Outdoor work should cease during high temperatures, say EU trade unions

European trade unions have proposed that the EU update its laws so that employees are better protected when working in very hot weather. One change being suggested is ceasing outdoor work when temperatures rise above 32,5 degrees celsius. 

1 in 2 Dutch workers experience unsafe conditions due to heat

Dutch trade union CNV recently conducted a survey of 1.500 employees working in construction, industry, healthcare, education, services, transport and other sectors. 52 percent of workers said that working in the heat damages their health. 

56 percent stated that high temperatures lead to unsafe working situations, while 44 percent have to continue working even though it is too hot and unsafe. “Thousands of people work in workplaces that are not heatproof. This has serious consequences for employees, such as illness and unsafe situations. Completely irresponsible,” said CNV board member Justine Feitsma in a news release.

During hot weather, 54 percent of workers report headaches, 29 percent experience dizziness and 16 percent nausea. Despite this, six in 10 employers in the Netherlands do not have a heat plan, which would adjust work schedules during heatwaves and allow extra breaks. 

CNV advocates for the introduction of working conditions that would protect workers during the heat, something which 71 percent of survey respondents are in favour of.

EU must do more to protect workers’ health in heat

Trade unions in the EU have drafted a directive which would update labour laws to better protect employees’ health when working in extreme heat, according to the Guardian. 

The group of unions says that the draft directive should be included in the EU’s upcoming Quality Jobs Act, which will be proposed in parliament at the end of 2026.

The draft directive, seen by the Guardian, suggests that employers in the EU would have to ensure that employees have good access to shade, water and other methods of cooling down when working outdoors. Unions also want to introduce regulated “heat breaks” and suggest that working hours be adjusted to avoid working during the day's hottest hours.

Furthermore, unions want an enforceable upper temperature limit, after which employees can work more slowly or stop work. This limit would be based on the wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT), a measure of how heat stress in direct sunlight affects humans and animals.

The draft suggests that the intensity of work should slow down if temperatures reach between 30 and 32,5 degrees celsius. At 30 degrees, the intensity of work would slow and would continue to slow if temperatures rose further. If temperatures reached over 32,5 degrees, employees would be allowed to cease working.

Climate change is here and puts workers at risk daily

Speaking to the Guardian, general secretary of the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (Effat), Enrico Somaglia, said that climate change was here and posed a daily risk to workers’ health.

“Climate change is no longer a distant environmental challenge; it is a daily occupational health and safety risk, as well as a threat to job stability. The current European legal framework is clearly not sufficient to defend against it,” explained Somaglia.

On July 9, the EU’s Copernicus climate monitoring service announced that June 2026 was the hottest June in western Europe since records began. During June’s “super heatwave”, temperatures in the Netherlands reached a scorching 39 degrees.