Working conditions in acceding and candidate countries

There are some important structural differences between the Candidate Countries (CCs) and the EU countries. In the CCs:

• A higher proportion of workers are employed in agriculture, a lower in services.
• There is a higher proportion of self-employed in the CCs (22% against 17% in EU15). However, differences in the distribution of employment status amongst candidate countries are significant.
• A lower proportion of workers are in the high skilled job categories: 31% versus 35% in the EU 15.
• Gender segregation is in general lower in CCs than in the EU. There is a higher proportion of women at work in CCs: 46% versus 42% in EU.
• Exposure to physical risk factors (such as extremes of temperature, noise, painful positions etc) is higher.
• Work is less client-oriented than in the EU and relies less on computer technology.
• Work organisation is: less client driven; less decentralised (workers have less responsibilities and autonomy) and more hierarchical
• Fewer workers receive training and work does not provide as many learning opportunities.
• Job demands, although of a different nature, are high and job control (the autonomy workers have to regulate their work) is lower. However support provided by colleagues is higher.
• Working hours are longer (average 44 hours per week, EU 38 hours), less gender differentiated (female part-time is low) and unsocial hours (such as shift and night work) more frequent. Part-time work is less frequent in CCs (7%) than in EU (17%).
• The dual workload (the combination of paid work and unpaid household/caring work) is more gender balanced, although still far from being (evenly) balanced.
• More workers consider their health and safety at risk because of work (CCs 40%, EU 27%).
• Self-reported work-related health problems are higher in the CCs, in particular overall fatigue and muscular-skeletal disorders.