At a glance
- The DDADUE Act transposes EU Representative Actions Directive.
- The new regime applies to class actions brought on or after 2 May 2025.
- The Act expands the scope of employment claims that can be brought as class actions.
Previously limited in social matters to combating discrimination and protecting personal data, the scope of class actions has been extended to all breaches by employers of their legal and contractual obligations by the DDADUE Law.
Actions that may be taken by representative trade unions are those:
- In relation to combating discrimination.
- In relation to the protection of personal data.
- Intended to prevent a breach by an employer or to obtain compensation for damage caused by a breach to several people under the authority of that employer.
A class action may be brought, primarily or jointly, by:
- Associations approved for this purpose. A list of approved associations is available to the public subject to conditions to be set by decree (yet to be published).
- For actions seeking to prevent a breach, non-profit associations that have been duly registered for at least two years, can prove that they have been actively and publicly operating for 24 consecutive months, and whose statutory purpose includes the defense of interests that have been infringed.
Trade unions representing employees. It should be noted that the trade union monopoly on class action in cases of discrimination throughout a career has been abolished.
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