19th July 2024
The Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke TD, has today announced a public consultation seeking the views of stakeholders on the European Commission’s proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees and combating regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships (‘Traineeships Directive’).
The Directive has a dual aim to improve and better enforce working conditions of trainees and to combat employment relationships disguised as traineeships. The Directive lays down a common framework of principles and measures to improve and enforce the working conditions of trainees, in addition to measures to combat regular employment relationships being disguised as traineeships, including requirements for effective inspections and enforcement of EU law applicable to trainees.
Announcing the publication of the public consultation, Minister Burke said:
“This Directive has the potential to ensure that trainees are fully provided with the employment rights to which they are entitled and to enable competent authorities to detect and address cases of regular employment being disguised as traineeships. Treating trainees fairly and providing them with their applicable employment rights will enable Irish employers to continue to attract and train the best available talent for their organisations, whilst promoting fairness and safeguarding trainees’ rights.”
The public consultation document, which contains a response form, can be found on the Department’s website: Public consultation on the European Union’s Traineeships Directive
Views from stakeholders and interested parties are requested no later than 5pm on Friday, 30 August 2024. Submissions should be marked 'Traineeships Directive Public Consultation' and should be emailed to employmentrights@enterprise.gov.ie.
Further information on the Directive is available at
ENDS
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