EU Member States reached political agreement in the early hours of 10 June 2008 on the long-standing issues of the European Union Working Time Directive and the Temporary Agency Work Directive at the Employment and Social Affairs Council in Luxembourg.
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- on-call time to be split into active and inactive on-call time. Active on-call time to be counted as working time
- inactive on-call time may not be counted as rest time and can be counted as working time if national laws or social partners agree
- standard maximum limit remains at 48 working hours per week unless an individual worker chooses otherwise (opt-out)
- new protective limit (cap) for workers who opt out: maximum working week of 60 hours unless social partners agree otherwise
- new cap for workers who opt-out if inactive on-call time is counted as working time: maximum working week of 65 hours
- the cap protects all workers employed for longer than 10 weeks with one employer
- opt-out only under certain conditions, such as: no signature during first month of employment, no victimisation for not signing or withdrawing opt-out, employers must keep records on working hours of opted-out workers.
- equal treatment as of day one for temporary agency workers as well as regular workers in terms of pay, maternity leave and leave
- possibility to derogate from this through collective agreements and through agreements between social partners at national level
- temporary agency workers to be informed about permanent employment opportunities in the user enterprise
- equal access to collective facilities (canteen, child care facilities, transport service)
- Member States have to improve temporary agency workers access to training and child care facilities in periods BETWEEN their assignments so to increase their employability
- Member States have to ensure penalties for non-compliance by temporary agencies and enterprises.
The Directive amending the existing directive on (2003/88/EC) has been on the table since 2005. Many Member States are in breach of the legislation as interpreted by the European Court of Justice (Simap/Jäger ruling). According to these rulings, active and in-active on-call time must be counted as working time. Also, the new text significantly improves the protection for workers who sign an opt-out. Finally, it reintroduces a reference to conciliation between working life and family life.
8 million workers in the EU are and numbers are increasing. In March 2002 the European Commission adopted a proposal to create a level playing field for temporary agency workers across the EU. Several presidencies have sought to find a solution. Following a recent agreement between social partners in the UK, the Slovenian Presidency decided to put forward a new compromise text which has achieved political agreement.
The Council Common Positions now have to be sent to the European Parliament for a second opinion, as foreseen by the co-decision procedure.
