Publications

Following the British referendum on 23 June, in which 51.9% of people voted to leave the European Union, social partners across most European countries have commented on the impact that the British exit will have on their countries or members. This topical update summarises their first reactions, in particular, in relation to working-life related issues.

This issue contains articles on: Findings in figures; Working with the Slovak Presidency; Contributing evidence to public debate; News in brief; and Latest from EurWORK.

The principal political event of the quarter has been the decision of the UK electorate in favour of ‘Brexit’ from the European Union in a referendum held on 23 June. The outcome was a surprise and went against the counsel of most economists, policymakers and international organisations as well as the majority of elected UK politicians.

In December 2015, the government accepted the last two decrees establishing a points scheme for arduous work and in June 2016 the Ministry of Labour gave the green light on its implementation. Employers claim the scheme will lead to job cuts while some unions have criticised certain aspects.

Most discussions on the future of work are dominated by the impact of key changes in society, such as the digital revolution and demographic changes. These changes raise various issues of concern, sometimes suggesting contradictory trends such as labour shortages linked to an ageing population, or new technologies resulting in job loss. Migration and mobility are discussed as part of the solution, but also present important challenges of their own. 

A recent article by the Foundation of Savings Banks highlights the vulnerable position of young Spanish people on the labour market, in terms of difficult access to employment, poor transition from education into work, high prevalence of precarious work, and lack of social protection rights.

In 2015, the second Estonian Work Life Survey was conducted by Statistics Estonia. This article describes some of the results of the survey, focusing on industrial relations and occupational health. The results showed that the collective agreement coverage rate as well as the level of employee representation is very low, as is employee awareness about the existence of their representatives.

According to the European Commission’s ‘Communication on a European agenda for a collaborative economy’, collaborative platforms have the potential to create new jobs, boost flexible working arrangements and result in new sources of income. While employers believe offers new opportunities, unions are concerned that micro enterprises and SMEs could be excluded from social and employment law.

This profile describes the key characteristics of working life at EU level. It aims to complement other EurWORK research on EU-level developments and reference tools, such as the European Industrial Relations Dictionary, by providing the relevant background information on structures, actors and developments regarding working life.

Social dialogue still matters in Europe. Recent EU-level policy debates have highlighted that, particularly since the 2008 crisis, the emergence of new debates on social justice, democracy, the quality of work and new models for labour relations have been challenging traditional industrial relations and social dialogue systems. The main objective of this comparative study is to gather information on how social partners in the EU28 and Norway have responded to the many new political, legal and social challenges that have arisen in recent years.