Hotrec : Social affairs & social dialogue

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EU social policy

Over the years, the EU has adopted a large number of measures in the social policy area. The most important measures fall under the following headings:

• social security coordination for workers practising their right of free movement in the EU;
• health and safety protection in the workplace (e.g. with regard to working time, noise limits, pregnant workers)
• equal treatment in the workplace (e.g. equal pay for men and women, non-discrimination on grounds of gender, ethnic origin, belief, sexual orientation or age)
• consultation and information to workers

Sectoral social dialogue

HOTREC runs a sectoral social dialogue with its trade-union counterpart at EU level – EFFAT – which has been recognised by the European Commission since 1999. Over the years, HOTREC and EFFAT have worked on a number of issues of common interest, including:

• trends in the hospitality industry
• training and development
• the impact of reduced VAT on employment
• corporate social responsibility

As HOTREC is a recognised social partner, it is consulted by the European Commission, pursuant to Article 138 of the Treaty, before the Commission makes proposals in the social policy field. Under Article 139, European social partners have the possibility of negotiating an agreement in the place of legislation, which they can either implement through their own procedures or request the Council of Ministers to pass into law. The second option has been used at cross-industry level for agreements relating to part-time and fixed-time work – where HOTREC was an observer in the employer federation, UNICE’s, delegation – and to parental leave.

For a presentation of the members of the HOTREC steering committee for social dialogue, please follow this link

HOTREC position

HOTREC stresses the need for EU social policy to take due account of the principle of subsidiarity and the need to maintain company competitiveness while safeguarding the interests of workers. This basic standpoint has led us, in recent years, to adopt positions such as:

• defending the “opt-out” provision in the Working time Directive, which allows workers to voluntarily agree to work more than the statutory ceiling of 48 hours per week;
• opposing the requirement for employers to produce risk assessments and inform workers of the danger of exposure to “natural sources of radiation” (i.e. sunshine) under the Directive protecting workers from optical radiation;
• support for measures to facilitate workers’ cross-border mobility in the EU.

Main HOTREC documents related to:

Social Affairs

Sectoral Social Dialogue (SSD)