While current sectoral agreements in Belgium favour the redistribution of
work, a variety of companies have been adopting novel approaches to the
reduction of working time in agreements signed in late 1997 and early 1998.
The last collective agreement on pay in the French civil service was signed
on 9 November 1993. Five trade unions signed the deal - the French Democratic
Confederation of Labour (Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail,
CFDT ), the Federated Education Union (Fédération de l'Education Nationale-
FEN), the Independent General Confederation of Civil Servants (Fédération
Générale Autonome des Fonctionnaires, FGAF), the French Christian Workers'
Confederation (Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens, CFTC)
and the General Confederation of Managerial Staff-French Confederation of
Managerial Staff (Confédération Française de l'Encadrement-
Confédération Générale des Cadres, CFE-CGC). On the basis of the results
of workplace-level elections, these five unions together represented the
majority of civil servants.
Teleworking (fjernarbeidor telependling) is becoming an issue of increasing
importance on the agenda of the Norwegian social partners. Home-based
teleworking is the main focus of attention. Although the level of home-based
telework activity has remained relatively constant in the last 10 years, it
is expected to increase in the future. The existing statutory provisions, as
well as collective agreements, are regarded by many as inadequate for this
type of work, and home-based teleworking in particular seems to be completely
unregulated. A declaration on teleworking has been incorporated into the new
Basic Agreement between the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions
(Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO) and the Confederation of Norwegian Business
and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisasjon, NHO), which was formally
ratified in February 1998. The legal state of affairs in relation to
teleworking is also undergoing scrutiny, and the likely outcome is amendments
to the 1977 Working Environment Act.
At the beginning of February 1998, the media reported that the 56-year-old
managing director of the Stora forestry company, who was about to leave his
job after six years, would receive a "golden handshake" (or severance
package) worth SEK 58 million. In the first two years following his
resignation, he would receive SEK 2.8 million and from the age of 60 a large
pension. What made the information conspicuous, apart from the large sum, was
that the managing director was said not to have been dismissed but to have
left on his own initiative, and that his terms of resignation had been
renegotiated and improved shortly before he had made his decision.
Among the conclusions of the special European Council Employment Summit [1]
held in Luxembourg in November 1997 (EU9711168F [2]) was a requirement for an
action plan on employment, based on the European Commission's guidelines, to
be drawn up in each European Union Member State.
Owing to the use of "social shock absorbers" to ease the blow of
redundancies, the restructuring of Italian industry - especially in the 1980s
- has proceeded without excessive social costs, though with substantial
economic costs to the state. A reform of these measures is envisaged as part
of the current reform of the welfare state and broader redefinition of
employment policies. Moreover, a still unresolved issue is the definition of
new measures to deal with the employment crisis in the service sector.
At the end of January 1998, German unemployment reached a new post-war record
high, with more than 4.8 million people registered as unemployed. The
announcement of the latest unemployment figures on 5 February was accompanied
by nationwide protests of unemployed people all over Germany. The protests
were organised by independent organisations of jobless people, self-help
groups and trade unions' jobless committees and groups. The unions played an
important role in coordinating, organising and supporting the protests.
January-February 1998 saw a dispute at the Spanish airline, Iberia, organised
by the pilots belonging to the SEPLA trade union. The grounds for the dispute
related to the planned restructuring of the company.
The Federation of Transport Workers' Unions in the European Union (FST) and
theEuropean Community Shipowners' Association (ECSA) agreed a joint text on
working time and time off aboard ship in December 1997. The approximately
128,000 EU nationals and 26,000 non-EU nationals employed in the maritime
sector are among the workers excluded from the provisions of the EU Directive
(93/104/EC) on certain aspects of the organisation of working time.
In February 1998, it was announced that the Government is to draw up a
voluntary code on combating age discrimination in recruitment. The statement
came as the charity, Age Concern, launched an "Age discrimination awareness
campaign". A survey conducted for Age Concern estimates that more than 18
million adults have experienced age discrimination in employment, health or
welfare. The study found that 70% of the population believe age
discrimination exists, while only half of those who reported it were aged
over 45, showing that it is a problem that affects most ages.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound's representativeness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
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 ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
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 financial services sector is pertinent for studying the impact of digitalisation, as the main ‘raw material’ of the sector is digitally stored and processed. Process automation in the sector is likely to lead to significant job losses over the next 10 years, as the high street bank presence declines and the online bank presence increasingly accounts for a higher share of overall activity. Such trends have already been identified in bank restructurings captured in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the electricity 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 study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the electricity sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the gas 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 gas sector in the EU Member States.
The hospital sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and their workers are on the frontline in the fight against the virus, and they face a number of significant challenges in terms of resources, work organisation and working conditions. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
Given that compliance with lockdown measures is a first line of defence against COVID-19, maintaining trust in institutions is vital to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and effective response to the pandemic. This report investigates developments in institutional and interpersonal trust across time, with a particular emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic period and its impact. It examines the link between trust and discontent and investigates the effect of multidimensional inequalities as a driver of distrust.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
Lockdown measures and the economic shift following the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widening of the gender divide between men and women, putting at risk some of the gender equality gains that had been made in previous years. This report analyses changes in the distribution of paid and unpaid work, along with care and domestic responsibilities, among men and women during the crisis. It also explores the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of women and men.
The report provides an overview of the scale of teleworking before and during the COVID-19 crisis and gives an indication of ‘teleworkability’ across sectors and occupations. Building on previous Eurofound research on remote work, the report investigates the way businesses introduced and supported teleworking during the pandemic, as well as the experience of workers who were working from home during the crisis. The report also looks at developments in regulations related to telework in Member States and provides a review of stakeholders’ positions.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the food and drinks 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 study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the food and drinks sector in the EU Member States.
There have always been workers who have worked at different locations, on site with customers or while on the move. Companies have also developed open-plan workspaces to cut costs and foster cooperation. Cloud computing allows workers to access internal data from anywhere, while digitalisation increases the use of automated decision-making and control based on (big) data. This report addresses the extent to which place of work determines job quality.
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