Posting of Workers in Eastern Europe (EEPOW) – Country Report: Albania, November 2018

Posting of Workers in Eastern Europe (EEPOW) is a project supported by European Commission and being implemented by European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research in Austria in partnership with three organisations from EU countries (Germany, Italy, Slovenia) and four organizations from Western Balkan Countries (Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia). EMA is the organisation which is implementing the project in Albania.

In framework of this project, a country report has been published for each Western Balkans country.

The country report for Albania aims to explore the institutions’ and stakeholders’ needs to build awareness and capacities that are specific and relevant for the implementation of the Posting of Workers Directive (PWD) in Albania. The PWD has recently been introduced in the national legislation on labour. Implementation of the Directive and monitoring of its impact on the labour market outcomes have to be supported by prepared institutions and informed stakeholders. This makes the research a timely intervention to inform policy action on needs/gaps and ways to address them. The labour legislation in Albania is examined in order to understand the degree to which the PWD is adopted in the national legislation.

The report presents the general context of socio-economic development in Albania, focusing on labour market and migration. The national efforts cannot be detached from the EU integration processes that Albania and the whole region are undergoing, hence a summary of the integration process, with a focus on legislation approximation and the impact that EU integration has on social inclusion and employment policies, follows. A methodological note explaining the aim of this research and the methodological tools used is presented. The report continues with the results of the fieldwork and analysis, followed by a synthetic note on the main findings and conclusions. The conclusions lead to a discussion of policy challenges and recommendations for Albania to fully transpose the PWD and ensure implementation as per best EU experience.

EEPOW Posting of Workers in Eastern Europe