Activities of Jutta STEINRUCK related to 2013/2112(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Effective labour inspections as a strategy to improve working conditions (short presentation)
Reports (1)
REPORT on effective labour inspections as a strategy to improve working conditions in Europe PDF (226 KB) DOC (115 KB)
Amendments (27)
Amendment 16 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B a (new)
Recital B a (new)
Ba. whereas labour inspectors are essential for the protection of workers’ rights, the prevention of abuses and the promotion of economic and social development;
Amendment 19 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B b (new)
Recital B b (new)
Bb. whereas new types of employment relationship, which are increasingly hard to provide for under the existing regulations, continue to emerge;
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
Ea. whereas, in many Member States, the incidence of undeclared work is still on the increase, inter alia as a result of the crisis;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E b (new)
Recital E b (new)
Eb. whereas, to a greater or lesser degree, inspection systems lack the staff and funding necessary for conducting labour inspections effectively and, as a result, there is too little strategic human- resources planning for labour inspection authorities in the EU, their staff numbers are steadily declining in many countries and, at the same time, the inspectors’ work is becoming ever more complex;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E c (new)
Recital E c (new)
Ec. whereas the sectors in which undeclared work is most prevalent are highly labour intensive ones, such as construction, security, cleaning and domestic services and residential and care services, characterised by insecure conditions of employment and remuneration;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E d (new)
Recital E d (new)
Ed. whereas unlawful employment is practised as a means of avoiding the payment of tax and social security contributions or otherwise circumventing laws and regulations;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E e (new)
Recital E e (new)
Ee. whereas undeclared work is bad for those who do it and also for other workers in terms of social security cover and earnings;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E f (new)
Recital E f (new)
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E g (new)
Recital E g (new)
Eg. whereas there is a close connection between illegal immigration and undeclared work because people resident in Europe illegally are not allowed to take up normal employment and they are thus not covered by any protection system;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E h (new)
Recital E h (new)
Eh. whereas workers who do undeclared work have no social security, health or accident insurance and are thus at increased risk of personal financial loss;
Amendment 38 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E i (new)
Recital E i (new)
Ei. whereas labour inspection in respect of cross-border services and employment relationships is a matter of cross-border concern, and cross-border access to data is inadequate;
Amendment 39 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E j (new)
Recital E j (new)
Ej. whereas many workers doing undeclared work find themselves in that situation not of their own volition but because they have been coerced;
Amendment 41 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Highlights the fact that labour inspection is a public service task which, in the absence of any equivalent body to do the job, should be carried out only by independent public servants. This should not, however, preclude labour inspectors being assisted by representatives of the social partners;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. Stresses that labour inspections are effective only if they are made without notice, are repeated and are targeted randomly; points out that for penalties to be effective they must be set so as to ensure that employers cannot gain from circumventing existing wage agreements or laws and regulations;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4b. Points out that labour inspection findings must be accompanied by clear deadlines for action so that abuses can be prevented quickly and victims can be protected at an early stage;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4c. Points out that labour inspectors in the Member States must be authorised to conduct on-site inspections, to use smart inspection tools and to work in coordination with all relevant authorities, must have an appropriate remit and must work independently;
Amendment 93 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9 a (new)
Paragraph 9 a (new)
9a. Notes that fewer labour inspections are conducted in rural areas; calls on Member States to ensure that rural regions are properly covered;
Amendment 99 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 a (new)
Paragraph 10 a (new)
10a. Criticises the widespread abuse of services contracts as a way of saving on the cost of wages and social security contributions; calls on Member States to introduce rules to combat this and to prepare their labour inspection authorities for targeted inspections of service-contract work;
Amendment 100 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10 b (new)
Paragraph 10 b (new)
10b. Expresses concern about the situation of seasonal workers in agriculture, most of whom are from third countries; believes that labour inspection in this sector is being stepped up; points out that much employment is a mixture of declared and undeclared work;
Amendment 105 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Points out that workers who provide domestic services are often undeclared, but that, in many cases, this situation lies outside the remit of the national inspection authorities; calls on the Member States to enable inspections to be carried out in private homes and to introduce effective sanctions; ratify ILO Convention 189 and develop and implement measures for labour inspection, enforcement and penalties with due for the special characteristics of domestic work, in accordance with national laws and regulations. In compatibility with national laws and regulations, such measures should specify the conditions under which access to household premises may be granted, having due respect for privacy;
Amendment 124 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Considers that penalties will be effective only if employers cannot gain from employing undeclared workers because in doing so they would stand to lose substantially more than the cost of taking on registered employees;
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Considers effective cooperation between national authorities to be important in the effort to end social dumping and ensure that competition in the single market is fair; welcomes the Commission's initiative to create a European Platform for labour inspectors; in this regard calls on the Commission to establish the European Platform for labour inspectors on undeclared work within the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) as an additional task of the Agency, with a remit to organise the work of the Platform and facilitate exchange of experience and good practice, providing up-to-date, objective, reliable and comparative information, as well as enhancing cross- border cooperation;
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19
Paragraph 19
19. Calls on the Commission to introduce a European Agency for cross-border matters concerning the abuse of employment protection rules and undeclared work, with a remit including inter alia the identification of letter-box companies, the control of transnational service providers, the introduction of EU-wide further- training programmes that address challenges such as bogus self- employment, new types of employment risk and posting, the identification of new ways of circumventing the rules, and the organisation of cross-border controls;
Amendment 170 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21
Paragraph 21
21. Calls on the Commission to introduce a European early-warning system, for signalling breaches of employment protection rules and cases of undeclared work, which would promote the rapid exchange of information between Member States and would be accompanied by a blacklist so that abuses by employers could be nipped in the bud; points out that such an early-warning system could be modelled on the existing European consumer- protection early-warning system (RAPEX); stresses that breaches of the rules must be accurately documented through the systematic recording of inspection findings so that targeted action against abuses can be taken;
Amendment 175 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Considers that a European database on illegal employment can offer significant European added value in the effort to combat undeclared work; emphasises that such a database would usefully underpin EU legal initiatives on undeclared employment and would enable Member States to exchange examples of best practice in combating undeclared work;
Amendment 188 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24 a (new)
Paragraph 24 a (new)
24a. Points out that, in some Member States, children under 14 years of age have jobs; considers that the role of labour inspectors must be strengthened and that campaigns against child labour must be stepped up; calls on the Commission to put in place specific EU- level control and monitoring campaigns focusing on children’s, and especially young migrants’, working conditions;
Amendment 201 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the Commission to propose a directive providing for the comprehensive control of employrecruitment agencies, whereby such companies will be subject to certification and to a requirement of central reporting of their activities;