Posting of Workers

Objectives (expected outcome)

The European Pillar of Social Rights has set out key principles and rights for a renewed process of upward convergence towards i.e. fair working conditions in particular in the areas of secure and adaptable employment, wages, information about employment conditions and protection in case of dismissals, social dialogue and involvement of workers, etc. The general objective of this call for proposals is therefore contributing to the implementation of the key principles of the pillar in the area of posting of workers, i.e to fund initiatives in order to enhance the implementation and correct application of the Directive 96/71/EC and the Amending Directive (EU) 2018/957, (Directive (EU) 2018/957 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services as well as the implementation of the Enforcement Directive 2014/67/EU, (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 (‘the IMI Regulation’)

The specific objectives of this call are the following:

a) To promote transnational cooperation among public authorities and stakeholders, including the promotion of the use of IMI and sharing experiences and good practices in this respect;

b) To increase the accessibility, transparency and quality of the information concerning the terms and conditions of employment to be respected and the existing practices in the Member States to monitor and enforce the provisions of the Posting of Workers Directive;

c) To promote the evidence basis through the collection and evaluation of original data, and the analysis specific to the posting process and posted workers' working conditions, including through the collaboration between universities across various disciplines, research centres and institutes and stakeholders, in particular social partners.

Themes and priorities (scope)

The call intends to support the Commission and the Member States to understand existing and new challenges and develop initiatives in the field of posting of workers and a decent work agenda. The proper functioning of administrative cooperation between Member States and improved access to information on applicable terms and conditions of employment and administrative requirements for companies in a transparent and accessible manner, are essential for the correct application, implementation and enforcement of the Directives.

In order to achieve the objective, it is intended with this call for proposals to fund transnational cooperation initiatives aiming at developing autonomous and concrete initiatives by the relevant stakeholders involved in the context of posting with a significant and lasting impact on workers, companies and administrations.

Activities that can be funded (scope)

The following activities may be co-financed:

a) Cooperation: developing new or improving existing exchanges, peer reviews and/or training programmes (for example joint visits, joint inspections, short training actions) between officials of competent public authorities and/or between relevant social partners and stakeholders in the contexts of monitoring the compliance with and enforcement of the applicable rules in relation to posted workers, and/or of administrative cooperation and mutual assistance, including the use of the Internal Market Information System (IMI).

b) Information: developing and improving different information and/or advisory forms and formats for the collection and dissemination of quality, user-friendly, and specific information targeted at workers and/or undertakings with respect to the working conditions applicable to posted workers, the procedures and conditions to be respected by undertakings in different Member States, and other relevant information for the posting of workers in the context of the provision of cross-border services.

c) Evidence: development of joint research projects on different dimensions of the posting of workers in the context of the transnational provision of services and dissemination of results through targeted publication strategies, both in the scientific domain as well as in the specialised and general press.

The three type of actions are mutually exclusive. Applications should focus on one of the above-mentioned three strands in their proposal. Applicants are required to align their proposed actions with activities on administrative cooperation in the field of posting necessary for social security coordination under the Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and Regulation (EC) No 987/2009 in order to avoid overlaps with activities in this field. Any such activities should be indicated in the application.