The Budget [1] presented by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, to
parliament on 17 March 1997 has been described as the "make work pay" Budget.
The Chancellor said that the tax and benefit system should reflect the value
that are placed upon the responsibilities and rewards of work. Thus, as well
as measures to encourage long-term investment both in jobs and skills, the
Budget contains other measures to encourage employment directly, such as
extending the "New Deal" scheme for unemployed people (UK9710175N [2]) to new
groups, and radical tax and benefit reform measures which, along with the
forthcoming national minimum wage (UK9712190N [3]), should help to make work
pay (ie, more attractive than receipt of social security benefits).
Norway's 1998 industry-level wage negotiations commenced on 20 March when the
United Federation of Trade Unions handed over its demands for the agreement
covering the metalworking industry. The negotiations are not expected to be
finalised before around 20 April.
In March 1998, the bill to reduce the statutory working week from 39 to 35
hours is undergoing its second reading in France's National Assembly. The
CNPF employers' organisation is demanding that its implementation be delayed
by two years.
On 24 February 1998 six German service sector trade unions published a common
draft for a "political platform on the restructuring of trade union
representation of interests in the service sector" (Politische Plattform zur
Neustrukturierung der gewerkschaftlichen Interessenvertretung im
Dienstleistungsbereich). The unions concerned are:
On 11 March 1998, the Swedish Textile and Clothing Industries' Association
(TEKOindustrierna, TEKO) and the Industrial Union (Industrifacket) accepted a
draft collective agreement proposed by three impartial chairs who had led the
final phase of negotiations. The agreement, which covers around 7,500
blue-collar workers, will run for an extraordinarily long period of 44
months. The parties can, however, renegotiate it after it has run for two
years.
Each of the EU Member States have been drawing up national employment action
plans based on the EU Guidelines for Member States' employment policies 1998
[1], following the Luxembourg"employment summit" in November 1997 (EU9711168F
[2]). The plans are due to be submitted to the Cardiff European Council in
June 1998. *Equal opportunities* measures are one of four agreed areas
covered by the national action plans, and in the Austrian draft plan
(AT9802164F [3]), as presented on 20 February 1998, four of the 19 measures
cover this area. Three of these refer specifically to women and one to people
with disabilities. The three other areas are *employability* (seven
measures), *entrepreneurship* (five measures) and *adaptability* (three
measures).
The EU Member States have been drawing up national employment action plans
based on the EU Guidelines for Member States' employment policies 1998 [1],
following the Luxembourg"employment summit" in November 1997 (EU9711168F
[2]). The plans are due to be submitted by 15 April 1998 for consideration at
the Cardiff European Council in June 1998. The subsidiarity principle is a
key feature of the guidelines both at European and at national and regional
levels and because of this subsidiary principle the government of Flanders
and the Flemish social partners - like their counterparts in Wallonia
(BE9803135F [3]) and the Brussels-Capital region (BE9803136N [4]) - are
making their own contributions to the Belgian action plan.
In March 1998, Italy's Confindustria employers' confederation broke off
negotiations with the Government on the reduction of the statutory working
week from 40 to 35 hours, and proposed new social concertation and dialogue
rules.
Part-time work in Portugal is not very common and a 1998 report from the
Ministry of Labour and Solidarity finds that it is not a major topic in
formal sector- and company-level collective bargaining. In general,
bargaining in this area has been concerned with setting limits or making
small advances with regard to the law.
The CC.OO and UGT trade union confederations have severely criticised
proposals for tax reform being prepared in early 1998 by Spain's conservative
Government. In their opinion, the plan benefits only the rich and threatens
levels of social expenditure.
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.
This series brings together publications and other outputs of the European Jobs Monitor (EJM), which tracks structural change in European labour markets. The EJM analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives a qualitative assessment of these shifts using various proxies of job quality – wages, skill-levels, etc.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2016, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2015, the sixth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 1996, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2001, which was an extension of the EWCS 2000 to cover the then 12 acceding and candidate countries. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2000, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the first edition of the survey carried out in 2004–2005 under the name European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
The use of artificial intelligence, advanced robotics and the Internet of Things technologies in the workplace can bring about fundamental changes in work organisation and working conditions. This report analyses the ethical and human implications of the use of these technologies at work by drawing on qualitative interviews with policy stakeholders, input from the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and Delphi expert surveys, and case studies.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the professional football sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.
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