Communiqué, issue 5, 2004
Articles
- Quality of life in an enlarged Europe: challenges and opportunities
- Parental leave in the European Union
- Fewer redundancies, more jobs created
- Comparing quality of life in Estonia with the rest of Europe
- Industrial relations in Europe – a snapshot
- EWCs lead to better industrial relations at company level
- Highest home-ownership levels in the new Member States
- New chairman of Foundation’s Administrative Board
Previous issues of Communiqué
Parental leave options are largely determined by legislation in the majority of EU Member States. However, where collective agreements exist, they play a significant role and can, in some cases, even act as a springboard for improving parental leave opportunities, according to the recent comparative study ‘Family-related leave and industrial relations’ from the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO).
Often perceived as more of a family issue than a work-related one, parental and family-related leave issues are not central to industrial relations across Europe, reveals this study, which is an update of the 1997 analysis on the impact of the 1996 EU parental leave Directive on collective bargaining and other developments in the former EU15 and Norway. The current study goes further than examining only the provisions of the Directive and parental leave, but also deals with all other categories of family-related leave available to employees and examines the role of collective bargaining in developing these types of leave. The report also looks at the positions of the social partners, who tend to focus on problems relating to organisation of work and promote changes to employment conditions and the reduction of working time.
Trade unions advocate shared parental leave
Trade unions frequently stress the importance of a balanced family policy, fostering gender equality both in the home and at work. In many countries, such as France, Germany, Hungary and Sweden, they tend to focus on problems faced by women trying to return to work after a long period of parental leave and subsequent gender equality implications for the labour market. They advocate parental leave schemes that could be shared, to a greater extent, by both parents and that do not cut them off totally from their jobs. Unions tend to focus their demands on return to work entitlements, the option of part-time work for parents, and compensation for maternity, paternity and parental leave, as well as childcare infrastructure.
Employer organisations content with current legislation
While many employer organisations express support for an improved work-life balance, some consider that family and parental leave-related issues are not their responsibility and that legislation hampers their ability to do business. Consequently, they are often opposed to improvements to paid leave, which they perceive as creating new costs for companies.
More information on www.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2004/03/study/index_2.html