Background
Directive 2019/1152/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on transparent and predictable working conditions in the European Union arises from the framework of the European Pillar of Social Rights, one of whose three core principles is the ensuring of fair working conditions. It replaces Directive 91/533/EEC on an employer’s obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship, now overtaken by far-reaching changes in labour markets, which have seen the creation of new forms of employment due to demographic change and digitalisation.
Objectives
Directive 2019/1152/EU aims to improve working conditions by establishing minimum rights applicable to every worker in the European Union, and thus to ensure more transparent and predictable employment. All workers have the right to working conditions which respect their health, safety and dignity, to a limit on maximum working hours, to daily and weekly rest periods and to an annual period of paid leave.
Contents
The directive is applicable to all employees who work more than three hours per week over a four-week period (i.e. more than 12 hours per month). This broad scope means that its rules also apply to those with atypical forms of work, such as zero-hour-contract, voucher-based and platform workers. Only those working less than 12 hours a month may be excluded from its provisions.
Employers have a duty to inform their workers, in writing and at the latest within one week of their first working day, of the essential aspects of their employment relationship. This information includes matters such as the place of work, the nature of the activity, their pay, work schedules, etc.
It also establishes a number of workers' rights such as the right to predictability of work: workers whose work pattern is entirely or mostly unpredictable shall benefit from a minimum level of predictability through the provision of reference hours and days (i.e. time slots during which work can take place at the request of the employer) and reasonable minimum notice periods (i.e. the period of time between when a worker is informed of a new work assignment and when the assignment starts).
Transposition
Member States shall take the necessary measures to comply with this Directive by 1 August 2022.
Read the full text of Directive 2019/1152/EU
National laws implementing this Directive
Further information
Factsheet: Towards transparent and predictable working conditions (2019)