The national minimum wage in Estonia has been fixed annually by tripartite
agreement since 1992. Since 2002, it has been negotiated between the Estonian
Trade Union Confederation (EAKL [1]) and the Estonian Employers’
Confederation (ETTK [2]) and then brought into effect by government decree
(*EE1201019I* [3]).
Union membership in Lithuania is low – about 10% of all employees. The
unions are divided into three main confederations, the Lithuanian Trade Union
Confederation (LPSK [1]), the Lithuanian Labour Federation (LDF [2]) and
Solidarumas [3]. They are divided – historically at least – on
ideological grounds. However, the confederations are now working together
more closely.
In spring 2012, 20 projects to promote social dialogue were launched in Lithuania, financed by the European Social Fund. At the time, there was just one sectoral collective agreement in place. Since then, discussions have taken place on 253 enterprise-level collective agreements, 32 territorial collective agreements and 16 sectoral collective agreements. The new agreements regulate a wide range of working conditions including pay, employment guarantees and health and safety.
The European Commission says it is determined to continue its efforts to
streamline its legislation. On 2 October 2013 it issued its Communication
(COM (2013) 685 (150KB PDF) [1]) on the Regulatory Fitness and Performance
(REFIT): Results and Next Steps.
Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.
Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.
Public sector reforms in Greece began long before the country’s first
bailout package was negotiated with the Troika in the spring of 2010
(*GR1202019I* [1]). However, the reforms continued as part of Greece’s
obligations under the terms of the loan negotiated with the European Union
(EU [2]), the International Monetary Fund (IMF [3]) and the European Central
Bank (ECB [4]), and a target was set to retire or dismiss 25,000 public
servants by the end of 2014. As part of this process, 12,500 were to be
placed in ‘non-active’ or ‘mobility’ status by the end of 2013, and a
further 12,500 by the end of 2014. It is envisaged that many of these people
would be re-employed in other positions, but a significant proportion will be
dismissed.
Disclaimer: This information is made available as a service to the public but has not been edited by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. The content is the responsibility of the authors.
The first findings of the 2011 UK Workplace Employment Relations Study,
published in January 2013, present an authentic picture of employee
representation, collective bargaining and consultation arrangements in
British workplaces. They also throw an interesting light on the impact of the
recession on workplaces, and practices relating to employees and employment
relations. This report, which compares the situation with that of the 2004
survey, also explores the impact of recent major policy initiatives.
Negotiations to renew the sectoral collective agreement in Spain’s leather
tanning sector began in January 2012. Almost two years later, agreement had
still not been reached and negotiations were at a standstill.
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 2003, the first edition of the survey.
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 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
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 2012, the third 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 2005, the fourth 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 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
This report investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of identified solutions and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. The report looks at the way that EWCs meet the requirements of the EWC Directive in terms of establishing processes of information and consultation.
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.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
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 textiles and clothing 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.