On 13 June, the Council of the EU formally adopted a new ‘Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union’. The text of the Directive will now be published in the Official Journal and will enter into force on the 20th day following publication. Member states will then have a three-year period for implementation.

The Directive requires employers to inform workers, from their first working day and no later than the seventh calendar day, of the essential aspects of the employment relationship (Articles 4 and 5), such as:

  • the identities of the parties to the relationship and the place and the nature of work;
  • job title or grade or a brief job description;
  • the remuneration including basic pay, with other component elements indicated separately;
  • the amount of paid leave;
  • the duration of the standard working day or week when the work pattern is predictable;
  • the procedures to be observed on termination and details of the notice period; and
  • details of any applicable collective agreements.
  • The Directive also creates a number of further minimum rights for workers, including:
  • the right to take up another job in parallel with another employer (Article 9);
  • a limit on probationary periods of a maximum of six months, with longer periods allowed only in cases where this is in the interest of the worker or is justified by the nature of the work (Article 8);
  • the right to request, after at least six months’ service with the same employer, employment with more predictable and secure working conditions (Article 12);
  • the right to receive training cost-free, when such training is required by EU or national legislation (Article 13); and
  • the right to a ‘minimum predictability of work’, entailing a right to refuse work without adverse consequences if it is outside predetermined reference days and hours, together with a right to compensation upon the cancellation by the employer of a previously agreed assignment after the expiry of an agreed reasonable deadline (Article 10).

Douglas Leach, Guildhall Chambers