C3: Governement's proposal for Directive 2024/03 ensuring fair and decent social standards across the Federation

THE HOUSE OF EUROPEAN CITIZENS AND THE EUROPEAN SENATE,

Remembering the continuum of the European integration project, created on the
premise of peace and cooperation in all of Europe, while promoting an ever
closer Union between its States and people,

Guided by the European social pillar, set up by the former European Union with
the intention to build a social project for the common good,

Further developing Title 9, particularly article 53, of the European Youth
Convention, which serves as a founding title to the European Federation and
calls for the harmonization of the social standards in the European Federation,

Recognizing the former European Union's need to harmonize the labor market of
the European Federation with the principles of flexicurity, ensuring a balance
between flexible labor arrangements and social security, this Directive
establishes a comprehensive framework for employment conditions, professional
life cycle support, and the implementation of labor policies.

Wishing to create a social policy that ensures equality, who builds common
values across the Federation and develops a federal policy to implement an
integrated approach in solving issues related to the inequalities in access to
the labor market, education and performance.

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 20 of the
Convention and Rule 6.1 of the Rules of procedure,

Whereas,

1. The European Youth Convention takes into account the creation of a united
   European Federation, who shares common values on equality of chances,
   respect for human dignity, including the rights of the minorities, and
   diversity ;

2. Fair working conditions for everyone is a fundamental value for the
   European Federation, reflecting our commitment to social justice,
   equality, and the well-being of all workers across Member states ;

3. The present Regulation reaffirms the need to establish social protection
   and inclusion at a Federal level, strengthening the spirit of integrity
   and ensuring respect-based interactions and support systems for all
   individuals, regardless of their background.

HAVE ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING DIRECTIVE:

CHAPTER 1: GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1 : Object

The present Directive is based on three pillars, each of which following a
different objective:

1. Ensuring decent working conditions all across the Federation by giving
   rights and duties to workers and employers;

2. Successfully accompanying European workers’ entire professional life
   cycle, i.e.

   1. Integration in the job market;

   
   

   2. Unemployment and professional reintegration;

   
   

   3. Retirement.

3. Helping Member-States implement the present Directive by providing the
   necessary resources, indicators and expertise.

Article 2: Definition

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions apply:

1. Federal minimum wage - Refers to the lowest wage an employer can pay an
   hourly worker.

2. Education programs - Refers to the learning process based on changing
   needs to acquire knowledge, skills and experience to raise or change
   persons qualifications in line with their interests, needs and labor
   market requirements.

3. Flexicurity - Refers to an integrated strategy for enhancing, at the same
   time, flexibility and security in the labor market. It attempts to
   reconcile employers' need for a flexible workforce with workers' need for
   security.

CHAPTER 2: MINIMUM SOCIAL STANDARDS

Article 3 : Rights and duties of workers

European workers shall enjoy fair and decent working conditions without
consideration of the place and country they are working in.

For that purpose, European workers shall:

1. Benefit from minimum protection (Art. 3a);

2. Benefit from additional protection (Art. 3b);

3. Comply with minimum duties on the workplace (Art. 3c).

Article 3a.

European workers shall :

1. Work no longer then 37.5 hours a week and from 2029 and no longer than 35
   hours a week from 2034 Exceeding the hourly rate gives entitlement to
   compensation in the form of money or time off work

2. Benefit minimum wage that shall be explicit in further legislation;

3. Benefit from parental leave, corresponding to:

   1. A period corresponding six weeks to the beginning of the pregnancy
      and up to 10 weeks after birth for the parent bearing the child;

   
   

   2. 15 days for their partner. Legal guardians may request telework
      arrangements or reduced working hours for a specified period until
      the child is two years old, to manage their parental
      responsibilities.
      
      3. Employers may not lower the already agreed on salaries for the
      employees that went on parental leave.

4. Benefit from adequate protection against unjustified dismissal;

5. Contribute to collective bargaining and social actions without fear of
   repercussion.

Article 3b.

In addition to the previously listed unconditional rights, European workers may
but are not required to:

1. Benefit from a yearly training cofinanced by their employer and the
   Federation for companies up to 250 employees ;

2. Benefit from a yearly medical check-up;

3. Bring a problem before the relevant jurisdiction if they feel that one of
   their rights has not been respected or violated.

Article 3c.

In return of the aforementioned right, European workers shall:

1. Adhere to contractual agreements and workplace regulations.

2. Engage in continuous professional development.

3. Participate in professional training, in agreement with their employer.

4. Maintain confidentiality and integrity of the workplace.

If the employee fails to comply with any of these obligations, they may be
subject to a penalty proportionate to the seriousness of the misconduct, ranging
from a warning to dismissal.

