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  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    On 18 March 1997, eight trade unions and 12 employers' organisations in
    industry concluded an agreement on cooperation and the regulation of pay. Its
    aim is to promote growth, profitability and competitiveness in industry. As
    such, claim the parties, it will provide the necessary prerequisite for a
    reduction of unemployment and form the basis for improvements in pay and good
    working conditions.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    Stockauto, a vehicle storage and distribution firm, has signed a collective
    agreement on some of the most controversial issues in the current debate on
    reform of the Spanish labour market: the creation of secure employment, the
    definition of the objective reasons for dismissal and the search for
    procedures to make working time more flexible

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    The Institute of Management's recent survey of their male and female members
    (A question of balance? A survey of managers' changing professional and
    personal values", K Charlesworth, Institute of Management, London, (1997))
    reports 52% of men as saying that their style is participative (compared with
    60% of women respondents) with the same proportion of men and women (30%)
    claiming to have a consensual approach. Their employing organisations seem to
    have taken less notice of the Institute: only 15% of respondents described
    their company culture as participative.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    On 18 March, the Government submitted a reform package to Parliament
    addressing five civil service issues, among them the implementation of EC
    Directive on working time (93/104/EC) in the civil service and more flexible
    working time rules. Here we focus on the latter point. The new regulations
    are expected to be voted on by Parliament in time to take effect on 1 June
    1997.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    At the beginning of 1997, the total privatisation of Telefónica, the largest
    Spanish telecommunications firm, was completed. The trade unions in the
    company, led by CCOO and UGT, have applied for a judicial review of this
    measure, demanding its suspension until the new regulatory framework for the
    sector is defined, and a public, universal and quality service is guaranteed
    in the area of telecommunications. The Supreme Court has agreed to consider
    the appeal but has not suspended the privatisation.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    At the end of February 1997 the education and employment minister, James
    Paice, was warning that "people ignore at their peril the value of investing
    in learning", arguing that too many employers still do not realise the value
    of investing in their employees. He went on to say that action should be
    taken immediately to drive up skill levels and standards to keep up with
    growing international competition. Employers were said to be a crucial part
    of this process but, it is "not how much you invest in training, its how you
    invest it". The Government thus backs the Investors in People (IIP) standard,
    as it shows that spending money on people is an investment and not a cost.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    The shock announcement by French motor manufacturer Renault, on 28 February
    1997, of the closure of its plant at Vilvoorde, led to an unprecedented
    public display of condemnation among the political establishment of the
    European Union (EU). The closure of the plant, in the Belgian Prime
    Minister's constituency near Brussels, with the loss of 3,100 jobs, was
    apparently announced without prior consultation with worker representatives.
    The move was justified by Renault as being part of a wider reorganisation
    aimed at making savings of over FRF 825 million per year. The closure of the
    only Renault production site in Belgium is likely to lead a further 1,000
    redundancies among suppliers and subcontractors; jobs which, in the current
    economic climate in Belgium, are unlikely to be replaced in the near future.
    The announcement came as a particularly heavy blow to a workforce who had
    thought their jobs safe, having negotiated a major flexibility and investment
    package only four years previously. The plant is generally regarded as being
    highly productive and achieving high levels of quality. The decision by
    Renault to close this plant in July 1997 has been interpreted by many workers
    as a warning that even a willingness to accept more flexible working
    practices can in future no longer be regarded as a guarantee for job
    security. The predicament of the workers at Vilvoorde has led to an
    unprecedented display of worker solidarity, not only among employees at other
    Renault production sites in Europe, but also among workers in other troubled
    European industries.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    On 19 March 1997, Parliament passed a reform of the Arbeitszeitgesetz(AZG,
    Working Time Act) - see Record AT9702102F [1]. This necessitated minor
    changes to the Arbeitsruhegesetz(ARG, Leisure Time Act) which were also
    passed on 19 March. However, the parliamentary Labour and Social Affairs
    Committee, at the behest of the social partners, had introduced wording
    allowing more flexibility than hitherto in regard to Sunday work, causing a
    major public debate in its wake. In future it will be possible for the social
    partners to conclude collective agreements permitting exceptions from the
    general ban on Sunday work. They can only do so, the law states, if it is
    necessary in order to avoid economic disadvantage or to safeguard employment.
    As far as this is feasible, the collective agreement has to specify the
    activities to be permissible on Sundays and the time allowed for them. Until
    now it was not possible to grant specific exemptions from the ban on Sunday
    work except if the technology required continuous production. The Minister of
    Labour and Social Affairs could, however, permit a whole industry to work on
    Sundays.

    [1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined-law-and-regulation/moves-towards-greater-working-time-flexibility

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    Legislative changes have been introduced affecting "atypical" work under the
    Contracts of Employment Act, the Study Leave Act and the Occupational Safety
    Act. The changes came into force at the beginning of February and they aim to
    bring the legal status of persons in such work closer to the status of
    persons under a regular employment contract.

  • Article
    27 Marzo 1997

    The 1994 labour market reform led to a spectacular increase in part-time
    employment contracts, which had hardly been used in Spain before that time.
    This feature describes this development and points out the main
    characteristics of the workers employed under these contracts, who are mainly
    women.

Series

  • New forms of employment

    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.

  • European Company Surveys

    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.

  • European Quality of Life Surveys

    The European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2003, with the latest edition in 2016. It examines both the objective circumstances of people's lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. It covers issues around employment, income, education, housing, family, health and work–life balance. It also looks at subjective topics, such as people's levels of happiness and life satisfaction, and perceptions of the quality of society.

  • European Jobs Monitor

    This series brings together publications and other outputs of the European Jobs Monitor (EJM), which tracks structural change in European labour markets. The EJM analyses shifts in the employment structure in the EU in terms of occupation and sector and gives a qualitative assessment of these shifts using various proxies of job quality – wages, skill-levels, etc.

  • European Quality of Life Survey 2016

    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 2016, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003. 

  • European Working Conditions Survey 2015

    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 2015, the sixth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.

  • European Working Conditions Survey 1996

    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 1996, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.

  • European Working Conditions Survey 2001

    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 2001, which was an extension of the EWCS 2000 to cover the then 12 acceding and candidate countries. The survey was first carried out in 1990.

  • European Working Conditions Survey 2000

    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 2000, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.

  • European Company Survey 2004

    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 first edition of the survey carried out in 2004–2005 under the name European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance. 

Forthcoming publications