Brussels pushes for work-life balance

Commission wants more rights for gig economy workers.

New fathers in the EU would get 10 days’ paid parental leave and parents could demand flexible working arrangements until their children are 12, according to new laws proposed by the European Commission, which have already got the business lobby up in arms.

Proposed new rules on work-life balance and greater protection for workers in the “gig economy” were launched alongside the European Pillar of Social Rights, Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker’s pet project which was launched on Wednesday.

Brussels hopes such measures can help to restore faith in the European project, after a decade during which the EU institutions have been identified with austerity policies and attacked by Euroskeptics.

EU leaders also hope to boost the number of women in the workforce at a time when Europe’s working population is declining.

“We cannot expect miracles from mothers,” said Věra Jourová, gender equality commissioner, in an interview with POLITICO. “We cannot expect them to be mothers and to build on their careers under current conditions. Our aim is to create choices and remove barriers for millions of people to better combine work and family life.”

Trade unions hailed the Social Pillar as “the EU’s last chance to create a more social Europe,” in the words of Luca Visentini, general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation. But BusinessEurope has condemned it, with the lobbying group’s president, Emma Marcegaglia, describing it as “ill-conceived legislation undermining job creation.”

Bracing for pushback from some EU governments, the Commission said the Social Pillar “does not entail an extension of the Union’s powers.”

Here’s a breakdown of the key components of Wednesday’s announcements:

Social scoreboard

The Social Pillar is mainly aimed at countries in the eurozone that are more amenable to integration and is pitched as a reference framework that the Commission will use to identify gaps in existing EU employment and social law. The principles range from the right to a fair wage to guarantees of “suitable leave, working arrangements and access to care services.”

A “social scoreboard” will be published annually alongside existing fiscal and economic monitoring, tracking EU countries’ performance in ensuring their citizens benefit from such rights. EU governments, MEPs and the Commission will sign up to the Social Pillar in November in Gothenburg.

Social dimension

The European Commission’s white paper on the Future of Europe, a report launched in March that outlined the options for European integration up to 2025, was accompanied by a series of so-called reflection papers including one on the “social dimension of Europe,” which was published Wednesday.

It includes three options: limiting EU action to issues relating to “mobile citizens”; allowing groups of countries such as those in the eurozone to “decide to do more together in the social field”; and “deepening the social dimension of Europe together,” which could mean “fully harmonizing citizens’ rights across the EU.”

Leave for fathers and carers

The most contentious proposal in the package is a draft directive on “work-life balance,” which will give new fathers 10 days’ paid leave and the right to four months of parental leave paid on the equivalent of sick pay, to be taken any time until the child reaches the age of 12. Carers would be allowed five days of paid leave and parents would have the right to request flexible working arrangements.

The draft law, which both MEPs and governments must agree to, will repeal the existing “parental leave” directive, agreed between BusinessEurope and the European Trade Union Confederation in 2010, on the grounds that fathers did not take advantage of the rights it created. The Commission decided not to reopen the EU’s existing rules on maternity leave, having failed to secure an agreement between the Parliament and Council the last time it tried.

Zero-hours contracts

In many EU countries, self-employed workers, including those who obtain work through online platforms, don’t benefit from the same social benefits, such as unemployment insurance and sickness benefits, as those in traditional jobs.

The Commission argues that existing EU contract law, specifically the 1991 Written Statement Directive which gives new employees the right to be notified of key aspects of their employment relationship, is out of date. It has identified zero-hours contracts as an area of “particular concern.”

Two consultations with BusinessEurope and the European Trade Union Confederation were therefore launched to explore what legal measures could be introduced at EU level to update the laws.

Under pressure

Guidance was published about the enforcement of one of the EU’s most controversial employment laws, which limits work hours to no more than 48 hours a week.

Citing case law from the European Court of Justice, the Commission’s guidance seeks to find a balance between employers’ demands for more flexible rules to support competitiveness and workers’ concerns about “the pressures caused by intensification of work.”