Europe and Me

Creating better jobs?The European Union

Working Abroad

Peter decided to go abroad to look for work

Things don’t work out exactlyas Peter had planned

Peter is seriously injured

Who is going to look after Peter now?

EU and non-EU states in the Schengen Agreement

Schengen StatesNon EU Schengen States

Did you know?Many young people have had serious accidents when working in another country – for example:

• two young migrant workers (21 and 27) died after becoming entangled in machinery used on a fruit farm

• a young worker (22) received a crushed vertebra and fractured pelvis after he fell 3.5 metres from a temporary platform erected in a warehouse

• a young (19) worker was crushed to death by falling steel bars he was loading.

• a young mechanic (18) died four days after becoming engulfed in flames in an explosion that happened when he was emptying a mixture of petrol and diesel from a dustbin into a waste oil disposal tank.

Did you know?

Young workers tend to be more vulnerable than older workers because they:

• have less experience• are less physically mature• are less aware of health and safety issues.

They may also be at more risk if employers don’t take these factors into account or fail to provide the appropriate training, supervision and safeguards

Did you know?

The Framework Directive: Health and Safety at Work exists to improve the protection of workers across the EU from accidents at work and occupational diseases.

It covers all workers employed by private companies and public institutions/ organisations in the EU.

It lays the basis for a number of ‘daughter directives’, e.g., about the use of work equipment; manual handling; health, safety and welfare in the workplace; personal protective equipment; carcinogens at work; display screen equipment; construction; safety signs; pregnant women; noise; asbestos; chemical and biological agents; explosive atmospheres, etc.

Did you know?

• The EU organises a European Week for Safety and Health at Work every year.

• This is an annual information campaign backed by all Member States, the European Commission, the European Parliament, trade unions and employers' federations.

• It provides an opportunity to focus on the importance of a different aspect of safety and health at work each year.

• In 2007, the campaign focused on musculo-skeletal disorders.

Did you know?The Working Time Directive is a collection of regulations relating to hours of work. It is designed to protect the health and safety of workers.

Key features include:

• limiting the maximum length of a working week to 48 hours • minimum rest periods of 11 hours in each 24 hours.

Although this directive applies to all Member States, it is not applied the same way in every country, e.g., in the UK it is possible to opt out of the 48-hour week, whereas in France the maximum working week is 35 hours.

Did you know?

The EU has taken measures to ensure that workers are treated equally across the EU – including:

• equal access to employment - an EU citizen has the right to take up work in another Member State under the same conditions as apply to its own nationals

• equal working conditions - an EU national working in another Member State must be treated in exactly the same way as his or her colleagues who are nationals of that State as regards working conditions

• equal social and tax advantages – an EU citizen who is a migrant worker has the right to the same social and tax advantages as national workers.

Did you know?

• The European Single Market came into force in January 1993.

• It established the free movement of goods, people, services and capital across the EU.

• The idea of the single market began with the common market in 1957 and the creation of a single customs union in 1968.

Did you know?The European Single Market set up Four Freedoms across the EU:

• goods - companies can sell their products in any Member State and consumers can buy where they want without penalty

• people - citizens of any Member State can live and work in any other EU country and have their professional qualifications recognised there

• capital - currencies and capital can flow freely between the Member States and citizens in the EU can use the financial services of any Member State they wish

• services - professional services such as banking, insurance, architecture and advertising can be offered in and across any Member State on an EU-wide basis.