordination at European level (dissemination of knowledge, reports and expert advice). Consultation with stakeholders and an impact assessment should determine whether administrative practices or regulatory provisions need to be amended;
further simplifying national cooperation and administration practices (exchange and consultation of information electronically, launching an electronic version of the European health insurance card, etc.) in order to accelerate and facilitate the reimbursement of migrant workers’ social security expenditure;
concluding the proposals on the portability of supplementary pension rights in order to improve the acquisition and preservation of supplementary pension rights.

Moreover, combining flexibility and mobility (flexicurity ()) should contribute to the Lisbon Strategy, by making it possible for more workers to find more and better jobs.

Ensuring that the national, regional and local authorities promote mobility at their respective levels is the second objective. In this respect, the Member States should:

make mobility a priority objective of their national strategy for employment and lifelong learning ;
learn from best practices through mutual learning programmes which may receive EU Cohesion Policy funding. In this context, an inventory of such programmes will be carried out and the possibility of developing European mobility programmes will be examined;
use the European Qualifications Framework, promote Europass and develop the European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET).

In addition, regional and local authorities, education and training centres and civil society will be encouraged to remove practical obstacles and to promote ‘fair mobility’, which respects labour standards and legal provisions.

Moreover, several actions are proposed to extend the scope and quality of the services provided byEURES in the area of worker mobility, namely:

increasing the provision of information and raising awareness on the principle of equal treatment and respect for labour standards within European markets;
stepping up the collection of strategic information in order to strengthen its analytical capacity;
enhancing the assistance provided to mobile workers in the EU, in particular with regard to specific categories of workers;
extending, in certain cases, some of these services to third-country nationals.

Action is planned on three fronts in order to increase citizens’ awareness on mobility:

organising annual ‘European Job Days’ not only to better inform citizens about their rights and the benefits of mobility but also to step up exchanges among the different stakeholders;
launching a ‘European Job Mobility Partnership’, and setting up a network to promote mobility;
incorporating into the PROGRESS programme support for the funding of pilot activities, the exchange of best practice, the dissemination of results on new developments and the emergence of innovative programmes.

Background

Job mobility must make it possible to confront the new challenges related to an ageing society and a constantly changing market, all the more so if one considers the new opportunities for both workers and employers following EU enlargement. The Lisbon Strategy and the European Employment Strategy have, furthermore, officially recognised increased geographical and occupational mobility as essential means of adapting in the context of rapidly changing labour markets. This Communication is intended to build on the series of initiatives to promote mobility. The Commission wishes to learn from the experience gained through the 2002 Action Plan for Skills and Mobility and the 2006 European Year of Workers’ Mobility.

Another Normative about European Job Mobility Action Plan

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Employment and social policy > European Strategy for Growth > Growth and jobs

European Job Mobility Action Plan (2007-2010)

Document or Iniciative

Summary

Action Plan 2007-2010

Improving existing legislation and administrative practices is the first objective. Four actions are proposed in this field:

examining whether Community legislation needs to be amended to allow workers to move freely, according to the new mobility patterns, without losing their social protection;
legally strengthening the role of the TRESS network of independent experts in the area of social security coordination at European level (dissemination of knowledge, reports and expert advice). Consultation with stakeholders and an impact assessment should determine whether administrative practices or regulatory provisions need to be amended;
further simplifying national cooperation and administration practices (exchange and consultation of information electronically, launching an electronic version of the European health insurance card, etc.) in order to accelerate and facilitate the reimbursement of migrant workers’ social security expenditure;
concluding the proposals on the portability of supplementary pension rights in order to improve the acquisition and preservation of supplementary pension rights.

Moreover, combining flexibility and mobility (flexicurity ( src=”../../../../scadplus/images/lang_high_es.gif” alt=”castellano” height=”13″ lang=”es” width=”18/”>

src=”../../../../scadplus/images/lang_high_fr.gif” alt=”français” height=”13″ lang=”fr” width=”18/”>
)) should contribute to the Lisbon Strategy, by making it possible for more workers to find more and better jobs.

Ensuring that the national, regional and local authorities promote mobility at their respective levels is the second objective. In this respect, the Member States should:

make mobility a priority objective of their national strategy for employment and lifelong learning ;
learn from best practices through mutual learning programmes which may receive EU Cohesion Policy funding. In this context, an inventory of such programmes will be carried out and the possibility of developing European mobility programmes will be examined;
use the European Qualifications Framework, promote Europass and develop the European Credit Transfer System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET).

Moreover, several actions are proposed to extend the scope and quality of the services provided by

EURES
in the area of worker mobility, namely:

increasing the provision of information and raising awareness on the principle of equal treatment and respect for labour standards within European markets;
stepping up the collection of strategic information in order to strengthen its analytical capacity;
enhancing the assistance provided to mobile workers in the EU, in particular with regard to specific categories of workers;
extending, in certain cases, some of these services to third-country nationals.

