Keywords

Summary



Keywords

1. Social policy Approximation of laws Employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship Directive 91/533 Scope Working of overtime Included Condition Basis Definition of essential element of the contract or employment relationship Form in which notified to the employee

(Council Directive 91/533, Art. 2(1),(2) and (3))

2. Social policy Approximation of laws Employer's obligation to notify the employee of any term having the nature of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship Directive 91/533 Failure to give the requisite information concerning an essential element of the contract or employment relationship Penalties Power of the Member States Limits Availability of judicial process

(Council Directive 91/533, Art. 8(1))

3. Social policy Approximation of laws Employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship Directive 91/533 Breach of the obligation to inform Proof of the existence and content of the contract or employment relationship Application of national law

(Council Directive 91/533)

Summary

1. Article 2(2)(i) of Directive 91/533 on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship must be interpreted as not relating to the working of overtime. However, it is clear from Article 2(1) of that Directive that the employer is obliged to notify the employee of any term having the nature of an essential element of the contract or employment relationship and requiring the employee to work overtime whenever requested to do so by his employer. That information must be notified under the same conditions as those laid down by the Directive for the elements expressly mentioned in Article 2(2) thereof. It may, where appropriate, by analogy with the rule which applies, in particular, to normal working hours by virtue of Article 2(3) of the Directive, take the form of a reference to the relevant laws, regulations and administrative or statutory provisions or collective agreements.

( see para 25, and operative part 1 )

2. It follows from Article 8(1) of Directive 91/533 on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship that the Directive cannot be interpreted as meaning that a failure to give an employee the requisite information concerning an essential element of the contract or employment relationship will render that element inapplicable since the Directive leaves to the Member States the power to define the penalties appropriate to such circumstances, subject to the proviso that employees must be able to pursue their claims by judicial process.

( see para 28 )

3. The question whether the rules applicable under national law to presumptions of obstruction of the proper taking of evidence must also be applied in the event of an employer's failing to comply with his obligation under Directive 91/533 on an employer's obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship to provide information is a question which pertains to the scope of those rules, which relate to the burden of proof, and thus concerns the rules of evidence applicable in that event. Such a question is not governed by the Directive, which leaves it to the Member States to apply their own rules of evidence as to the existence and content of contracts or employment relationships.

( see paras 33-34 )