Working Conditions Directive: new bureaucratic burdens threaten

The Ministry of Labor has presented a draft bill to implement the EU Working Conditions Directive. The ZDH fears additional bureaucratic burdens for small and medium-sized businesses.

This article is part of the special topic Bureaucratic madness in the craft industry

In June 2019, the the European Parliament and the Council the EU Commission proposed Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union in the area of ​​civil law (Working Conditions Directive).It is intended to ensure that the Rights of all employees It should be a transparent and predictable employment promote and at the same time Adaptability of the labor market .

The core of the directive is the Extension of the employer's obligation to provide information on the essential aspects of the employment relationship. This also includes the Setting minimum requirements to the working conditions with regard to the Maximum duration of probationary periods, Multiple employment, Minimum predictability of work, Request for a transition to another form of work and Compulsory training. Targeted Enforcement provisions are intended to ensure that employees really benefit from the new rules in their workplace.

No one-to-one implementation

Stellungnahme. detailed opinion of the ZDH.Member States must implement the Directive by this year at the latest. national law In mid-January this year, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs issued a Bill submitted. The Central Association of German Crafts examined the draft and less than a month later his Stellungnahme According to the ZDH, the changes planned by the ministry primarily affect the Evidence Act and individual regulations of the Vocational Training Act, the Crafts Code, Temporary Employment Act, the trade Regulations and the Part-time and Fixed-Term Employment ActWith the draft, the ministry is "essentially" implementing the requirements of the Working Conditions Directive, according to the ZDH. However, despite the only selective legal changes planned, the ministry is beyond the requirements of the directive and "leaves the Maxim of exclusive one-to-one implementation of European regulations into German law."

BillThe main provisions of the BMAS draft include the following aspects:

• Extension of the employer’s obligations to provide information on the essential aspects of the employment relationship, as already provided for in the Evidence Directive,
• Standardisation of minimum requirements for working conditions with regard to the maximum length of the probationary period, multiple employment and the minimum predictability of work in the case of on-call work,
• Establishment of formal requirements for requests for a transition to another form of work,
• Regulations on compulsory training.
Source: ZDH

The craft association fears additional bureaucratic burdens for small and medium-sized businesses – especially those without their own legal or human resources department. The new law would change employment contract regulations complex is and the contractual freedom of the contracting parties would "significantly" restricted"The establishment of new legal standards for contractual relationships between employers and employees not only means a considerable additional effort in the implementation of the new regulations, but often also leads to major legal uncertainties in operational practice," warns the ZDH.

Unused scope

The European legislator already sees the directive as a Expansion of information obligations for employers when concluding and amending employment contracts. The Ministry of Labour's proposal goes even further and provides additional obligations However, the EU Directive also calls on Member States to impose financial or legal requirements avoidthat the Founding and expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises. However, the Ministry of Labour is not complying with this request with the additional information requirements. This overfulfillment is contrary to the inconsistent exploitation the rights granted in the European Directive Scope for flexibility opposite to.

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