In autumn 1996, following what company management considered the constant
opposition of some works councils to worker participation, the
Electrolux-Zanussi group in Italy announced that it intended to terminate all
company-level agreements on participation from the end of March 1997. At the
same time, however, the company invited trade unions to negotiate a revision
of the participation model which had been developed within the group during
the previous years, in order to strengthen it and confirm joint and full
support from both unions and management. Consultations among company and
union representatives started in May, but they have not yet led to an
agreement. The issue at stake is very important, since the participation
model at Electrolux-Zanussi is generally considered one of the most advanced
in Europe and the most significant in Italy.
In his inaugural policy statement to Parliament on 19 June, the new Prime
Minister, Lionel Jospin, announced a 4% rise in the SMIC national minimum
wage to take effect on 1 July 1997.
On 17 June 1997 the Swedish Employers' Confederation, (SAF), gave notice of
termination of the "adjustment agreement" with PTK, a negotiating cartel of
27 salaried employees' unions. The agreement thus runs out on 31 December
1997.
Protests in June 1997 against the termination of ship-refitting work at
Spain's publicly owned Astander shipyard met with a forceful response from
the police. The problem arose because the Ministry of Industry imposed a
unilateral amendment to the Strategic Competitiveness Plan for the naval
sector. The dispute is still continuing, even though the Ministry has
modified its position
According to a recent study of 1997 provisions by the Institute for Economics
and Social Science (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI),
most employees in Germany receive a collectively agreed holiday bonus, though
there are significant sectoral differences in the amount of the bonus. While
most employees are due 30 days' paid leave per year, the average annual
holiday bonus for a blue collar worker in a middle-range income group ranges
between DEM 200 and DEM 2,587.
After 18 years in the wilderness, being frozen out of influence in the
corridors of government by Conservative administrations, trade unions have
been informed that they will be offered places on working groups being formed
to advise various government departments. The Trades Union Congress (TUC)
reports a substantially changed mood in Whitehall and Westminster, after
years of unions being systematically excluded from representing their
members.
Since the original introduction of early retirement schemes some 20 years
ago, the number of employees aged 60-66 taking early retirement has more than
tripled, from about 40,000 in 1980 to 127,000 in February 1997, equal to more
than two-thirds of everyone in that age group. In 1976 more than 75% of all
men remained in the labour force until they were 65; today only 28% stay on
until they become entitled to a pension at 67. Over the course of the last 20
years the average age of those taking early retirement has fallen from 63 to
60. TheMinistry of Finance estimates that there will be 160,000 recipients of
early retirement benefits by 2005, whereas theDanish Employers' Confederation
(DA) estimates that this figure will double to some 260,000 people. The wide
difference of opinion between the government estimates and those of the DA
accounts for the disagreement as to whether legislation is needed to stem the
flow of those opting to take early retirement.
During the last few months the attention of Italian industrial relations
practitioners has been drawn by two new kinds of agreement - "gradual
alignment" agreements and so-called "discount agreements". They are quite
different, but both deal in a distinct way with the same problem: wage
flexibility. A deeper analysis of their origins and scope is important, as
the issue of wage flexibility is one of the most prominent in the debate on
the reform of Italian industrial relations, and is put forward with
increasing emphasis by employers' organisations, also with reference to the
forthcoming revision of the tripartite agreement of July 1993, which is due
to start at the end of June 1997.
Over the last 10 or so years, the Dutch labour market has been characterised
by increasing flexibility and fragmentation. There is greater variety and
flexibility with respect to working time, pay, job descriptions, the location
of work and the term and type of employment contracts. Part-time work has,
for example, become very popular in the Netherlands. More than one in every
three Dutch employees (mainly women) has a part-time job, in contrast to an
average of one in seven for the EU as a whole. There are also various types
of contract flexibility, such as temporary work, freelance work, on-call
employment, homeworking and teleworking. Whilst the percentage of flexible
employment contracts stood at 7.9% of the working population in 1987, by 1995
it had increased to 10% (Arbeidsverkenning 1987/94. CBS (Central Statistics
Bureau) (1995)). Nowhere else in Europe does temporary work (through private
temporary employment agencies) flourish as it does in the Netherlands.
Temporary workers constitute about 3% of the total available labour supply.
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 ECS 2009, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
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 ECS 2013, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
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.
Human resources contribute to the success of an organisation though their skills. According to the ability, motivation, opportunity (AMO) model, employee contributions to organisational performance depend on their skills, their motivation to draw on their skills, and the opportunities to do so. Organisations can adopt managerial approaches cultivating ability (A) by facilitating learning, creating opportunity (O) by providing employees with autonomy, and encouraging motivation (M) by leveraging monetary and non-monetary motivational drivers.
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.
As part of its response to Russia’s war on Ukraine, the EU swiftly activated its Temporary Protection Directive for those fleeing the conflict in Ukraine – enabling displaced persons to settle in the EU and have access to the labour market and basic public services. This policy brief highlights the main barriers encountered by these refugees (over 5 million people to date) when seeking a job and provides suggestions on how to facilitate their integration.
With the expansion of telework and different forms of hybrid work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important for policymakers to consider both the opportunities and the negative consequences that may result. This report will explore potential scenarios for such work. In doing so, it will identify trends and drivers, and predict how they might interact to create particular outcomes and how they are likely to affect workers and businesses. Policy pointers will outline what could be done to facilitate desirable outcomes and to avoid undesirable ones.
Living and working in Europe, Eurofound’s 2022 yearbook, provides a snapshot of the latest developments in the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of 2022. Eurofound’s research on working and living conditions in Europe provides a bedrock of evidence for input into social policymaking and achieving the Agency’s vision ‘to be Europe’s leading knowledge source for better life and work’.
The term ‘hybrid work’ became popular due to the upsurge of telework during the COVID-19 pandemic. The term has been increasingly used to refer to situations in which (teleworkable) work is performed both from the usual place of work (normally the employer’s premises) and from home (as experienced during the pandemic) or other locations. However, the concept of hybrid work is still blurry, and various meanings are in use. This topical update brings clarity to this concept by exploring available information from recent literature and the Network of Eurofound Correspondents.
Housing affordability is a matter of great concern across the EU. Poor housing affordability leads to housing evictions, housing insecurity, problematic housing costs and housing inadequacy. These problems negatively affect health and well-being, create unequal living conditions and opportunities, and come with healthcare costs, reduced productivity and environmental damage. Private market tenants face particularly large increases in the cost of housing.
Eurofound's annual review of minimum wages reports on the development of statutory and collectively agreed minimum wages across the EU and the processes through which they were set. The focus of this year’s report is on the impact of high inflation on the setting of minimum wage rates. In addition, new figures on the net value of minimum wages are presented, along with the latest policy-relevant research in the EU Member States and Norway.
Building on previous work by Eurofound, this report will investigate intergenerational dynamics over time. During the 2008 double-dip recession, worrying intergenerational divides appeared in many Member States, and while some of the economic and social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is universal, early data suggests disparities across demographic cohorts. Eurofound will examine how different age groups may have been affected in terms of their health, labour market participation, quality of life and financial needs, both in the short term and in the long term.
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered an extraordinary level of provision of social services across the EU. Healthcare and care providers carried much of the burden and, together with essential services, played a crucial role in getting citizens through the crisis. This report explores how public services adapted to the new reality and what role was played by the digital transformation of services. The aim is to contribute to the documentation and analysis of changes in funding, delivery and use of healthcare and social services during the pandemic.
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