Following criticism of the current system of posted work in the European Union, the Revised Posted Workers Directive 2018/957 was adopted in June 2018. This paper examines the extent to which the Revised Directive is likely to achieve the stated objective, as put forward by the Member States that criticised the current system and as explained in the Commission’s original proposal, of ensuring ‘equal pay for equal work in the same place’.

The article begins by providing a brief overview of posted work within the European Union, including the adoption of the Original Directive and its interpretation by the Court of Justice. By looking at the key decisions of Laval, Ruffert and Commission v Luxembourg, it explains how the Court’s acquis created a system whereby foreign service providers are able to compete unfairly on a national market by circumventing national wage demands in order to gain a competitive advantage, thereby fostering a system of unequal pay for equal work.