The Directive defines “basic working and employment conditions” to be :-,
“working and employment conditions laid down by legislation, regulations, administrative provisions, collective agreements and/or other binding general provisions in force in the user undertaking relating to:
(i) the duration of working time, overtime, breaks, rest periods, night work, holidays and public holidays
(ii) pay”
After much lobbying activity, including extensive efforts by EEF, the text agreed by the EU Council includes specific wording that will allow the UK Government to implement the Directive in line with the recently agreed CBI/TUC Joint Declaration on Agency Work. See our previous briefing on this topic.
This Joint Declaration states that equal treatment will apply after 12 weeks and specifically excludes from equal treatment, “occupational social security schemes.” The Directive confirms that occupational social security schemes include “pension, sick pay or financial participation schemes”, something for which EEF also lobbied extensively.
Next steps
The Agency Workers Directive will now have to be discussed by the European Parliament for a Second Reading and this is likely to happen when MEPs return from their summer break in September 2008. At this stage, it appears to be unlikely that any amendments to the text of this Directive agreed by the EU Employment Council will be tabled by MEPs