A3 Refereed book chapter or chapter in a compilation book
Fundamental rights broadening the scope of labour law? The example of trainees
Authors: Rosin Annika
Editors: Andrew Stewart, Rosemary Owens, Niall O’Higgins, Anne Hewitt
Publishing place: Cheltenham
Publication year: 2021
Book title : Internships, Employability and the Search for Decent Work Experience
Series title: The ILO Future of Work series
First page : 285
Last page: 301
Number of pages: 7
ISBN: 978-1-80088-503-5
eISBN: 978-1-80088-504-2
DOI: https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800885042
Web address : https://www.elgaronline.com/view/edcoll/9781800885035/9781800885035.xml
The aim of this chapter is to explore whether the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (ECFR) can improve the protection of trainees by broadening the scope of national labour laws or the labour directives of the European Union (EU), or by creating new labour rights directly applicable to trainees. I argue that, despite the fundamental nature of many important labour rights, the limitations to the application of the ECFR, as well as the restrictive interpretation of its provisions, reduce the ability of the charter to improve the rights of trainees. However, the ECFR is a useful tool for the Court of Justice of the EU to broaden the personal scope of secondary EU legislation, and to contest national limitations to the application of fundamental labour rights. If EU and national labour law provisions were consciously interpreted in the light of fundamental rights, the rights of trainees would improve slightly.