Cross-border Trainees and the Personal Scope of Labour Law: The Puzzle of National, EU and Private International Law

: Annika Rosin

Publisher: SWEET MAXWELL LTD

: 2017

: European Law Review

: EUROPEAN LAW REVIEW

: EUR LAW REV

: 42

: 6

: 848

: 866

: 19

: 0307-5400

This article aims to answer the questions whether cross-border trainees fall within the personal scope of national labour laws and how the substantive law of the European Union (EU) and private international law (PIL) affect their classification as "employees". It is argued that, despite the fulfilment of subordination criterion in national practice, trainees are not always regarded as employees. Their labour law status is determined on the basis of other criteria, which do not necessarily overlap with the indicia used by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in their classification as "workers". A cross-border trainee can be regarded as a "worker" and not as an "employee" and vice versa in the same arrangement. The "worker" classification alone does not broaden national labour law protection to cross-border trainees. Nevertheless, the EU intervenes in the determination of the personal scope of national labour laws through the PIL rules by securing the application of mandatory labour laws of the host country to cross-border trainees.