Vulnerability of trainees

The smooth transfer from education to employment is indispensable in increasing young people’s chances in the labour market. Unfortunately, traineeship organisers re­main able to use trainees as a cheap, or even free, labour force. The popularity of traineeships and the absence of any comprehensive and binding regulations at the Euro­pean Union level which would standardise the most im­portant aspects of these relationships, and the work there­in systematically justifies an in-depth theoretical study concerning the legal aspects of traineeships. Within the framework of this study, from the perspective of EU law and the axiology of labour law, a detailed analysis will be performed on the appropriateness of introducing an in­termediate category (a typical blend of education and the labour market) to the labour law, which would cover the relationships based on traineeships. Since it is necessary to strengthen the situation of employees to counterbal­ance their weaker position relation to their employers, enhancing the position of employees becomes even more crucial in relationships characterised by a higher degree of imbalance.

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