Pasar al contenido principal
employee_representation.jpg

Employee representation

Employee representation may be defined as the right of employees to seek a union or individual to represent them for the purpose of negotiating with management on such issues as wages, hours, benefits and working conditions. In the workplace, workers may be represented by trade union and through works councils – or similar structures elected by all employees. EU law has established rights and obligations for employees and their representatives to be informed and consulted via a set of directives that provide for the information and consultation of the workers, at both national and international level.

Topic

Recent updates

Eurofound expert(s)

ricardo-rodriguez-contreras-2023.png

Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound and focuses on comparative industrial relations, social dialogue and collective bargaining...

Research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (74)

Headquartered in Utrecht/The Netherlands with subsidiaries in Germany, Italy and Finland, Equens is a full-service payment processing company offering services in payment and card processing and a European leader in this business segment. The transformation of Equens N.V. into an SE was concluded in

25 April 2011

MAN was the first German company to create a SE, by the conversion of its subsidiary MAN B&W Diesel into MAN Diesel SE in August 2006. This was followed in 2009 by the conversion of MAN itself into MAN SE. Both management and the employee representatives were well prepared for negotiating an

25 April 2011

Allianz SE is an integrated financial services provider with more than 150,000 employees. The company serves approximately 75 million customers in about 70 countries. Allianz SE operates and manages its activities primarily through four operating segments: property-casualty, life/health, asset

13 March 2011

The European Company Statute (SE) is based on the Council Regulation on the Statute for a European Company (2157/2001/EC) and on the Directive supplementing the Statute for a European Company with regard to the involvement of employees (2001/86/EC). It is one of the most important pieces of company

08 March 2011

This report presents some descriptive findings of Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) 2009 on the structure of industrial relations and social dialogue as well as working time patterns in the commerce sector in Europe. Collective bargaining coverage and the degree of employee representation in

01 December 2010

This case study focuses on the measures used by ArcelorMittal to cut costs and avoid involuntary redundancies during the crisis in its largest Romanian subsidiary. The study aims to assess the effectiveness of the various measures applied to keep staff in employment and to ensure the company’s

26 September 2010

European Works Councils (EWCs) are highly significant in terms of European industrial relations. They represent the first genuinely European institution of worker interest representation at enterprise level. They reflect the growing recognition of the need to respond to the ‘Europeanisation’ of

12 May 2009

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of EWCs is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system at European level

16 October 2008

Online resources results (298)

United Kingdom: Report identifies key levers for improving workplace productivity

Amid the extensive debate about the UK’s relatively poor productivity record, a recent report from Acas identifies seven key factors for improving workplace productivity: well-designed work; skilled managers; effective conflict management; clarity about rights and responsibilities; fairness

Germany: Survey on works council elections in 1,600 companies

A high turnout of voters marked the latest works council elections in Germany, underlining their importance to the German industrial relations system. However, a study published in January 2015 shows that they remain male-dominated, with women holding only 25% of the seats. Two-thirds of works

Ireland: Steady union density decline over last decade

There has been a steady decline in union density in Ireland since 2003, according to a new study by Frank Walsh, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

Hungary: New act restricts worker representation in the law enforcement sector

Unions have criticised the new act governing law enforcement services as undermining the activity of interest representation organisations.

Sweden: Fall in union density

Sweden has a tradition of high trade union density rates, but the share of Swedish workers who are members of a trade union has dropped in the last decade from 80% to 70%. This might seem high from a global perspective, but Sweden is also one of the countries where unionisation is declining most

Germany: Trade union membership more stable in 2014

Following years of declining membership, trade union numbers in Germany began to stabilise in 2014.

Malta: Armed forces allowed to join union

Members of the armed forces, police, department of civil defence and prison wardens have been given the right to join a trade union – but not to strike.

France: Companies establish single database for works councils' consultations

The Employment Safeguarding Act requires companies to establish such a database to store information of an economic and social nature.


Blogs results (1)
image_blog_unions_20112019.png

Trade unions in many EU Member States face the issue of declining membership. This is a fundamental challenge for organised labour, but it is premature to speak about the redundancy unions: when it comes to important decisions affecting the workplace, restructuring being one, trade unions remain a

20 Noviembre 2019
Data results (1)
24 Octubre 2023
Reference period:

Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.