Awareness
Understanding
Labour rights
In 2021, research was conducted as part of the European Women in Sport project, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Sport programme
It turned out that very few female athletes know exactly what their labour rights are and how they will be compensated in case of pregnancy and disability.
In sports, working careers come quite early; often, athletes are not even adults, so it is important that they are aware of their rights and obligations.
Very often, young athletes train more than 8 hours a day, and this work is not paid
Among the fields that are particularly problematic for sports are non-standard working hours. Working time in Europe is regulated by European rules: Every employer must ensure that the average weekly working time of its employees, including overtime, does not exceed 48 hours for a reference period of up to 4 months. Employees must have at least 11 consecutive hours of daily rest and at least 24 hours of uninterrupted weekly rest every 7 days for a reference period of 2 weeks.
However, many times in sport, these time intervals are neglected because “training” is not considered work.
Another significant problem is the payment of young athletes
An interesting question is where young athletes can find support if their employer does not pay them a salary according to the agreed conditions. In addition, child labour, which is generally prohibited, is presented as training, and intensive training is not ‘work’ in the labour law sense. There are multinational agencies in the European Union that monitor compliance with labour relations. At a common European level, employees can go to the European Court of Justice. The exception here is Britain, which is no longer part of the EU after Brexit
Sources : https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=157&langId=bg
In the UK, they also have a national agency through which athletes can ask for help
Sources : https://www.ilo.org/labadmin/info/WCMS_112602/lang–en/index.htm
There is still a problem with the payment of women in sport
In general, women in sport, especially football, are traditionally paid less than men. Athlete girls are an ‘at risk’ group that can be abused. That is why it is important for us to teach them what they can expect as payment and what their rights are. If girls receive a salary according to EU regulations, their employers pay them insurance, which, in case of loss of ability to work (illness, pregnancy, etc.), entitles them to compensation from the state in which the taxes were paid.
Sources : https://europa.eu/youreurope/citizens/work/unemployment-and-benefits/country-coverage/index_bg.htm
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When we talk about labour relations, it is important to pay attention to the quality of work. Very often, young female athletes complain that the sponsors ask them to dress in a funny or vulgar way and they are required to do it, which makes them feel bad. The actions of coaches and sports doctors may also be out of place.
Unfortunately, the women’s sports world is surrounded by sexual abuse.
One of the reasons for these sad events is that the girls were not warned about their rights over their own bodies. That is why it is important to pay attention to the acceptable relations between the athletes and their coaches, doctors and managers.
More information can be found in the Project “European Women in Sport – For an adaptive governance of women’s sports practices” (E-WinS) aims to promote and accelerate the feminization of Sport in European culture through developing awareness and understanding on the specific problematics women encounter in their sport careers.
We invite you to follow the results of our project
Nous vous invitons à suivre les résultats de notre projet via ces liens.
