Directive (EU) 2018/957 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 June 2018 amending Directive 96/71/EC concerning the posting of workers in the framework of the provision of services (Text with EEA relevance)

‘-1 This Directive shall ensure the protection of posted workers during their posting in relation to the freedom to provide services, by laying down mandatory provisions regarding working conditions and the protection of workers’ health and safety that must be respected.

-1a This Directive shall not in any way affect the exercise of fundamental rights as recognised in the Member States and at Union level, including the right or freedom to strike or to take other action covered by the specific industrial relations systems in Member States, in accordance with national law and/or practice. Nor does it affect the right to negotiate, to conclude and enforce collective agreements, or to take collective action in accordance with national law and/or practice.’;

‘1 Member States shall ensure, irrespective of which law applies to the employment relationship, that undertakings as referred to in Article 1(1) guarantee, on the basis of equality of treatment, workers who are posted to their territory the terms and conditions of employment covering the following matters which are laid down in the Member State where the work is carried out: by law, regulation or administrative provision, and/or by collective agreements or arbitration awards which have been declared universally applicable or otherwise apply in accordance with paragraph 8: (a) maximum work periods and minimum rest periods; (b) minimum paid annual leave; (c) remuneration, including overtime rates; this point does not apply to supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes; (d) the conditions of hiring-out of workers, in particular the supply of workers by temporary employment undertakings; (e) health, safety and hygiene at work; (f) protective measures with regard to the terms and conditions of employment of pregnant women or women who have recently given birth, of children and of young people; (g) equality of treatment between men and women and other provisions on non-discrimination; (h) the conditions of workers’ accommodation where provided by the employer to workers away from their regular place of work; (i) allowances or reimbursement of expenditure to cover travel, board and lodging expenses for workers away from home for professional reasons. Point (i) shall apply exclusively to travel, board and lodging expenditure incurred by posted workers where they are required to travel to and from their regular place of work in the Member State to whose territory they are posted, or where they are temporarily sent by their employer from that regular place of work to another place of work. For the purposes of this Directive, the concept of remuneration shall be determined by the national law and/or practice of the Member State to whose territory the worker is posted and means all the constituent elements of remuneration rendered mandatory by national law, regulation or administrative provision, or by collective agreements or arbitration awards which, in that Member State, have been declared universally applicable or otherwise apply in accordance with paragraph 8. Without prejudice to Article 5 of Directive 2014/67/EU, Member States shall publish the information on the terms and conditions of employment, in accordance with national law and/or practice, without undue delay and in a transparent manner, on the single official national website referred to in that Article, including the constituent elements of remuneration as referred to in the third subparagraph of this paragraph and all the terms and conditions of employment in accordance with paragraph 1a of this Article. Member States shall ensure that the information provided on the single official national website is accurate and up to date. The Commission shall publish on its website the addresses of the single official national websites. Where, contrary to Article 5 of Directive 2014/67/EU, the information on the single official national website does not indicate which terms and conditions of employment are to be applied, that circumstance shall be taken into account, in accordance with national law and/or practice, in determining penalties in the event of infringements of the national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive, to the extent necessary to ensure the proportionality thereof.’;

‘1a Where the effective duration of a posting exceeds 12 months, Member States shall ensure, irrespective of which law applies to the employment relationship, that undertakings as referred to in Article 1(1) guarantee, on the basis of equality of treatment, workers who are posted to their territory, in addition to the terms and conditions of employment referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, all the applicable terms and conditions of employment which are laid down in the Member State where the work is carried out: by law, regulation or administrative provision, and/or by collective agreements or arbitration awards which have been declared universally applicable or otherwise apply in accordance with paragraph 8. The first subparagraph of this paragraph shall not apply to the following matters: (a) procedures, formalities and conditions of the conclusion and termination of the employment contract, including non-competition clauses; (b) supplementary occupational retirement pension schemes. Where the service provider submits a motivated notification, the Member State where the service is provided shall extend the period referred to in the first subparagraph to 18 months. Where an undertaking as referred to in Article 1(1) replaces a posted worker by another posted worker performing the same task at the same place, the duration of the posting shall, for the purposes of this paragraph, be the cumulative duration of the posting periods of the individual posted workers concerned. The concept of “the same task at the same place” referred to in the fourth subparagraph of this paragraph shall be determined taking into consideration, inter alia, the nature of the service to be provided, the work to be performed and the address(es) of the workplace.

