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March 2004:
Temporary Work During Your Break
Due to an unprecedented intervention in the right to free collective bargaining, the entire temporary work industry has been legally compelled to guarantee employees the same pay and conditions as in the businesses to which they are hired out - equal treatment. This law has been in force since 1.1.04. Deviation from this law is only allowed if a wage agreement is in operation...
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Previous News:
Reorganisation of German Law on Labour Leasing - AÜG
There have recently been numerous reports on measures such as the Hartz concept and personnel service agencies.During this process, the AÜG has also been changed. As with so many changes to the law, the reasoning is not always evident...
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Subcontracted Labour as a Bridging Function
Subcontracted labour is attributed as a bridging function to the primary labour market. A 1999 survey by CIETT in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain concludes that 34% of subcontracted workers had no previous employment...
[Read complete article]
March 2004:
Temporary Work During Your Break
Due to an unprecedented intervention in the right to free collective bargaining, the entire temporary work industry has been legally compelled to guarantee employees the same pay and conditions as in the businesses to which they are hired out - equal treatment. This law has been in force since 1.1.04. Deviation from this law is only allowed if a wage agreement is in operation.
Collective wage agreements negotiated between 5 employers' associations and various unions are applicable to temporary work from 1.1.04 onwards. As the “equal treatment” regulation cannot be implemented due to the inconstancy of employees' workplaces, all recruitment companies have introduced collective wage agreements.
These agreements regulate all the significant elements of the employer-employee relationship.
Equally, and also from 1.1.04, the AÜG was changed to accommodate the introduction of flexible working hours for temporary work. Time will tell whether or not the desired effect is achieved in practice.
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Previous News:
Reorganisation of German Law on Labour Leasing - AÜG
Dear Sir/Madam,
There have recently been numerous reports on measures such as the Hartz concept and personnel service agencies.During this process, the AÜG has also been changed. As with so many changes to the law, the reasoning is not always evident.
Listed below are some of the effects on temporary work and on the recruitment companies, subject to changes.
Previously, the recruitment company was required to register the start and end of the labour sub-contract within 2 weeks and to retain a copy for 4 years.
This condition has been deleted without replacement.
One condition which has remained is that a hire contract must be agreed before the start of the temporary worker's employment.
These conditions apply as of 1.1.03.
This means that you will no longer receive check messages, but the labour leasing contract must be signed and returned immediately - otherwise the lease does not take effect.
Clause § 3 AÜG, on refusal of permission, has been changed.
Under the new version, a hirer is to be refused approval if:
the hired employee is not guaranteed current standard working conditions, comparable with those which would be expected from a similar employer, including remuneration for the period of the hire (equal treatment).
A collective wage agreement may, however, allow for different regulations.
§ 12 of the revised AÜG states that the hirer must specify in the AÜG agreement the particular characteristics of the work intended for the temporary worker and any professional qualifaction required for this. Also, the hirer must state which current standard working conditions - applicable in similar businesses - are also applicable in the hirer's business; this includes remuneration.
In accordance with § 13 of the revised AÜG, the temporary worker is even entitled to demand information from the hirer with respect to which current standard working conditions applicable in similar businesses are also applicable in the hirer's business; this includes remuneration.
This means it is not only the wages of the hirer's employees that must be in line with wages of the recruitment company, but also all other working conditions - e.g. overtime agreements, holiday, Christmas bonus/13th month's pay, Sunday and bank holiday remuneration etc.
As this seems impossible, we will probably need to draw up a collective wage agreement for temporary work. Legislators were well aware that equal treatment cannot be implemented in practice. Therefore, for the first time in German history, this new regulation has legally forced one branch of industry to negotiate collective wage agreements with the unions.
These conditions are expected to require modifications and transfer clauses before implementation.
Labour leasing companies are required by law to ensure equal treatment or an alternative negotiated committment as of 1.1.04.
The new regulations were issued under the umbrella of the Hartz concept and in conjunction with the re-establishment of personnel service agencies. Whether these new conditions will have the effect of lightening the labour market is extremely doubtful.
Should you require further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch.
Regards
W.Lemke Personalservice GmbH
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Subcontracted Labour as a Bridging Function
Subcontracted labour is attributed as a bridging function to the primary labour market. A 1999 survey by CIETT in Germany, France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain concludes that 34% of subcontracted workers had no previous employment.
 Of this proportion, 14% were school-leavers, 6% were unemployed, 4% were homeworkers and one in ten was long-term unemployed. Of the temporory workers previously in employment, 17% were with other agencies and 12% were in short-term employment. 32% had a long-term job.
Information from CIETT shows that an average of 43% of temporary workers across the five countries had been offered a long or short-term position in the regular labour market within one year. In the Netherlands and Spain, this figure rose to 53% and 52% respectively. By contrast, in Germany, only 29% of temporary workers found employment outside the subcontracted labour market.
According to national reports, in France, 40% of temporary employees were in short or long-term employment within one year. Half of these were working for employers for whom they had worked on a temporary basis. Client businesses took on 30% of temporary employees in Spain and Germany and 23% in Belgium.
However, nothing is known about the extent of the effect on net employment, as it is particularly difficult to estimate the earning status of temporary workers not employed by the company to whom they were hired out.
As recruitment companies also carry out careful checks on their employees, it is also to be assumed that most subcontracted workers have suitable qualifications for the requirements of the market. Finally, it must be noted that recruitment companies and employers use temporary employment as a search method and that some positions fulfil the function of a probationary period. In this respect, temporary work is simply a substitute for the traditional contract of employment and probabtionary period.
(Source: German Institute for Employment and Research, IAB Kurzbericht No. 21/2002)
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