Effective Enforcement of EC Labour Law

This work deals with the rules designed to enforce EC labour law directives in the workplace. Directives normally do not provide any specific rules on procedures and sanctions according to which the substantive rules of the directives are to be enforced. Instead, domestic rules shall apply. However, the European Court of Justice has developed some principles of enforcement that limit the autonomy of the Member States. The aim of this book is to analyse the meaning of the principle of effective enforcement developed by the Court in three areas of labour law: working time in the context of EU health and safety law; the restructuring of enterprises through collective redundancies and transfers of undertakings; and equality of opportunity between women and men. The principle effective enforcement is analysed in the light of how labour law directives are enforced in Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK. The book also includes an analysis of regulations in Poland, which illustrates some of the challenges that candidate countries will face in joining the EU.