Temporary Agency Workers' Rights and Regulations in the EU

Rights and Regulations for Temporary Agency Workers in the EU

Essential Working Conditions

3. Temporary Employment Agencies (ETTs) are prohibited from requiring workers to pay fees in exchange for managing their employment, working contracts, or entering into business relationships with the client company upon completion of a mission.

4. Temporary agency workers employed by ETTs are entitled to access facilities and services common to the undertaking, including catering services, childcare, and transportation, under the same conditions as workers employed directly by the user enterprise. Different treatment is only justified for objective reasons.

5. Member States must take effective measures and promote dialogue between social partners to:

• Improve access for temporary workers to training and childcare services in ETTs, even during periods between missions, to promote career development and employability.
• Improve access for temporary workers to training available to employees of client companies.

Representation of Temporary Workers

1. Temporary agency workers employed by ETTs shall be considered when calculating the threshold above which employee representative bodies should be established for the ETT, as defined by Member States and in accordance with Community law and national collective agreements.

2. Member States may allow temporary agency workers to be taken into account within the undertaking, as if they were employed directly by the undertaking under contracts of the same length, to calculate the threshold at which employee representative bodies can be established, as provided by Community law and national collective agreements.

Information from Representatives of Workers

The user company must provide appropriate information on the use of temporary agency workers within the company when transmitting information on the employment situation in the undertaking to bodies representing the workers, as established in accordance with Community and national law.

Minimum Requirements

1. This Directive does not prejudice the right of Member States to apply or introduce laws, regulations, or administrative provisions more favorable to workers or to promote or permit collective agreements or agreements concluded between the social partners that are more favorable to workers.

2. The implementation of this Directive does not constitute sufficient grounds for a reduction in the overall level of protection for workers in the areas it covers. Measures taken to implement the Directive are without prejudice to the rights of Member States or social partners to adopt legislative, regulatory, or contractual provisions, taking into account developments existing at the time of the Directive's adoption, subject to compliance with the minimum requirements laid down therein.

Penalties

1. Member States shall establish appropriate measures in the event that ETTs or business users do not comply with the Directive. In particular, they must ensure that adequate judicial or administrative proceedings are available to enforce the obligations of the Directive.

2. Member States shall determine the penalties applicable to infringements of national provisions adopted pursuant to the Directive and shall take all necessary measures to ensure their implementation. These penalties must be effective, proportionate, and dissuasive.

Application

Member States shall adopt and publish the laws, regulations, and administrative provisions necessary to comply with the provisions of the Directive no later than December 5, 2011, or ensure that social partners introduce the necessary provisions by way of an agreement.