Article 4: Remuneration

In order to ensure fair remuneration, employers shall pay a minimum wage to
their employees. It shall be determined based on the gross median hourly wage
prevalent in the Member-State where the corporate entity is domiciled:

Monthly gross minimum wage: national gross median hourly wage X number of weeks
hour X number of weeks in a month.

Employers shall also pay the mandatory pension contribution, as mentioned in
Article 7 of the present Regulation, in the monthly gross wage.

In addition to the minimum wage, Employers shall pay provide additional
financial compensation for jobs who present difficult conditions, once the
employee is able to provide medical proof of suffering from physical or
psychological chronic or acute stress caused directly by their employment, as
listed below:

1. Marked physical constraint - This includes manual handling of loads,
   awkward postures and mechanical vibrations;

2. Aggressive physical environment - This includes exposure to dangerous
   chemical agents, activities in hyperbaric environments, extreme
   temperatures and noise;

3. Work patterns - This includes night work, alternating shifts and
   repetitive work.

Article 5 : Rights and duties of employers

Considering the previous Articles, employers shall:

1. Ensure protection towards their most vulnerable workers (Art. 5a);

2. Ensure minimum protection towards their workers (Art. 5b);

3. Follow a strict procedure before laying a worker of (Art. 5c).

Article 5a.

Employers must hire at least 30% of worker in a situation of job insecurity,
i.e.:

1. Workers under the age of 25 years-old;

2. Workers over the age of 55 years-old;

3. Workers presenting physical or mental health issues;

4. Long-term unemployed worker (i.e. more than 6 months of unemployment).

5. People who, due to socio-economical, environmental factors and armed
   conflict, gained a status of refugee.

Employers must accept and consider all applications without any form of
discrimination.

If an employee proves to have signed two consecutive 3-year contracts within the
same company, that company must present them with an indefinite period contract.

Article 5b.

In addition, Employers shall:

1. Provide safe working conditions;

2. Facilitate professional development opportunities, by granting
   professional training which is eco-friendly, gendersensitive, and adaptive
   to the economic sector and activity (whilst being dually financed by the
   private sector (40%) and by the Federation (60%) to their employees. The
   Federation shall help the companies with up to 250 employees. Those
   trainings shall be paid both by the company and the Federation;

3. Respect the rights to privacy and non-discrimination of employees, as it
   is stated in the Charter of Fundamental Rights.

Article 5c.

Employer may dismiss one or several employees if one or several of the following
conditions are met:

1. Termination on personal grounds - This type of redundancy is linked to the
   individual employee. It may be due to professional inadequacy, misconduct
   (simple, serious or gross), or to the impossibility to fulfill the duties
   that the job requires.

   1. Simple misconduct - This is negligence or an error on the part of
      the employee that does not jeopardize his or her continued
      employment with the company;

   
   

   2. Serious misconduct - This is misconduct that makes it impossible for
      the employee to remain with the company, such as harassment, theft
      and insubordination;

   
   

   3. Gross misconduct - This is characterized by the employee's intention
      to harm the company;

2. Termination for economic reasons - This type of redundancy is linked to
   the company's economic difficulties, a technological change, a
   reorganization necessary to safeguard the company, or the cessation of the
   company's activity.

Employers must inform the employee of their decision at least three months prior
to the termination.

In situations I.A. and II., the two parties must agree on the financial
compensation for the terminated employee. Situation I.B. and I.C. do not lead to
any form of compensation.

CHAPTER 3: SOCIAL ASSISTANCE

Article 6 : Unemployment

European job-seekers:

1. May benefit from social and financial assistance (Art. 6a);

2. Committ to attend activites provided by social services (Art. 6b);

3. May be deprived of their benefits when not complying with the present
   Article (Art. 6c).

Article 6a.

European job seekers must declare their situation to the competent national
authorities. Those latter are entitled to provide:

1. A personalized support tailored to their needs - They can take stock of
   their situation and mobilize all the resources they need to successfully
   complete their career plan;

2. Benefit from social protection - They can continue to benefit from social
   protection, the amount of which depends on the contributions they paid in
   their previous gross salaries, for a maximum period of 20 consecutive
   months. This goes in complement with other social benefits.

Article 6b.

In return of this rights, jobseekers commit to :

1. Declare their professional situation on a monthly basis ;

2. Attend all meetings with their advisor;

3. Actively look for a job by applying for at least 5 job openings in the
   duration of 3 months and utilising job search resources such as career
   advisors or/and online resources, or actively strive forward the set up or
   the development of a company, including creating a business plan, seeking
   funding and networking;

4. Define a career plan with their advisor;

5. Accept a reasonable offer of employment, defined by criteria such as job
   suitability, fair compensation, reasonable commuting distance.

