Safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of undertakings

In its Opinion the Committee of the Regions stressed that the areas of uncertainty that still existed in the directive should be resolved and should not impose new burdens on local and regional authorities, while providing protection for employees and the consequent benefits. The Committee also called upon the Commission to examine the possibility of including in the directive the principle of safeguarding employees’ entitlements to old age, invalidity or survivors’ benefits on the basis of supplementary occupational or inter-occupational welfare schemes operating independently of Member States’ compulsory social security systems. It called for clarification of: the scope of the directive, the distinction between bankruptcy proceedings instituted with a view to liquidation and insolvency proceedings not involving liquidation, the new provisions on joint liability for contractual obligations, and the choice of the number of employees as a criterion for determining the size of an undertaking.