Families That Work: Policies for Reconciling Parenthood and Employment

Appendix B: Summary of Selected European Union Directives

Appendix B Summary of Selected European Union Directives AS REPORTED IN chapters 5 and 6, three European Union (EU) directives passed in the 1990s have influenced family leave and working-time policy in Europe. Such directives, which are binding for member countries, are supranational laws that take precedence over the laws of individual member states. In most cases, individual countries are permitted to bring provisions into line through either national legislation or formalized agreements among the social partners (groups representing employers and workers) or through some combination of the two. The European Union’s directives also apply to Norway, which, although not a member, implements EU directives. Our ten European cases include nine member countries and Norway. What follows is some of the key language from these directives . The directives are available in their entirety at Europa, the official EU web site, at: europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/index.htm. DIRECTIVE ON WORKING TIME: COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 93/104/EC OF 23 NOVEMBER 1993 Objective: To adopt minimum requirements covering certain aspects of the organization of working time connected with workers ’ health and safety. 310 Families That Work Contents: 3. Member States shall take measures to ensure that workers enjoy: • the minimum daily rest period of 11 consecutive hours per period of 24 hours; • the minimum period of one rest day on average immediately following the daily rest period in every seven-day period; for a daily period of work of more than six hours, a break as defined by the provisions of collective agreements, agreements concluded between social partners or national legislation; • not less than four weeks’ annual paid holiday, qualification for which shall be determined by reference to national practice /legislation; • an average weekly working period of not more than 48 hours, including the overtime for each seven-day period. Deadline for implementation of the legislation in the member states: 23 November 1996. DIRECTIVE ON PARENTAL LEAVE AND LEAVE FOR FAMILY REASONS: COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 96/34/EC OF 3 JUNE 1996 Objective: To establish minimum requirements in respect of parental leave and unforeseeable absence from work, as an important means of reconciling professional and family responsibilities and promoting equal opportunities and treatment for women and men. Contents: 2. The framework agreement provides for: male and female workers to have individual entitlement to parental leave on the grounds of the birth or adoption of a child, enabling them to take care of the child for at least three months; the conditions of access to, and procedures for applying, parental leave to be defined by law and/or collective agreement in the Member States, subject to compliance with the minimum requirements of the agreement; the Member States and/or social partners to take the necessary measures to European Union Directives 311 protect workers against dismissal on the grounds of an application for, or the taking of, parental leave; workers to have the right to return to the same job at the end of parental leave or, if that is not possible, to an equivalent or similar job consistent with their employment contract or relationship ; the maintenance of rights acquired or in the process of being acquired by the worker on the date on which parental leave starts; at the end of the period of leave, those rights will apply; the Member States and/or the social partners to take the necessary measures to allow workers to take time off from work, in accordance with national legislation, collective agreements and/or practice, for unforeseeable reasons arising from a family emergency in the event of sickness or accident making the immediate presence of the worker indispensable. 3. The Member States may introduce more favourable provisions than those laid down in the Directive. 4. Implementation of the provisions of the Directive will not in any way constitute sufficient grounds to justify a reduction in the general level of protection afforded to workers in the field covered. 5. The Member States are to determine the range of penalties applicable for infringements of national provisions pursuant to the Directive, and are to take all the necessary steps to ensure their implementation. The penalties applied must be effective and commensurate with the infringement, and must constitute a sufficient deterrent. Deadline for implementation of the legislation in the member states: 3 June 1998 (15 December 1999 in the U.K.). DIRECTIVE ON PART-TIME WORK: COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 97/81/EC OF 15 DECEMBER 1997 Objective...