Flight crew, sailors: when a little word changes the game...
(B2) We will have to watch closely, on November 29, the vote in plenary of the European Parliament of the Rome I Regulation on contractual obligations. Under a complex name, this regulation aims, in fact, to determine which is the law (and therefore the conditions) which surround the conditions of execution of a contract, of work among others. It aims to communitarize (to bring into community law) an instrument of international law (the Rome I Convention).
Explanation. The Rome Convention thus provides that while the parties usually have the right to choose the law applicable to the contract, in matters of employment, the rule is more defined. The employment contract obeys the law of the country "in which the worker, in performance of the contract, usually performs his work" (article 6 § 2 point a). However, between the original and the copy, certain additions came to "pollute" the original right. In the legislative procedure, was thus added "by the law of the country in which or from of which the worker,... ". This sentence is aimed above all at mobile workers, those in transport in particular (aircraft pilots, sailors, etc.) who work in several places and return to their base a few days or weeks later.
Consequences. This addition presents two difficulties. 1° It creates a vagueness on the consequences. There will be two criteria: the usual place of performance and the place from which the worker operates. But which criterion will prevail over the other? And who will choose between these two criteria? The employer or the employee? 2° It favors transport companies which often seek to establish themselves in countries which offer more flexible and less expensive working conditions. If we take the example of the airline company Ryanair, it will thus be able to justify offering Irish employment contracts to all these personnel (and not Belgian or French contracts, as the courts or national law have recognized ). Similarly, in maritime matters, it is the firm recognition of the law of the flag, a Finnish company operating under the Estonian flag will thus be able to give its sailors Estonian contracts instead of Finnish ones (cf. the case Viking).
Amendment. Parliament's Employment Committee introduced an amendment to delete this addition. "The amendment aims to avoid regular posting from a Member State whose labor law is less developed than in the State of posting." explains the rapporteur, the Swedish Jan Andersson.
(to read the parliamentary report)
