On 13 December 2019 the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Court held that a national provision that renders a father’s entitlement to parental benefits during a shared period of leave dependent on the mother’s situation, but not vice versa, fell outside the scope of Directive 2006/54/EC (the Equal Treatment Directive) since it did not concern “employment and working conditions” within the meaning of Article 14(1)(c) of that Directive. The action brought by the EFTA Surveillance Authority (ESA) was thus dismissed. The Court consequently did not consider whether the Norwegian rules amounted to unlawful discrimination under the Directive. Furthermore, no assessment was made as to the potential breach with the general principle of equality of gender under EEA law, as this had not been pleaded by ESA. |
Case Reports |
2020/48 Norwegian parental benefits provisions disadvantaging men found outside the scope of Equal Treatment Directive (NO) |
Tijdschrift | European Employment Law Cases, Aflevering 4 2020 |
Trefwoorden | Parental Leave, Gender Discrimination |
Auteurs | Jonas Thorsdalen Wik en Dag Sørlie Lund |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Case Reports |
2020/5 An undefined number of consecutive fixed-term contracts for the duration of 12 years does not necessarily violate EU law (AT) |
Tijdschrift | European Employment Law Cases, Aflevering 1 2020 |
Trefwoorden | Fixed-term work, Part-time work, Gender discrimination |
Auteurs | Ines Kager |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
On 3 October 2019, in case C-274/18 (Schuch-Ghannadan), the ECJ held that a national regulation, which provides for different maximum total durations of successive fixed-term employment contracts for part-time workers on the one hand and full-time workers on the other, could result in a discrimination of part-time workers and an indirect discrimination of women. |
Case Reports |
2020/2 Introduction of 25 years as maximum age for participation in air traffic controllers recruiting process found unjustified (BE) |
Tijdschrift | European Employment Law Cases, Aflevering 1 2020 |
Trefwoorden | Age discrimination |
Auteurs | Gautier Busschaert |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
Relying on the prohibition of age discrimination stemming from Directive 2000/78, the Brussels Labour Tribunal, in a judgment of 28 November 2019, ruled that an age limit of 25 for the recruitment of air traffic controllers constituted direct discrimination. Its decision was grounded on the fact that even if there are objective reasons related to air traffic safety which may justify setting an age limit for applicants, the employer must adduce concrete evidence based on scientific facts. |
Case Reports |
2016/36 Lower pay for employees under the age of 25 not discriminatory (DK) |
Tijdschrift | European Employment Law Cases, Aflevering 3 2016 |
Trefwoorden | Age discrimination |
Auteurs | Mariann Norrbom |
SamenvattingAuteursinformatie |
The Danish Supreme Court has ruled that a provision in a collective agreement allowing employers to pay reduced allowances for working in the evenings, on nights and at weekends to employees under the age of 25 in full-time education and working no more than 15 hours a week was not in conflict with the Danish Anti-Discrimination Act since it was justified by a legitimate aim. |