Posting of Workers within the European Union. The Enforcement Directive 2014/67/EU and shortfalls of existing legislation

Book excerpt: Master's Thesis from the year 2015 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, grade: 10, , language: English, abstract: This thesis guides the reader through the most important aspects of current European labour law in relation to posted workers. It starts with basic definitions and provides answers to questions of jurisdiction and applicable law. The thesis then explains in detail the framework of the provisions guaranteeing a minimum level of safeguards and other rights to workers (Directive 96/71/EC) as well as the framework of the provisions applicable with regard to social security benefits and contributions (Regulation 883/2004). It explains the true impact of judgment Sähköalojen ammattiliitto ry on the applicable minimum wage and shows possible legal advantages of using posted workers over the domestic workforce. It furthermore explains how the practically important Internal Market Information System works and shows common ways of abuse and circumvention of current legislation. It divides these ways of abuse into the categories “Undesirable Legal Posting”, ”Questionable Practices”, “Fraud and Fake Postings”, “Letterbox companies” and “Bogus self-employment”, discussing three cases. The most recent development in the area of posted workers is Directive 2014/67/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 May 2014 on the enforcement of Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services and amending Regulation (EU) No 1024/2012 on administrative cooperation through the Internal Market Information System (Enforcement Directive). The thesis explains the shortcomings of Directive 96/71/EC. It lists the novelties that the Enforcement Directive introduces and discusses their possible transposition into national law, their merits and insufficiencies. The thesis then takes a detailed look at one of these novelties, the new subcontracting liability in the construction sector. Finally, the thesis provides numbers of posted workers within the EU and specific countries, which enables the reader to put the economic impact of posted workers in perspective.