• France moves ahead on posted workers without waiting for EU | EurActiv
    http://www.euractiv.com/trade/france-plays-solo-low-cost-worke-news-532718
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    As the EU elections approach, France is pressing ahead to strengthen safeguards against the abuse of low-cost foreign workers within Europe, without waiting for the European institutions to hammer out the final text of the revised EU Posted Workers Directive.

    France will not wait for EU institutions to adopt the final text of the revised posted workers directive before strengthening its own laws. The Socialist majority in the French parliament has presented a legislative text aimed at better framing the practice, which has long been denounced for abuses in sectors such as construction.

    The 1996 posted workers directive allows companies to send their employees to work another EU state for a limited period of time, leading to accusation of social dumping. The directive is currently under revision but for the moment the posting of workers leads sometimes to social dumping.

    Indeed, social contributions are paid in the worker’s country of origin, not the host country, leading to a 30% labour cost difference between France and Poland.

    Accountability of French companies

    To address this, the draft law foresees a number of measures to hold French companies accountable for their subcontractors, going further than the European legislation currently under revision.

    The extended accountability would apply not only to the construction sector, as the revised EU directive currently foresees, but also to to other activities. Concretely, it will be up to French employers to make sure that posted workers among their sub-contractors are registered with the labour inspection administration.

    According to official figures, there were 145,000 posted workers registered in France in 2011. But unofficial figures are much higher and range between 220,000 and 300,000 per year.

    The final employer will also be responsible for paying wages in case contractual obligations are not met. For example, if a union informs a company that its subcontractor does not respect the minimum wage obligation, it will be up to the French company to remedy it, by forcing its subcontractor to pay a decent wage to the posted workers and, eventually, by paying the bill itself.

    Finally, the Socialists’ draft law proposes to put in place a “black list” of companies already condemned for illegal activities....

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