Publications by subject - Participation at work - 2011

In companies across Europe several different channels of employee representation are prevalent: these include works councils, trade unions, special committees, health and safety representatives and workers’ delegates. This report explores the main employee representation structures at workplace level in the 27 Member States and three candidate countries (the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Turkey). It is based on two sources of information: the findings of the 2009 European Company Survey (ECS); and country fact sheets produced by the national correspondents of the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). Read more in the report.

Increased competition, and economic crisis, has resulted in greater demands for wage flexibility. Greater decentralisation of pay regulation has also enabled employers to seek and attain concessions on more flexibility in pay. The European Company Survey (ECS) 2009 found that a third of European establishments with more than 10 employees use forms of pay dependent on individuals’ performance; somewhat less than a fifth use pay elements dependent on the performance of a group. Read more in the report.

This reports analyses data from Eurofound’s European Company Survey of 2009 to examine the incidence of performance-related pay (PRP) in European establishments and what determines it, with a specific focus on the role of employment relations. Larger establishments, those in foreign ownership, in the financial intermediation and commerce sectors, and those located in some central and eastern European countries are more likely to have a PRP scheme based on the performance of individuals. Across Europe, PRP schemes are more likely to be in place in companies that have employee representation in place. An executive summary is available.

Across Europe, diverse forms of employee representation structures have developed, providing workers with differing opportunities to voice their interests and to be consulted by their employers directly, at their workplaces, on matters such as economic and human resources developments, working conditions and health and safety measures. This report focuses on the workplace dimension of institutionalised representation of employees. At this level, representation involves only workers of a single undertaking or establishment, and the counterpart on the employers’ side is one single employer rather than an employers’ organisation or group of employers at higher levels of the industrial relations system, such as the sectoral level. The report is based on two sources of information: The findings of the 2009 European Company Survey (ECS); and country fact sheets produced by the national correspondents of the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO). An executive summary is available.

This report highlights recent developments in work organisation at EU and national level. It describes existing patterns of work organisation and outlines the new forms associated with high performance working environments and enterprises. The report was compiled on the basis of individual national reports submitted by correspondents from the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO) and analyses the main findings from existing national literature and statistical sources. Read more in the report.

The reinsurance group SCOR was the first French listed company to create a European Company (SE) with employee participation. Three parallel agreements secure employee involvement through a common SE works council for the SCOR SE and its two subsidiaries. This was an important progress, since with only 800 employees in Europe, the former SCOR group did not fall under the scope of the EWC Directive. With regard to participation, an employee representative who is elected by the employees worldwide was maintained on the group’s board of directors. In addition, a second employee director without voting rights was introduced who is appointed by the SE works council. This was an acceptable compromise for both sides of industry which was reached in the course of the negotiations.

Allianz SE is an integrated financial services provider with more than 150,000 employees. The company serves approximately 75 million customers in about 70 countries. Allianz SE operates and manages its activities primarily through four operating segments: property-casualty, life/health, asset management, and corporate and other. Allianz adopted the legal form of a European company (Societas Europea (SE)) by merging with its Italian subsidiary RAS. The process of integrating the two companies started in September 2005. On 13 October 2006, the Allianz-RAS merger was registered and Allianz became recognised as an SE under the 2001 Statute for a European company as set out in Council Regulation 2157/2001.

The European Company Statute (SE) is based on the Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company (2157/2001/EC) and on the Directive supplementing the Statute for a European Company with regard to the involvement of employees (2001/86/EC). It is one of the most important pieces of company legislation published so far by the European Union. Adopted in 2001, it has since October 2004 made it possible for companies operating in more than one EU Member State to reorganise their cross-border business under a single European label. This enables them to work under the umbrella of a single legal framework, thereby reducing the internal costs of operating in several countries. Employee involvement, including participation rights at board level, is the focus of this research report. An executive summary is available.

An EU-based company may become an SE in four ways (the first three involve more than one company): merger; creation of a joint holding company; creation of a subsidiary; or when a single EU-based company is transformed into an SE, provided it has had a subsidiary governed by the law of another Member State for at least two years. Employee involvement is defined by the directive as ‘any mechanism, including information, consultation and participation, through which employees’ representatives may exercise an influence on decisions to be taken within the company’. Employee involvement, including participation rights at board level, is the focus of the report.

This study provides an overview of employee information and consultation (I&C) practice in 26 European countries (EU27 excluding Finland and Latvia, plus Norway) five years after the implementation date of Directive 2002/14/EC. An earlier report by Eurofound, Impact of the information and consultation directive on industrial relations, reviewed the directive’s national transposition. Read more in the comparative report.