This report was produced by a group of independent experts, all of them labour lawyers and most of them academic labour lawyers, with a view of assisting the International Labour Office in the context of the ongoing technical assistance programme developed with the Greek Government in a number of areas, including “labour legislation to regulate collective dismissals”. As is widely known, since May 2010, the Union’s Euro-area Member States and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have been providing financial support to Greece through an Economic Adjustment Programme in the context of a sharp deterioration in the country’s financing conditions. This support has been accompanied by a request on the part of the lending institutions’ representatives to implement a number of reforms aimed at improving the competitiveness of the Greek economy. Amongst a series of detailed specifications, Greece has been asked to adopt “reforms [that] will ease interpretation of and foster compliance with labour laws with a view to bring legislation in line with EU best prac-tices, and to this end a review will be carried out […], comparing Greek regulations on temporary employment, scope of temporary employment agencies […] with those in other EU Member States”.

Foreword 3 Abbreviations and acronyms 7 Executive summary 9 1. Introduction 15 2. Prevalence, observed trends and social effects of temporary work 21 2.1 Prevalence and observed trends 23 2.2 Characteristics of temporary agency workers 24 2.3 Policy implications of temporary agency work 24 2.3.1 Temporary agency work as a stepping-stone, or as a trap? 25 2.3.2 Effects on working conditions, including wages and training 26 2.3.3 Effects on occupational safety and health 27 3. The supranational regulation of TAW in Europe: Key provisions and principles 29 3.1 The EU regulation of TAW: Directive 2008/104 and relationship with other EU instruments and sources 31 3.1.1 Scope of application 31 3.1.2 The equal treatment principle (ETP) 32 3.1.3 Exceptions, derogations, and qualifications to the ETP 32 3.1.4 The ETP and anti-avoidance measures 32 3.1.5 Restrictions on and prohibition of temporary agency workers 33 3.1.6 Minimum harmonization and non-regression clause 33 3.2 The ILO regulation of TAW: The Private Employment Agencies Convention, 1997 (No. 181) 33 3.2.1 Objectives and core protective provisions 34 3.2.2 Scope of application 34 3.2.3 Prohibitions and exclusions 34 3.2.4 Allocation of responsibilities 35 3.3 The European Social Charter and the regulation of TAW 35 4. Regulating temporary work and temporary agency work: A comparative analysis 37 4.1 Contractual forms through which temporary work through an agency can be provided 39 4.2 Substantive protections and rights accorded to temporary agency workers 46 4.3 Restrictions on the use of TAW 60 4.4 Relevance of collective agreements to the regulation of TAW 65 4.5 Ability of companies to avail themselves of TAW 70 4.6 The law on TAW in the EU Member States surveyed: A comparative assessment 72 5. Regulating temporary work and temporary agency work in Greece 75 5.1 Contractual forms through which temporary agency work is available in Greece 77 5.2 Substantive protections and rights accorded to temporary agency workers in Greece 78 5.3 Key restrictions and prohibitions on the use of TAW in Greece 80 5.4 The role of collective agreements in the regulation of TAW in Greece 82 5.5 The availability and accessibility of TAW in Greece 82 5.6 TAW in Greece: Concluding remarks 83 6. Concluding comments: Summary and implications for Greece 85 6.1 Prevalence, trends and social effects of temporary agency work 87 6.2 The supranational regulation of collective dismissals in Europe: Equal treatment, adequate protection, and protective lacunae 87 6.3 Regulating temporary agency work in Europe: Equal treatment and persisting restrictions 88 6.4 Temporary agency work: Summary and implications for Greece 89 6.5 Conclusions: The promises of “flexicurity” and the premises for decent temporary agency work 90