Enhancing Professionalization in Personal and Household Services: Insights from the European Social Partners

On January 29th, the European Social Partners for the Personal and Household Services (PHS) sector, including EFFAT, EFFE, EFSI, and UNI-Europa, organised an enlightening Online Workshop themed “Professionalization of PHS Workforce and Services: Good Practices and Challenges Ahead for Social Partners.” This event unfolded under the auspices of the European Project “PHSDialogue: Building an EU Sectoral Social Dialogue and Collective Bargaining Capacity in Personal and Household Services.”

The workshop commenced with a dynamic first panel spotlighting innovative initiatives within the Service Providers Employment Model. Notable speakers included Peter VAN DE VEIRE, Director of FormTS (Belgium); Prof. Christine KÜSTER, Head of the Competence Centre PQHD at Fulda University of Applied Sciences (Germany); and Guy LOUDIÈRE, Special Advisor “Employment and Training” at the Fédésap (France).

Continuing the discourse, the second panel, guided by EFFE’s General Delegate, Aude BOISSEUIL, delved into initiatives within the Direct Employment Model. Esteemed speakers such as Stéphane FUSTEC, Federal Advisor at the CGT Commerce et Services (France); Nadège TURCO, Delegate Director at IPERIA (France); Lorenzo GASPARRINI, President of Ebincolf (Italy); and Susana MORENO, Director of the Knowledge Management Area at Grupo SSI (Spain) shared their insights.

Concluding the workshop, the third panel discussed EU initiatives vis-à-vis the challenges facing the personal and household services sectors. Noteworthy contributors included Magdalena JAGIELLO, Deputy Head of Unit C.2 “Legal Pathways and Integration” at the DG HOME of the European Commission; Julie FIONDA, Deputy Head of Unit B.2 “Skills Agenda” at the DG EMPL; and Jiri BRANKA, expert at the European Center for the Development of Vocational Training (CEDEFOP).

Throughout the event, member organizations outlined the structural advancements in the direct employment model across their respective nations, shedding light on recent progress and forthcoming challenges. Moreover, they shared commendable practices such as FEPEM’s “Lab Migration,” IPERIA’s professionalization policy, and Grupo SSI’s Zainlab project.

Key takeaways from the workshop included:

Integrating training with social dialogue and collective bargaining significantly enhances employment quality.
A well-structured PHS ecosystem enables various actors to collaboratively address representation, promotion, foresight, professionalization, and social protection for household employment.
Establishing professionalization bodies for PHS professions is crucial to meet the increasing demands for specialized care.
A sectoral approach acknowledges nuances such as unique employer status, profession-specific qualifications, and essential employee support.
The European Union is actively mobilizing and implementing initiatives such as the EU Talent Pool and the EU Pact for Skills, as highlighted during the workshop.

The PHSDialogue project, in which EFFE is involved in collaboration with other European PHS social partners (EFFAT, EFSI and UNI-Europa) aims to establish a sectoral social dialogue for the PHS sector at the European level. Aligned with the European Commission’s Review of the Sectoral Social Dialogue and its Care Strategy, the project also seeks to bolster collective bargaining at the national level in accordance with the EU’s Directive on Adequate Minimum Wages and Collective Bargaining.