Towards better rules for companies and posted workers

"This agreement reflects the social, economic and political reality of the European Union. It provides a clear direction towards a more social Europe, with fairer competition between companies and better rights for workers,” said Elisabeth Morin-Chartier MEP, referring to the agreement found between the Commission, the Parliament and the Council on the revision of the Posting of Workers Directive, on which she is Co-Rapporteur.

Among several other points, negotiators agreed to set up a 12-month limit for posting missions, with an option to prolong it automatically for 6 months.

They also reached a consensus on the principle of remuneration, according to which posted workers will be protected from day 1 and should benefit from the same rules on remuneration as workers in the host Member State, including for bonuses such as the dirty work allowance. 

Fighting fraud was also a key priority for negotiators.

The agreement reached this evening, which mainly confirms the provisional understanding found two weeks ago, ensures that workers will be protected by Member States through relevant legislation and collective agreements, even in cases of fraudulent postings (eg. by letterbox companies).  

Furthermore, companies genuinely posting workers would be better protected if, unintentionally, they haven't provided the correct overall level of remuneration because a Member State has not properly listed the applicable elements to be applied to the posted worker on the official website.

Lastly, the period of transposition of this directive would be 2 years, with a blanket application in all Member States at the end of this period.

“As always, the EPP Group has worked to achieve an agreement that is beneficial to workers and also ensures the right protection for companies,” said Elisabeth Morin-Chartier and David Casa, EPP Group Coordinator in the Employment Committee.

The agreement still needs to be adopted, first by MEPs in the Employment Committee and then by all MEPs in plenary.