European Parliament endorses mandate to improve trainee working conditions
The European Parliament has endorsed a negotiation mandate with Member States to ensure fair trainee working conditions and prevent companies from disguising standard jobs as traineeships. The mandate, prepared by the Employment and Social Affairs Committee, proposes changes to EU rules on traineeships to curb abusive practices. It requires written traineeship agreements that clearly define pay, duration, tasks, learning objectives, and access to social protection such as health insurance. MEPs stress that traineeships should be limited in duration and involve entry-level work. The new rules would cover all types of traineeships, except mandatory educational traineeships for academic credit and apprenticeships. The mandate also calls for organisations to appoint a contact person for trainees to report suspected malpractice, and specifies that any traineeship lacking pay, training, mentorship, or evaluation should be considered abusive. Parliament’s position builds on its 2023 call for minimum quality standards and aligns with the European Commission’s draft directive. Interinstitutional negotiations with the Council will now begin.