Full text - European Trade Union Institute (ETUI)

Executive summary
This report on domestic transposition measures of Directive 2008/104/CE on
temporary agency work is mostly based on replies to the questionnaire sent to
NETLEX members in September 2011.
The deadline for transposition of the Directive was 5 December 2011. Most
Member States have transposed the Directive, just a few are delayed. Transposition
took place in 20 Member States and is still in the implementation
process in 3 Member States; the European Commission has requested them,
in the form of a ‘reasoned opinion’ under EU infringement procedures, to be
notified, until 21 of December 2012, of measures taken to implement the Directive.
In 3 Member States, existing legislation is in compliance with the Directive.
In some EU countries, transposition has been reported as being difficult and
very often, in countries in which temporary agency work is regulated only
through commercial law, which is potentially very harmful for agency workers.
Where the Directive has actually been implemented, the social partners have
mainly been – and are still in three cases – involved in the process.
Starting with a general overview, the report then looks at the state of transposition
in more detail, article by article. Rules regarding the scope of the
Directive did not seem to be a controversial issue. Thus the focus will be on
the following: definition of the main notions, restrictions and prohibitions;
the principle of equal treatment from day one of the assignment; access to
collective rights; implementation of the more favourable clause and the nonregression
clause; and implementation of effective, proportionate and dissuasive
sanctions.
Definition of the main notions
The main concepts used in the Directive are assignment, employer, basic
working conditions, general interest and pay. The definition of the first three
concepts was not really an issue. Indeed, assignments are defined in the same
way in most Member States, temporary work agencies being most of the time
considered as the employer, as the Directive requires. Two exceptions can be
found: in the United Kingdom, where the user is still recognised as the employer,
and in the Czech Republic, where both the user and the agency are
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