Action is planned on three fronts in order to increase citizens’ awareness on mobility:

organising annual ‘European Job Days’ not only to better inform citizens about their rights and the benefits of mobility but also to step up exchanges among the different stakeholders;
launching a ‘European Job Mobility Partnership’, and setting up a network to promote mobility;
incorporating into the PROGRESS programme support for the funding of pilot activities, the exchange of best practice, the dissemination of results on new developments and the emergence of innovative programmes.

Background

Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services

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Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services

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Internal market > Single market for services

Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services

Document or Iniciative

Directive 96/71/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services [See amending acts].

Summary

The Directive applies to undertakings which, in the framework of the transnational provision of services, post workers to the territory of a Member State, provided there is an employment relationship between the undertaking making the posting and the worker during the period of posting:

on their account and under their direction, under a contract concluded between the undertaking making the posting and the party for whom the services are intended;
to an establishment or to an undertaking owned by the group;
as a temporary employment undertaking, to a user undertaking.

For the purposes of the Directive, “posted worker” means a worker who, for a limited period, carries out his/her work in the territory of a Member State other than the State in which he/she normally works. The definition of a worker is that which applies in the law of the Member State to whose territory the worker is posted.

Working conditions

Member States must ensure that undertakings guarantee posted workers a central core of mandatory protective legislation laid down in the Member State in which the work is carried out:

by law, regulation or administrative provision and/or;
by collective agreements or arbitration awards * which have been declared universally applicable, in so far as they concern the activities set out in the Directive’s annex.

Conditions of work and employment to be covered are:

maximum work periods and minimum rest periods;
minimum paid annual holidays;
minimum rates of pay, including overtime rates;
the conditions of hiring-out of workers, in particular the supply of workers by temporary employment undertakings;
health, safety and hygiene at work;
protective measures with regard to the terms and conditions of employment of pregnant women or women who have recently given birth, of children and of young people;
equality of treatment between men and women and other provisions on non-discrimination.

Derogations

Member States may derogate from the immediate implementation of the rules on:

minimum rates of pay in the case of work lasting for a maximum of one month provided that this work is not carried out by temporary employment undertakings;
minimum rates of pay and holidays in the case of an “insignificant” amount of work to be done, provided that this work is not carried out by temporary employment undertakings;
minimum rates of pay and holidays in the case of initial assembly and/or first installation of the goods provided when the maximum duration of the work does not exceed eight days. This derogation does not, however, apply to the building industry.

Calculation of salary

Allowances specific to the posting are considered to be part of the minimum wage, unless they are paid in reimbursement of expenditure actually incurred on account of the posting.

Equal treatment

Member States may provide that undertakings must guarantee temporarily posted workers the same terms and conditions which apply to temporary workers in the Member States where the work is carried out.

Cooperation in the area of information and duty to provide information

Member States must designate one or more liaison offices or one or more competent national bodies and notify the other Member States and the Commission accordingly.

Member States must make provision for cooperation between the public authorities which, in accordance with national legislation, are responsible for monitoring terms and conditions of employment. Mutual administrative assistance is provided free of charge.

Each Member State must take the appropriate measures to make the information on terms and conditions of employment generally available and to ensure that adequate procedures are available to workers and/or their representatives for the enforcement of obligations under the Directive.

In the event of non-compliance with these terms and conditions of employment, Member States shall, if necessary, also take the appropriate measures.

Redress

In order to enforce the right to the terms and conditions of employment guaranteed by the Directive, judicial proceedings may be instituted in the Member State in whose territory the worker is or was posted.

Background

The European Union wishes to remove the uncertainties and obstacles impeding the free provision of services, as provided for in Article 49 of the EC Treaty, by increasing the protection of posted workers.

However, during the last two waves of EU enlargement in 2004 and 2007, the Acts of Accession introduced transitional arrangements for Germany and Austria. They enable the countries to cope with the risk of disruption in certain vulnerable sectors, and to limit the posting of workers in relation to the provision of services and for as long as they apply restrictions on the free movement of workers and have informed the Commission. The new Member States may take reciprocal measures where Germany and Austria depart from Article 49 of the EC Treaty.

The transitional arrangements which enable Member States to restrict access to the labour market to workers coming from the new Member States, with the exception of Cyprus and Malta, do not allow Member States to derogate from Article 49 of the EC Treaty and therefore restrict the posting of workers.

Key terms used in the act
Collective agreements or arbitration awards which have been declared universally applicable: These must be observed by all undertakings in the geographical area and in the profession or industry concerned.

References

Act	Entry into force – Date of expiry	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Directive 96/71/EC [adoption codecision COD/1991/346]	10.2.1997	16.12.1999	OJ L 18 of 21.1.1997

Amending act(s)	Entry into force	Deadline for transposition in the Member States	Official Journal
Annexes V , VI , VIII , IX , X , XII , XIII , and XIV : Lists referred to in Article 24 of the Acts of Accession to the European Union of the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia.	1.5.2004	–	OJ L 236 of 23.9.2003
Act concerning the conditions of accession of the Republic of Bulgaria and Romania and the adjustments to the Treaties on which the European Union is founded (Official Journal L 157 of 21.06.2005).	1.1.2007	–	OJ L 157 of 21.6.2005

Subsequent amendments and corrections to Directive 96/71/EC have been incorporated in the basic text. This consolidated version (FR ) has a purely documentary value”.

