On Friday 17 June 2022, the government reached a final agreement on the provisions of the so-called labour deal, a set of labour market reforms that is aimed at introducing increased flexibility for both employers and employees.
In its original form, the labour deal was concluded in February of this year. For an overview of the initially agreed on terms of the deal, we refer to our newsletter in this respect. The labour deal was subsequently sent to the social partners in the National Labour Council, who were unable to present a unanimous opinion. Following the Council’s divided opinion, additional negotiations took place within the government and the question was whether the deal would be significantly changed as a result.
The final deal, however, only slightly differs from the original one, on the following points:
In order to increase flexibility in this respect and to account for the fact that training frequently takes place online, in shorter sessions, employees’ new yearly training entitlement will be counted in hours, rather than in days;.
Employees opting for a four day working week will no longer be allowed to perform overtime. The same will be applicable for employees opting for an alternate weekly working schedule; during the week they work less, no overtime will be allowed;
The company’s union delegation has to be involved, both in the conception and the evaluation of an e-commerce night work pilot project;
With respect to the position of platform workers, it was agreed to strengthen the operational capabilities of the Administrative Commission on the nature of the Employment Relation, which can be requested to analyse a collaboration to determine whether it classifies an employed or self-employed;
The labour deal is still expected to be submitted to the Chamber of Representatives before the summer holidays.
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