Reporting period: 1 October - 31 December 2020: Report on European Labour and Social Security Law
In the fourth edition of the HSI Report for 2020, we look at current developments in case law and legal policy on European level in the reporting period from October to December 2020. A look at the latest rulings of the CJEU shows that European law in particular encourages the questioning of traditional role models around care work . also in collective agreements. In the Syndicat CFTC case (C-463/19), the question was whether and under what conditions a leave entitlement granted after maternity leave provided for in a collective agreement can also be claimed by fathers.
The judgment in Vesel.bas ministrija (C-243/19) concerned an application for reimbursement of the costs of cross-border healthcare provided in another EU country for religious reasons. This was based on the wish of a father, a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, that an urgent operation on his son should be carried out without a blood transfusion, which was refused in the state of affiliation.
It should also be emphasised that on 8 December the CJEU (as expected) dismissed the actions for annulment brought by Hungary and Poland against the reformed Posting of Workers Directive . the amendments are compatible with EU primary law. A ruling of the Grand Chamber deals with the applicability of the Posting of Workers Directive to lorry drivers in cross-border goods transport. In the case of Jobcenter Krefeld (C-181/19), the Grand Chamber of the CJEU ruled that the exclusion from Book II of the German Social Code (SGB II) benefits of EU foreigners whose right of residence in Germany derives solely from their children's school attendance violates the Free Movement of Persons Regulation. The CJEU's case law also dealt with issues such as temporary agency work, protection against discrimination and mass dismissal law. Two Opinions of Advocate General Pitruzzella give the CJEU the opportunity to further differentiate the criteria for distinguishing between on-call time as rest time or working time.
Traditional role models also preoccupied the ECtHR: Case B. v. Switzerland (No. 78630/12) concerned the exclusion of widowed men from survivors' pensions when their children have reached the age of legal majority, while widows can continue to receive this benefit. Another case concerned the question of whether the termination of a consular employee's foreign assignment due to her pregnancy constituted sex discrimination (No. 33139/13 . Napotnik v. Romania). In Pi.kin v. Turkey (No. 33399/18), the Court held that dismissal based solely on alleged links to a terrorist organisation, without further examination under labour law, violated the right to respect for private and family life and the right to a fair trial. In addition, the freedom of expression of judges and prosecutors and other issues related to the right to a fair trial have been the subject of various judgments. In the future, the ECtHR will deal with the prohibition of strike action and discrimination on the grounds of trade union membership in some newly pending cases.