Employment practices

The European Commission has started consulting with unions and employers at European level on ways to "modernise and improve employment relations".

The consultation, which follows from the Lisbon summit in March this year, aims to give unions and employers an opportunity to comment on how existing rules and regulations need to be modified to take account of new ways of working. In particular the Commission is asking the two sides to look at teleworking and the position of workers who are "economically dependent" on an employer but are not traditional employees. They are often classified as self-employed but in practice are not.

The Commission is asking unions and employers to consider whether it would be appropriate to begin negotiations on a European-wide framework agreement regulating the position of teleworkers.