Article 6c.

The grounds on which non-compliance may result in removal from the list of
jobseekers and the withdrawal of their benefits are :

1. failure to take repeated positive action to find a job or to set up or
   develop a business;

2. refusal on 2 occasions to accept a reasonable job offer;

3. refusal to draw up or update their career plan;

4. failing to attend a training course or abandoning a training course;

5. failure to attend an appointment with an organization approved by the
   Federal Labor Agency;

6. refusal to follow or abandon an action to help them find a job;

7. making a false declaration in order to be or remain registered as a
   jobseeker;

8. making a false declaration with a view to improperly receiving
   unemployment benefit.

Article 7: Retirement

European workers may retire from work at the age of 64, excluding those who are
under exceptional working contracts, as specified in internal law of each Member
State, and those working in especially harsh conditions. The latter may have the
right to a lower minimum retirement age.

To that end, pensions systems shall:

1. Be based upon three pillars (Art. 7a);

2. Provide national administrations with implementing measures (Art. 7b);

3. Provide contributors with optional provisions (Art. 7c).

Article 7a.

In order to ensure a fair and decent living for everyone, a Federal Pension Plan
is hereby established. It is based on three pillars:

1. The Minimum Pension plan - The Minimum Pension plan- funded with workers
   contributions collected from their monthly gross salaries. Retired workers
   may enjoy this revenue once they have worked for 40 yearsThe amount,
   collected by Member-States will be deposited in the Federal Pension Fund,
   and distributed to retired European workers. Workers will have the right
   to claim the pension under the conditions established by the Member States
   where the worker has contributed economically.

2. The Complementary Pension plan - funded by Member-States national pensions
   systems through workers’ biannual contributions. Retired workers may enjoy
   this revenue once they have worked 173 semesters or 43 consecutive years;

3. Optional Pension plans - optional plans paid by workers to public or
   private national insurers, in addition to the two previous pension plans.

Article 7b.

Member states shall determine a fair minimum pension standard according to their
cost of living, revised on an annual basis.

Member-States shall establish an amount corresponding to the employee's salary
that Employers are compelled to pay the Complementary Pension plan.

Article 7c.

European workers may at any moment choose to opt out once in their professional
life from the Complementary Pension plan and retrieve the contributions they
have paid. The retrieval of the contributions shall not end further
contributions to this plan.

When working across the territory of the Federation, a European worker may
choose to keep their original Complementary Pension plan or to opt for the one
of the Member-States they are working in. Employees must make the necessary
arrangements to meet the worker’s demands.

Article 7d.

To safeguard and harmonize the pension rights of cross-border and expatriate
workers, the following provisions shall be implemented: If the employee is
working outside of the European Federation, the amount of pension the employer
is obliged to pay is determined by the State the employer is registered in; If
the employee is working in a different Member State of the European Federation,
the amount of pension the employer is obligated to pay is determined by the
State of the employee’s residence.

CHAPTER 4: IMPLEMENTATION

Article 8: Establishment of the European Labor Agency

A European Labor Agency is hereby established with the mandate to:

1. Ensure the effective implementation of employment policies, by sending
   recommendations to Member-States;

2. Provide support to national administrations in their effort to advise
   workers in job search and career transitions;

3. Oversee the administration and the management of retirement benefits
   through the Federal Pension Fund. In compliance with Article 51 of the
   European Youth Convention and Regulation EF/XX laying down the Federal
   Budget, the Federal Pension Fund cannot run a deficit;

4. Collect and analyze labor market data to inform policy decisions; .

The European Labor Agency shall fall under the responsibility of the Minister of
Labor and social affairs.

Article 9: Member-States Compliance

Member States shall:

1. Adopt and enforce this Directive;

2. Collaborate with the European Labor Agency to facilitate policy
   implementation.

3. Provide regular reports on the status of the national transposition of
   flexicurity measures.

The Federal Government shall incentivise national administration to comply with
the present Directive through appropriate measures and in accordance with the
Constitution.

Article 10: Entry into force and application

1. The Present Directive shall enter into force immediately following its
   publication in the Official Journal of the European Federation;

2. It shall apply from [Day][Month][Year];

3. Member-States shall have until December 31st 2029 to transpose into their
   national law the elements of the present Directive that involve their
   participation.

The present Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable
to the European Government and in all Member States.

For the European Parliament

The President

For the European Senate

The President