Assignment of employees and outsourcing from the perspective of the Directive on temporary agency work (regarding the ruling of the CJEU of 24 October 2024, C-441/23)

Abstract

The distinction between the assignment of employees and the outsourcing is one of the “gray areas” of Spanish labor law, with relevant implications for the protection of employees. In the criteria of distinction that can be deduced from national legislation and case law, we must integrate the guidelines that emerge from a recent ruling of the CJEU, in response to a preliminary ruling by a Spanish court, from the perspective of the Directive on temporary agency work. This paper reviews this CJUE’s case and makes some evaluative considerations about its impact on the Spanish legal system, reporting on the first national court rulings on the subject.