Syndex has just published a report on outsourcing and transfer of employment contracts that provides useful tools, good practices and recommendations on workers influence on outsourcing and tender processes.
The booklet is the outcome of the two-year project conducted by UNI Europa, EFFAT, ETF and EPSU, union federations representing workers employed by service providers in catering, transport, cleaning industry, private security and municipalities.
The project covered different situations: the process of being outsourced (for the first time), or insourced (in particular by municipalities), and more frequently cases of outsourced services being transferred to another service provider. It also considered EU legislation on the protection of workers’ employment and working conditions in the case of a change of employer following a tender, in conjunction with the European and national information and consultation rights of workers’ representatives.
In cases where the incumbent service company loses all or part of its service contract after losing a tender, workers’ rights are protected at EU level through the provisions of Council Directive 2001/23/EC of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings or businesses. Other European and national regulations, as well as collective agreements, may apply at sector level.
To strengthen workers’ voice in such cases, we need to analyse the underlying legal mechanisms. Numerous studies show that, despite European legislation and jurisprudence, there are major discrepancies between countries. For this reason, EFFAT, EPSU, ETF and UNI Europa, with the support of Syndex, have joined forces to uphold and strengthen the influence of workers in such processes, identifying sectoral, cross-sectoral and European recommendations and best practices.
The report is available here in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.