The Insolvency Protection Directive''
2008/94/ECis an
EU Directive
A directive is a legal act of the European Union that requires Member state of the European Union, member states to achieve particular goals without dictating how the member states achieve those goals. A directive's goals have to be made the go ...
concerning the protection of employees in the event of
insolvency
In accounting, insolvency is the state of being unable to pay the debts, by a person or company ( debtor), at maturity; those in a state of insolvency are said to be ''insolvent''. There are two forms: cash-flow insolvency and balance-sheet i ...
of an employer. It replaced Directive 80/987/EC and 2002/74/EC in turn.
Contents
The recitals of the Directive state its purpose is the protection of employees, in the interests of ‘balanced economic and social development’. It makes reference to the Charter of Social Rights for Workers 1989. In particular, recital 8 contains a declaration of the law's ‘social purpose’.
*article 1(2) ‘Member States may, by way of exception, exclude claims by certain categories of employee from the scope of the Directive, by virtue of the special nature of the employee’s contract of employment or employment relationship or of the existence of other forms of guarantee…’
*article 3, ‘Member States shall take the measures necessary to ensure that guarantee institutions guarantee, subject to article 4.
*article 4, payment of employees’ outstanding claims resulting from contracts of employment or employment relationships, including, where provided for by national law, severance pay on termination of employment relationships. The claims taken over by the guarantee institution shall be the outstanding pay claims relating to a period prior to and/or, as applicable, after a given date determined by the Member States.’
Member state law
In the United Kingdom, the relevant implementing legislation is found in the
Employment Rights Act 1996
The Employment Rights Act 1996 (c. 18) is a United Kingdom Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), Act of Parliament passed by the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative government to codify existing law on individual rights in UK labour law.
Histo ...
. Under section 166 any employee may lodge a claim with the
National Insurance
National Insurance (NI) is a fundamental component of the welfare state in the United Kingdom. It acts as a form of social security, since payment of NI contributions establishes entitlement to certain state benefits for workers and their famil ...
Fund for outstanding wages.
In Italy, the Directive gave rise to ''
Francovich v Italy''
[(1990) C-6/90] on the principle of member state liability for non-implementation of
EU law
European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...
.
See also
*
EU law
European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...
*
UK insolvency law
United Kingdom insolvency law regulates companies in the United Kingdom which are unable to repay their debts. While Bankruptcy in the United Kingdom, UK bankruptcy law concerns the rules for natural persons, the term ''insolvency'' is generall ...
*
UK labour law
United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK have a minimum set of employment rights, from Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equity (legal concept), equity. ...
*''
Francovich v Italy'' (1990) C-6/90
Notes
{{reflist
Insolvency
United Kingdom labour law
European Union directives
2008 in the European Union
2008 in labor relations