Related Acts

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DIRECTIVE / MONITORING

Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions – Posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services: maximising its benefits and potential while guaranteeing the protection of workers [COM(2007) 304 final – Not published in the Official Journal].
Directive 96/71/CE ensures a high level of security for service providers, posted workers and service users. This Communication refers to the application of the Directive in the Member States.

The Commission highlights the importance of access to information and administrative cooperation between the State of origin and the host State. The progress achieved in these areas should enable the obstacles to the freedom to provide services to be removed. However, the advancements are insufficient and workers are not sufficiently informed of their rights.

Impediments for posted workers who are nationals of third countries also still exist, as they can be subject to visa requirements or residence permits. However, in cases where the service provider is established in a Member State, no administrative formality or additional conditions should be imposed.

However, certain measures may be required in order to ensure the protection of posted workers and compliance with the rules of general interest on the condition that they are proportionate and justified. In particular, this relates to certain control measures implemented at national level and in compliance with Article 49 of the EC Treaty on the freedom to provide services.

Communication from the Commission of 4 April 2006 – Guidance on the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services [COM(2006) 159 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

Communication from the Commission of 25 July 2003 on the implementation of Directive 96/71/EC in the Member States [COM(2003) 458 final – Not published in the Official Journal].

Youth employment: opportunities

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Youth employment: opportunities

Outline of the Community (European Union) legislation about Youth employment: opportunities

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These categories group together and put in context the legislative and non-legislative initiatives which deal with the same topic.

Education training youth sport > Youth

Youth employment: opportunities

Document or Iniciative

Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 20 December 2011 – Youth Opportunities Initiative [COM(2011) 933 final — Not published in the Official Journal].

Summary

This Communication presents the current situation regarding youth employment in the European Union (EU) and proposes solutions for tackling the high levels of unemployment in this age category.

Current situation of youth employment

It is becoming harder for young people to find work in a context of rising unemployment. In some EU countries, the rate of youth unemployment may reach 40 %. This Communication notes that a total of 7.5 million people in the 15-24 age group are neither in employment nor in education or training.

Although unemployment is high, many posts remain vacant. This situation points to labour market mismatches in the EU. Between now and 2020, there will be 73 million job openings due to retirement of workers, which should be filled by young people with the necessary skills.

The European Commission has identified several factors in youth unemployment:

early school leaving without qualifications;
lack of relevant skills and lack of work experience;
precarious employment followed by spells of unemployment;
limited training opportunities;
insufficient/inappropriate active labour market programmes.

Faced with this problem, the Commission proposes to examine national policies and performances. It also plans to provide financial support to national and cross-border actions.

Objectives for fostering youth employment

For the year 2012, the Commission encourages Member States to concentrate on the following objectives:

Preventing early school leaving: the 2020 Strategy aims to reduce early school leaving from 14 % to 10 %. One of the tools proposed for achieving this objective is the Council Recommendation of 28 June 2011 concerning policies for reducing early school leaving. The Recommendation advocates measures which combine prevention, intervention and compensation.

Developing skills that are relevant to the labour market: young people should acquire the skills required by the world of work as part of their studies. With regard to budget, Member States are requested to plan efficient expenditure for education and vocational training. The Agenda for new skills and jobs proposes in particular a European Skills, Competences and Occupations classification to bring the worlds of education and employment closer together. Furthermore, the Digital Agenda should enable young people’s ICT skills to be improved.

Supporting a first work experience and on-the-job training: the Commission believes that apprenticeships and good quality placements in enterprises need to be developed in order to enable young people to acquire skills and experience. Social partners must help young people to target their skills better in their job searches.

Getting a first job: the Commission wants to improve young people’s access to the labour market. To this end, Member States are requested to reform employment protection legislation in consultation with social partners. In addition, the Commission wants to encourage self-employment of young people so that they create their own companies.

Actions to be taken to encourage an active youth population

In order to improve young people’s access to employment, the Commission suggests several courses of action:

Using the European Social Fund: a portion of the structural funds (European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund (ESF)) representing EUR 79 billion should be allocated to education and employment measures. However, new approaches need to be developed in order to support participation of young people in apprenticeship/traineeship programmes.

Improving the transition from school to work: it is crucial that the link between education and vocational training is improved through dual/twin-track learning and apprenticeships. Some projects already exist through the ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ programme; however, this Communication specifies that businesses must make a stronger commitment in this area. The Commission plans to present a framework in 2012 aimed at encouraging the provision and take-up of high quality traineeships, as well as a preparatory action for ‘Activation measures targeting young people’.

Supporting the mobility of young people in the labour market: the Commission wants to take inspiration from the success of the ‘Erasmus’ programme to encourage more mobility and efficiency in the labour market. To this end, a preparatory action (‘Your first EURES job’) already exists, which aims to support young people and employers through transnational recruitment and job placements. The Commission also aims to strengthen the European Voluntary Service during the last two years of the ‘Youth in action’ programme. A new European Voluntary Humanitarian Aid Corps will be set up.