Activities to tackle undeclared work

Objectives (expected outcome)

The main objective of this call for proposals is to complement and add value to the activities indicated in the work programme 2021-2022 of the European Platform tackling undeclared work, which reflects the realities of tackling undeclared work in a difficult economic context. The 2021-2022 work programme aims to deepen understanding of (new) types of undeclared work and sectors particularly exposed (e.g. in relation to the collaborative economy, seasonal work, personal and household services as well as HORECA) whilst supporting partnerships, innovation and capacity building, as well as increasing public awareness of undeclared work. The transition of the Platform to the European Labour Authority (ELA) as a permanent working group by latest 1 August 2021 will provide new opportunities to address these challenges in a more integrated and comprehensive way.

The call for proposals will support relevant actors in the field of tackling undeclared work such as ministries, enforcement authorities, social partners, etc. to develop innovative initiatives which shall contribute to enhancing the implementation, application, knowledge and better enforcement of EU and national law in the area of undeclared work, including through cross-border cooperation, thus supporting the transformation of undeclared work into declared work. The knowledge gained from these projects should also help building up evidence-based knowledge for better policy design.

The expected results are the improved transnational cooperation between Member States' different authorities to prevent and deter undeclared work, increased mutual trust among the stakeholders and the increased public awareness on the urgency of action and encouraging Member States to step up their efforts in dealing with undeclared work.

Themes and priorities (scope)

The priority for this call is to co-finance actions fostering joint activities and cross-border projects of enforcement authorities and other relevant players improving their technical capacity in the field of preventing and deterrence of undeclared work in line with the Platform’s vision of transforming undeclared into declared work by using a holistic approach, where national governments join up strategy and operations and cooperate with social partners and other stakeholders to employ the full range of direct and indirect policy measures. This will further enhance on-going cooperation between Member States enforcement authorities.

Cooperation may cover the following areas:

1. Common training courses for staff involved in enforcement activities;
2. Joint actions and exchange of staff of enforcement authorities;
3. Provision of technical assistance and/or support to implementation of measures/practice as identified by the European Platform tackling UDW.
4. Setting up information exchange systems;
5. Collaborative work in form of sharing of information and mutual learning between enforcement authorities.

Developing information products and services for employers and workers and raising awareness about the benefits of transforming undeclared into declared work.

Activities that can be funded (scope)

The types of activities which can be funded under this call for proposals must address at least one of the areas of action identified below:

1. Common training courses for staff involved in enforcement activities: developing new or improving existing training programmes between officials of competent public authorities and/or between relevant social partners and stakeholders in the context of contributing to enhancing the implementation, application, knowledge and better enforcement of EU and national law in the area of undeclared work. Activities can include trainings focusing on common themes and challenges (e.g. how to address bogus self-employment) and how they are tackled by different national authorities, exchanges in the field (e.g. agriculture and construction sectors) or trainings focusing on how to foster cooperation/improve working relations between different national and other EU/EEA enforcement agencies. Activities supported should produce an output; a potential output of this type of activities could be a handbook of best enforcement practices used my member states to tackle undeclared work.
2. Joint inspections and exchange of staff of enforcement authorities: developing new or improving existing exchanges and peer learning between officials of competent public authorities in order to better cooperate across borders, and to develop tools that facilitate the work and to support capacity building. Activities can include: study visits to the authorities of the Member States, including a presentation of their coordinating work between agencies in addressing undeclared work at national level, field exchanges – exchange of staff for a limited period of time to enable exchange of information/best practices etc.
3. Provision of technical assistance to other EU/EEA enforcement bodies to contribute to capacity building, implementation of good practices, etc.
4. Information exchange systems: developing cross-border information exchange systems with the aim to facilitate administrative cooperation between enforcement bodies. Cross-border information exchange systems supported under this priority must add value to existing practices such as EESSI, IMI module on posting of workers, etc.).
5. Collaborative work in form of sharing of information and mutual learning between enforcement authorities: developing or upgrading online platforms for the collection and dissemination of quality, user-friendly, and specific information targeted at tackling undeclared work and facilitating the transition from undeclared work to formal work.
6. Joint awareness raising campaigns/sector specific campaigns/regional cross-border campaigns: awareness raising campaigns targeted at workers and/or employers should aim at changing norms, values and beliefs regarding the acceptability of participating in undeclared work, so that these are in conformity with laws and regulations, at informing on risks and costs of undeclared work, at promoting the benefits of formalising work, at encouraging a culture of commitment to declaration, informing about the prevention services available to employers/workers, etc. Messages can be conveyed through many different channels, such as mass media (television, radio), social media (using new media channels to spread messages – for e.g. social networks, videos, blogs, twitter, vlogs etc.), public relations, events, talks, demonstrations, tours, posters and leaflets.

Apart from the pure technical implementation of the proposals another deliverable of projects under this call for proposals is the capacity to spell out success and failure factors and parameters in an analytical evidence-based way.

1. Technical implementation

This includes facilitating and promoting training, good practice initiatives and innovative approaches, such as exchanges of staff and joint activities; exchange of information, mutual learning and awareness raising campaigns. Information exchange systems could be addressed through the joint establishment of protocols, agreements and the development of IT-based systems.

b. Analytical elements

In addition to implementing the activities described above, another deliverable of projects under this call for proposals is the capacity to spell out success and failure factors and parameters. These should be documented in the form of findings and conclusions deriving from a thorough evaluation of the actions undertaken. The evaluation shall help the beneficiaries to draw lessons learned and to establish, deriving from this experience, building blocks for a successful and sustainable cooperation between enforcement authorities and to contribute to the work of the European Platform. The proposal should detail how this output will be achieved.