EPSU/ETUC contribution to EC consultation on personal and household services

(Brussels, 24 August 2012)

The European Federation of Public Service Union (EPSU) contributed to a consultation on the employment potential of personal and household services that has been launched in April by the European Commission. This initiative is part of the "Emplyoment Package" (cf. Communication “Towards a job-rich recovery” COM(2012)173final] of 18 April 2012) the [European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) adopted a resolution on.

Our contribution has been coordinated with the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and was jointly submitted by both organisations on 18 July 2012. This joint EPSU/ETUC response incorporates quotes from a contribution separately submitted by the British Trades Union Congress (TUC) that mainly focus on the issues "domestic workers" and "undocumented migrants working in personal and household services" (cf. elements 19 and 20) EPSU considered important and pertinent. The TUC in its contribution also cross-referenced to the EPSU/ETUC response.

The consultation is the first step in a longer policy process towards the elaboration of a Commission Communication on personal and household services during 2013 and a European Conference on these services currently planned for 6 and 7 December 2012. It is also probable that the European Commission will still come up with additional initiatives and/or documents focusing on long-term care services/services for elderly persons.

In our contribution we welcome that the Staff Working Paper “Exploiting the employment potential of the personal and household services”

EPSU-ETUC contribution PHS

Further reading

I) Link to all documents published by the European Commission in the context of its “Employment Package” of 18 April 2012
- [EN->http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=89&newsId=1270&furtherNews=yes">SWD(2012)95final] of 18 April 2012

1) highlights the importance and the role publicly supported personal (social) services can play and are actually playing to support gender equality and women in their access to the labour market and a better work-life balance of both women and men,

2) recalls the necessity of an improvement of the quality of all types of formal care and efforts needed to have a skilled workforce benefitting from good working conditions and

3) calls upon MS to support measures to regularise migrant workers - in the field of health and social services nearly exclusively women - and to bring the services they provide from the shadow economy into the formal economy.

EPSU is, however, critical about the borderlines rather arbitrarily drawn as to what is being covered by the Staff Working Document and possible future EC policies in the field of personal and household services. This is because in our view workforce issues (in particular related to the qualification, pay and working conditions of those delivering those services) can only be addressed with a more comprehensive approach comprising the different types of personal and household services and the sector of health and social services in general. The same holds for all challenges or problems in view of the recruitment and retention of workers to the sector.

EPSU is also critical about having put together – under one and the same EU policy strategy – (personal) social services provided to persons in need on the one hand and household services potentially provided to everyone including cooking, cleaning, etc., as the first are relational services and have a dominant medical or social care dimension. They also are part of social, employment and health policies and services of general interest - which all taken together implies different regulatory and financial frameworks and policy objective.

In EPSU's view the EC rightfully sketches out the link between personal (care) and household services on the one hand and the EU legislative framework on public procurement on the other. Nevertheless EPSU sees the need to better protect and actively promote the inclusion of social clauses and the full respect of labour law and compliance with collective agreements to overcome the risk of social dumping by undercutting wage levels and other working conditions in the labour-intensive personal and household services.

EPSU welcomes the focus on the quality of personal and household services, e.g. to the European Voluntary Quality Framework for Social Services of General Interest (EVQF SSGI). EPSU recalls the need to give the same weight to the quality of jobs/working and pay conditions as to the quality of the service provision which means that the a range of framework requirements for the provision of quality services such as public financing, regulation and control need to be incorporated into the design of adequate policies.

EPSU considers that the development of quality social services is best safeguard within a framework that limits the scope for individual employer-employee relationships. We are not supporting policies that provide incentives for the setting up of fragmented services delivered by individual/“atomised” workers that risk having lower job quality and jobs not being protected by all rules of labour law and/or not covered by all schemes of social protection. EPSU rather supports the design of packages of services for frail elderly, parents needing child care, handicapped persons, etc. in the context of structured employment relations. Such an approach of integrated services delivery in service packages can and should also be developed in a public policy framework and receive public financial and organisational support, e.g. for training and qualification of workers or for social economy enterprises working in line with the general interest to build up structures.

In view of possible follow-up activities in the field of personal and household services, EPSU would suggest EU Action Plans/Programmes on social services with a particular focus on elderly care, care for persons with disabilities, child care and mental health.

Read the joint EPSU/ETUC contribution (in EN only)