Posted workers




Under the European Posting of Workers Directive 1996, all workers temporarily working in another EU state have a minimum core of rights available to residents of the member state, including rights to minimum rates of pay, working time, health and safety and anti-discrimination rights. Because of the temporary nature of the posting, “posted workers” are excluded from full equal treatment rights under EU free movement principles.
Posting affects just 0.7 per cent of the EU’s labour force — around two million people. 


The Posting of Workers Directive was supposed to prevent employers importing temporary labour to undercut national employment standards and pay rates. However, its effectiveness has always been limited. This is because as long as employers honour basic minimum statutory rights in the member state, such as the UK’s National Minimum Wage, they do not have to pay the collectively agreed rate for the job. This was the background to the 2009 Lindsey Oil Refinery dispute, when Italian and Portuguese workers were brought to the UK by Italian company IREM to work on a Total Oil construction site in Lincolnshire, undercutting local workers.


In October 2017, the European Council reached broad agreement on a new posted workers directive providing for: 




• remuneration of posted workers in accordance with the laws and practices of the host member state. “Remuneration” is to include not only minimum pay rates, but also other elements such as bonuses or allowances;


• posted workers to benefit from “universally applicable” collective agreements across all sectors; 


• long-term postings to be capped at 12 months, extendable by six months (18 months in total); 


• equal treatment of temporary agency workers and local workers;


• transport workers (mainly truck drivers) to be largely exempt; and


• a four-year term before the new directive is to apply. 


Negotiation will now take place between the Council and the European Parliament on the terms of the Directive. Its impact (if any) on the UK will depend largely on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations and the terms of any future trade deal.