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The inspections focused on possible breaches of labour and social security legislation in the context of so-called ‘wet leasing’, when an airline hires an entire aircraft, including its maintenance and flight crew to operate the aircraft. In practice, wet leasing together with frequent changes of operational bases pose challenges for enforcement authorities to identify the applicable social security regime for the aircrew and the correct application of posting rules.
Suspected irregularities related to bogus self-employment, illegal temporary employment and possible minimum wage violations were found during the inspections. National authorities in the involved Member States continue investigations of these cases.
Multiple authorities, such as labour inspectorates, social security, civil aviation and taxation institutions participated in the operation due to the cross-border nature of the aviation sector and the range of applicable legislation.
Inspectors from Czechia, Germany, Croatia, Ireland and Lithuania took part in and contributed to the inspections that took place in Germany, Greece and Lithuania.
Inspectors collected documents and other evidence both at airport and company premises. The authorities organised the inspections with ELA’s support in a way that kept disruption to air passenger traffic to a minimum.
Key results
'Aircrafts naturally cross national borders – and so doe flight crews. This makes it all the more important that we work together internationally and continue to focus on such special sectors as a preventive measure. Customs is committed to fair and effective labour mobility in the aviation sector.'
'The insights gained from these inspections ensure that the enforcement of labour mobility rules for aircrew members can be effectively implemented at the European and national levels. The inspections, conducted in cooperation with ELA and European partners, actively support the enforcement of EU regulations on fair labour mobility and the coordination of social security systems.'
'The purpose of our control in aviation has been not to assess the business model chosen as such, but to determine whether it adequately guarantees workers' rights and complies with the law. The more complex the chain of employment relationships and the more countries it covers, the more important it is for the institutions to consider the full picture rather than isolated parts.'
News | Aircrew in Europe face uneven enforcement of labour and social security rules
