The European Commission today presents guidelines aimed at ensuring the protection of seasonal workers in the EU in the context of the coronavirus pandemic. They provide guidelines to national authorities, labor inspectorates and social partners to guarantee the rights, health and safety of seasonal workers and make them aware of their rights.

Cross-border seasonal workers enjoy a wide range of rights, but given the temporary nature of their work, they may be more exposed to precarious working and living conditions. The coronavirus pandemic has made these conditions more visible and, in some cases, exacerbated them. Occasionally, problems of this nature can increase the risk of clusters of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Nicolas Schmit, Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, stated the following: 'Every year hundreds of thousands of seasonal workers help to maintain vital sectors of the EU economy, such as agri-food. The coronavirus pandemic has revealed the adverse living and working conditions they face. This needs to be fixed. Our Guidelines are a wake-up call to Member States and businesses to ensure that they are fulfilling their obligation to protect these essential as well as vulnerable workers. '

While the Commission oversees the correct application of Union rules on seasonal workers, the responsibility for their proper application lies with the national authorities. Therefore, appropriate action is urgently required.

The Guidelines cover a number of aspects, such as:

• the right of seasonal workers to work in any EU Member State, regardless of whether they are EU citizens or come from non-EU countries
• adequate living and working conditions, with special attention to physical distance and appropriate hygiene measures
• clear communication of your rights to workers
• undeclared work
• the aspects related to social security

The Guidelines call on the national authorities and the social partners to renew their efforts to fulfill their role of ensuring the correct application and enforcement of the rules. They include concrete recommendations and suggestions on activities to be carried out at national or EU level; for example:

• call on the Member States to take all necessary measures to guarantee decent working and living conditions for seasonal workers
• call on the Member States to carry out awareness-raising campaigns on occupational safety and health requirements affecting seasonal workers, to help employers to apply the relevant legal requirements and to provide clear information to workers in a language that understand
• invite Member States to provide practical guidance to small businesses
• call on the Member States to strengthen on-the-spot inspections in order to ensure the correct application of occupational safety and health standards in relation to seasonal workers.

The Commission will continue to work on this important issue with the Member States, the social partners, the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) and the European Labor Authority (ALE).

The Commission has planned a series of measures to promote the protection of the rights of seasonal workers, including:

• a study to collect data on seasonal work within the EU and to indicate the main challenges, including those related to subcontracting;
• a survey of high-risk jobs, including seasonal jobs, carried out by EU-OSHA in close collaboration with the Committee of Senior Officials of the Labor Inspectorate;
• an awareness campaign, coordinated by the ALE, aimed at the sectors most prone to seasonal work;
• an audience with the European social partners on seasonal workers;
• a comparative analysis study carried out in several Member States by the network of legal experts on free movement and coordination of social security (MoveS);
• supporting Member States through the European Platform to Combat Undeclared Work and the # EU4FairWork4 campaign to better educate workers and employers about their rights and obligations.