Riso, Sara

The reduction of working time has played a major role in lessening the impact of lowered production output on employment levels, and this project aims to investigate short-time working and temporary layoff schemes which have been used as a means of avoiding redundancies by many Member States during the recession. Eurofound has conducted an in-depth analysis of schemes available in nine Member States during the recent economic crisis. This is one of the individual country reports describing the French national public support scheme. A comparative analysis of all the individual schemes forms the thematic part of the ERM Report 2010 – Extending flexicurity – The potential of short-time working schemes.

In the face of recession, falling demand and the consequent slowing of production, short-time working and temporary layoff schemes have been extended (or introduced) in many Member States. These schemes, often with the aid of public funds, reduce working time, while protecting workers’ incomes and company solvency; frequently, the time spent not working is used for training instead. This report examines the practice of reduced working time across Europe, and looks in detail at how it is implemented in 10 Member States, with a view to determining the contribution that such schemes can make in implementing the common principles of flexicurity, especially in light of the broad-based consensus they enjoy among the social partners.

This background paper has been prepared to complement the findings of a comparative analysis by Eurofound on what has been termed ‘very atypical work’ in the 27 EU Member States. In the background paper, the definition of very atypical ...

This report uses recent findings from two observatories of the European Foundation for the Improvement and Living Conditions (Eurofound); the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) and the European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) – as well as Eurostat data, to examine trends in compensation for public employees (in particular, local government workers), employment levels and employment relations issues within the state sector. The main focus is on developments over the period of the economic crisis – that is, from 2008 to the present – in the 27 EU Member States (EU27) and Norway, but with reference where relevant to earlier material.

In conjunction with the launch of the European campaign on musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs), the European Working Conditions Observatory (EWCO) of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, in cooperation with the Portuguese EU Presidency, organised a high-level conference on MSDs in Lisbon on 11–12 October 2007. The conference aimed to engage discussion on European and national trends in the prevalence of MSDs, the economic and social impact, good practice examples in prevention policies and options for change. The event offered a common platform for debate to experts, representatives from the EU and national authorities, social partners and practitioners, and members of the EWCO network.