Keywords
Summary

Keywords

++++

1. Social policy ° Male and female workers ° Equal pay ° Pay ° Concept ° Compensation for attending training courses providing staff council members with the knowledge necessary for performing their task ° Included

(EEC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

2. Social policy ° Male and female workers ° Equal pay ° Compensation for attending training courses for staff council members held during full-time working hours ° National rules limiting compensation for part-time employees to their individual working hours ° Difference of treatment in relation to full-time employees ° Staff council members employed on a part-time basis mainly women ° Not permissible without objective justification

(EEC Treaty, Art. 119; Council Directive 75/117)

Summary

1. The concept of "pay", within the meaning of Article 119 of the Treaty, comprises any consideration, whether in cash or in kind, whether immediate or future, provided that the worker receives it, albeit indirectly, in respect of his employment from his employer, and irrespective of whether the worker receives it under a contract of employment, by virtue of legislative provisions or on a voluntary basis.

It includes compensation, in the form of paid leave or overtime pay, for attendance of training courses providing the knowledge necessary for working on staff councils where the purpose of such compensation is to provide staff council members with a source of income even though during the training courses they do not perform any of the work provided for in their contracts of employment. Although such compensation does not, as such, derive from the contract of employment, it is nevertheless paid by the employer by virtue of legislative provisions and under a contract of employment.

2. Article 119 of the Treaty and Directive 75/117, on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the application of the principle of equal pay for men and women, preclude national legislation applicable to a much greater number of women than men from limiting to their individual working hours the compensation, in the form of paid leave or overtime pay, which staff council members employed on a part-time basis are to receive from their employer for attending training courses which impart the knowledge necessary for working on staff councils and are held during the full-time working hours applicable in the undertaking but which exceed their own part-time working hours, when staff council members employed on a full-time basis are compensated for attendance of the same courses on the basis of full-time working hours, unless the Member State proves that such legislation is justified by objective factors unrelated to any discrimination on grounds of sex.