In November 1997, within two weeks of one another, two companies in the
Netherlands have announced that they intend to move part of their production
abroad. A third company wants to close down completely.
Since the late 1980s German collective bargaining has become increasingly
overshadowed by growing mass unemployment, leading to a continuing
controversy about pay policy and its impact on employment. Many employers'
associations, with the support of "neo-liberal" politicians and economists,
have embraced the arguments of orthodox neo-classical economic theory, for
which unemployment is just a sign that the price of labour might be too high.
Consequently, the employers' associations have demanded a very moderate pay
policy which is supposed to make the German economy more competitive and, as
a result, should lead to new employment. Even the trade unions have, to some
extent, made concessions to this viewpoint by agreeing to relatively low wage
increases and offering further income concessions in return for job
guarantees.
The "hand-over" employment contract, which has been available in Spain for
over a decade for workers aged over 60, has not had much success. However, in
late 1997, the Government proposed to amend the scheme to experiment with the
part-time extension of working life for workers aged over 65 in order to
create part-time employment for young people.
The Luxembourg Government's August 1997 bill on complementary pensions has
been roundly criticised by employers' associations as it provides for a fixed
tax on pension contributions, thereby increasing total payroll costs, and
also jeopardises growth in international pension funds.
In 1991, the Council of Ministers decided unanimously to abolish duty-free
sales for travellers within the EU, as part of the taxation and excise
measures to make the single market a reality. A seven-and-a-half year
transitional period was granted to allow duty-free operators to explore
alternative ways of carrying on business in order to avoid job losses.
Austria's current pensions reform aims to reduce the level of early
retirement. However, since the late 1970s, early retirement has been serving
as the main means to reduce the labour market participation rate among older
workers and thus make room for younger workers who would otherwise have been
unemployed. With early retirement now being squeezed, the social partners and
the Government have been looking for other measures to keep the participation
rate among older workers, and thus unemployment, at a relatively low level. A
new device - in the Austrian context - is a greater use of part-time work,
especially among men, which does not take workers off the labour market
altogether but reduces their hours of presence within it. As part of this
effort, the Government and the social partners agreed in November 1997 to
create, by law, the so-called "solidarity premium model"
(Solidaritätsprämienmodell).
In the last days of the campaign for the December 1997 election of the
members of France's Prud'hommesindustrial tribunals, the level of support for
each trade union is still uncertain. They have all been running intense local
campaigns since the beginning of 1997.
A study recently published by the Ministry for Qualification and Employment
reveals that between 1974 and 1995 there was a sharp drop in union membership
in Portugal.
The Greek Government's proposals for the Luxembourg Jobs Summit in November
1997, drawn up following dialogue with the social partners, focused on two
groups of the population in need of special protection: young and long-term
unemployed people.
"Personnel secondment "(personaluthyrning) is the Swedish term for the
situation whereby persons under an employment contract with one firm are
leased to work in another firm. It covers arrangements known variously as
hiring-out of labour or temporary agency work in other countries. The
practice was deregulated in Sweden in 1991 and has since increased
considerably. This led to the Social Democratic Government appointing a
commission in July 1996 to evaluate and analyse the consequences of the 1993
Act on private employment agencies and secondment of personnel. The
commission was headed by Björn Rosengren, former president of the
white-collar workers trade union federation, TCO. The Act of 1993, which was
designed by the then non-socialist government, removed the requirement that a
firm had to have a licence to be allowed to lease workers. Previously such
licences had been given to very few firms. The new Act contains only two
restrictive provisions: that the employee must not be restrained from
accepting employment in the client enterprise; and that a person who has left
his or her employment to work for a leasing firm must not be leased to his or
her previous employer until at least six months have passed.
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.
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, conducted in three rounds – in April and July 2020 and in March 2021. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
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.
Eurofound's representativness 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 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.
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 report analyses how working conditions, job quality and working life outcomes – such as work–life balance, health and well-being, and sustainability of work – changed between February 2020 and spring 2021. Following up on responses to the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) 2020, it explores the differences between three distinct groups of workers: those teleworking during the COVID-19 pandemic, those who continued to work on their employers' premises as frontline staff, and those who were furloughed or worked reduced hours.
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.
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.
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 COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
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 report offers a backward look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work and life of Europeans. The main focus is on Eurofound’s e-survey ‘ Living, working and COVID-19’ which was launched on 9 April 2020 just after the onset of the crisis. Through four rounds of the survey (two in 2020 and two in 2021), the range of questions changed to match the evolving situation and to understand the effects on the everyday lives of citizens and workers.
This report explores the drivers of economic and social convergence in Europe, using a selected set of economic and social indicators to examine trends in the performance of individual Member States. It also investigates what role the Economic and Monetary Union plays in convergence, particularly in southern and eastern Member States. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on convergence is analysed and initial conclusions are drawn about the impact of EU recovery packages and their ability to prevent divergence.
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