One of Finland’s transport workers unions brought an action before the CJEU against both a company in the sector and an employers body because of violation of a clause in the collective agreement that restricts recourse to temporary work. The Finnish authorities referred this to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling on whether or not the clause in question was an unjustifiable restriction regarding recourse to temporary work and so incompatible with Directive 2008/104, Article 4 Paragraph 1. Article 4 states that restrictions must be justified by reason of general interest (notably for the protection of temporary workers, for health and safety at work reasons, or to ensure the appropriate functioning of the workplace, and also to prevent any abuses).
EU: according to Advocate General Szpunar, the Temporary work Directive prohibits those restrictions on recourse to temporary work that are not justified on ground of general interest
On November 20, Maciej Szpunar the Advocate General delivered his opinion on the first case relating to interpretation of Directive 2008/104 on Temporary Work. At issue is the provision in the Directive stipulating that Member States must have examined restrictions to the recourse to temporary work before December 5 2011 so as to verify that those restrictions correspond to reasons of general interest. Is this a procedural issue or a clause that obliges the Member States to remove unjustifiable restrictions? The advocate General answered this by opting for the latter. Needless to say that stakeholders in the area of temporary work and especially the unions await with bated breath the final decision by the judges. Should the courts follow suit, not only will this open the door to a re-examination of those restriction clauses but it will also mark the first time that a “Social” Directive serves as the basis for the reexamination of pre-existing national labor law.
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