Adecco welcomes compromise in EU Agency Work Directive

Zurich, Switzerland, June 2008: The Directive acknowledges the positive contribution of the temporary staffing industry to Europe’s labour markets and provides a fair framework for temporary work and employment conditions.

To help realize the growth and competitiveness objectives of the Lisbon Agenda, EU labour markets must offer companies flexibility, while ensuring compliance with the employment standards set out in the Commission’s communication on flexicurity. The temporary sector contributes through job creation and integration in the workforce. Adecco supports today’s compromise as a step in the right direction.

Adecco welcomes the provision of the Directive requesting Member States to review the restrictions still in place at national level. While several EU members have already lifted specific restrictions (e.g. on permanent placement in France), access to temporary staffing services is still prohibited in the construction industry in Spain as well as in public services in Belgium and in Spain. Adecco therefore points out that further efforts are required to put more emphasis on this issue in the future.[1] Lifting the remaining restrictions would enable the agency work industry to increase its contribution by creating at least 570 000 jobs[2].

Adecco considers equal treatment a guiding principle of business conduct. Offering attractive salaries and fair working conditions is crucial in gaining and retaining the best candidates. However, when applying this principle, it should be adapted to local requirements in order to reflect the diversity of practices in the setting of wages and working conditions within the European Union. As it stands, the Council’s decision leaves sufficient flexibility at Member States level in adapting and/or implementing the equal treatment principle (e.g. qualifying period, by collective agreement, tripartite bodies).

Forward-looking statements
Information in this release may involve guidance, expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based on information available to Adecco S.A. as of the date of this release, and we assume no duty to update any such forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Numerous factors could cause or contribute to such differences. Factors that could affect the Company’s forward-looking statements include, among other things: global GDP trends and the demand for temporary work; changes in regulation of temporary work; intense competition in the markets in which the Company competes; changes in the Company’s ability to attract and retain qualified temporary personnel; the resolution of the French anti-trust procedure and any adverse developments in existing commercial relationships, disputes or legal and tax proceedings.
Adecco S.A. is registered in Switzerland (ISIN: CH0012138605) and listed on the Swiss Stock Exchange with trading on SWX Europe (SWX: ADEN) and the Euronext Paris of Euronext (EURONEXT: ADE).