The European Labour Authority (ELA) has launched an awareness-raising campaign ‘Rights for all seasons’, calling attention to the need to promote fair and safe working conditions for seasonal workers employed across EU countries.
Led by the ELA alongside the European Commission, the European Platform tackling undeclared work, the European Employment Services (EURES) network, EU countries and social partners, the campaign will run between June and October 2021.
According to the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), a seasonal worker is “a person who, for a limited period, works for a seasonal operation which is frequently found in the horticultural or agricultural sector”. Other sectors like construction and tourism are also included.
“Employees placed by an agency to carry out seasonal work are also in this category,” the WRC said.
“Workers on seasonal work patterns have full access to the employment law provisions and to the terms and conditions of employment that employees are guaranteed under the law in Ireland.”
Covid-19 aggravated seasonal workers’ conditions
According to the ELA, up to 850,000 EU citizens engage in seasonal work outside their country of origin.
“Mobile seasonal workers have the same rights to fair working conditions when working in another EU country, with the same labour and social rights as local workers,” the ELA said.
“However, given the temporary nature of their work, they can be more vulnerable to precarious working and living conditions, fraud and abuse.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has aggravated seasonal workers’ conditions, and exposed them to increased health risks.”
Executive director of the ELA Cosmin Boiangiu added that seasonal workers “are key for important sectors of our economy”.
“Fair work is not seasonal,” he added.
The ELA is carrying out an action plan to try and address challenges on the ground and safeguard seasonal workers’ fair working conditions.
As part of this action plan, the ELA is organising workshops with national administrations and social partners to collect and share practices on information dissemination and the provision of assistance and services available to workers and employers.