EU labour ministers adopt new rules for workers despite Polish opposition

Poland and neighbouring states wanted the transport sector excluded from the new rules for so-called posted workers, under which European Union nationals sent to work in another member country would get paid the same rate as their counterparts in the host country.

Under the Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council's stance, adopted after a Monday meeting, there will be a three-year transition period for member states to amend their own laws according to the new rules, and an extra year to adopt them. Poland had pushed for five years.

The council said the new rules would apply to workers temporarily delegated to another European Union member state for up to 12 months and in some cases up to 18 months.

Jevgeni Ossinovski, the labour minister of Estonia, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, said: “I am happy that the Council agreed its position on such an important and sensitive issue. And I'm especially glad that after long negotiations, there was broad support for our compromise”.

“The final text strikes a delicate balance. On one hand, it is essential to ensure that our workers are treated fairly. People who do the same job at the same place should also have the same working and wage conditions. On the other, we must not create unnecessary obstacles to the free movement of services -- for example in the transport sector that is mobile by nature," he added.

But Polish Labour Minister Elżbieta Rafalska said the negotiations did not achieve the compromise Poland had hoped for, while her Hungarian counterpart said the talks were “not an attempt at a compromise, but the step by step forcing of the interests of one group at the cost of another”.

Rafalska has in the past suggested that the transport sector should be excluded from the planned changes as Polish hauliers complained the new rules would make them uncompetitive in foreign markets.

Under current rules, posted workers are paid at least the minimum wage of the country they work in, but all social welfare and other pay deductions are paid according to rules of their home country.

If the planned changes go ahead, workers sent to another European Union country for an extended period will get paid the same as their local counterparts and will pay into the host country's social security system.

Of two million posted workers, a quarter are Polish, Rafalska has said. (vb)

Source: PAP