1b Member States shall provide that the undertakings referred to in point (c) of Article 1(3) guarantee posted workers the terms and conditions of employment which apply pursuant to Article 5 of Directive 2008/104/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to temporary agency workers hired-out by temporary-work agencies established in the Member State where the work is carried out. The user undertaking shall inform the undertakings referred to in point (c) of Article 1(3) of the terms and conditions of employment that it applies regarding the working conditions and remuneration to the extent covered by the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

‘7 Paragraphs 1 to 6 shall not prevent the application of terms and conditions of employment which are more favourable to workers. Allowances specific to the posting shall be considered to be part of remuneration, unless they are paid in reimbursement of expenditure actually incurred on account of the posting, such as expenditure on travel, board and lodging. The employer shall, without prejudice to point (h) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, reimburse the posted worker for such expenditure in accordance with the national law and/or practice applicable to the employment relationship. Where the terms and conditions of employment applicable to the employment relationship do not determine whether and, if so, which elements of the allowance specific to the posting are paid in reimbursement of expenditure actually incurred on account of the posting or which are part of remuneration, then the entire allowance shall be considered to be paid in reimbursement of expenditure.’;

‘9 Member States may require undertakings as referred to in Article 1(1) to guarantee workers referred to in point (c) of Article 1(3), in addition to the terms and conditions of employment referred to in paragraph 1b of this Article, other terms and conditions that apply to temporary agency workers in the Member State where the work is carried out.

10 This Directive shall not preclude the application by Member States, in compliance with the Treaties, to national undertakings and to the undertakings of other Member States, on the basis of equality of treatment, of terms and conditions of employment on matters other than those referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 in the case of public policy provisions.’;

‘2 Member States shall make provision for cooperation between the competent authorities or bodies, including public authorities, which, in accordance with national law, are responsible for monitoring the terms and conditions of employment referred to in Article 3, including at Union level. Such cooperation shall in particular consist in replying to reasoned requests from those authorities or bodies for information on the transnational hiring-out of workers, and in tackling manifest abuses or possible cases of unlawful activities, such as transnational cases of undeclared work and bogus self-employment linked to the posting of workers. Where the competent authority or body in the Member State from which the worker is posted does not possess the information requested by the competent authority or body of the Member State to whose territory the worker is posted, it shall seek to obtain that information from other authorities or bodies in that Member State. In the event of persistent delays in the provision of such information to the Member State to whose territory the worker is posted, the Commission shall be informed and shall take appropriate measures.’;

The Member State to whose territory the worker is posted and the Member State from which the worker is posted shall be responsible for the monitoring, control and enforcement of the obligations laid down in this Directive and in Directive 2014/67/EU and shall take appropriate measures in the event of failure to comply with this Directive. Member States shall lay down the rules on penalties applicable to infringements of national provisions adopted pursuant to this Directive and shall take all measures necessary to ensure that they are implemented. The penalties provided for shall be effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Member States shall in particular ensure that adequate procedures are available to workers and/or workers’ representatives for the enforcement of obligations under this Directive. Where, following an overall assessment made pursuant to Article 4 of Directive 2014/67/EU by a Member State, it is established that an undertaking is improperly or fraudulently creating the impression that the situation of a worker falls within the scope of this Directive, that Member State shall ensure that the worker benefits from relevant law and practice. Member States shall ensure that this Article does not lead to the worker concerned being subject to less favourable conditions than those applicable to posted workers.’;

1 The Commission shall review the application and implementation of this Directive. By 30 July 2023, the Commission shall submit a report on the application and implementation of this Directive to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee and propose, where appropriate, necessary amendments to this Directive and to Directive 96/71/EC.

2 The report referred to in paragraph 1 shall include an assessment of whether further measures to ensure a level playing field and protect workers are required: (a) in the case of subcontracting; (b) in the light of Article 3(3) of this Directive, taking into account the developments concerning the legislative act amending Directive 2006/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards enforcement requirements and laying down specific rules with respect to Directive 96/71/EC and Directive 2014/67/EU for posting drivers in the road transport sector.

1 Member States shall adopt and publish, by 30 July 2020, the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive. They shall immediately communicate the text of those measures to the Commission. They shall apply those measures from 30 July 2020. Until that date, Directive 96/71/EC shall remain applicable in its wording prior to the amendments introduced by this Directive. When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such reference shall be laid down by Member States.

2 Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main measures of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

3 This Directive shall apply to the road transport sector from the date of application of a legislative act amending Directive 2006/22/EC as regards enforcement requirements and laying down specific rules with respect to Directive 96/71/EC and Directive 2014/67/EU for posting drivers in the road transport sector.

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.