An international comparison of labour disputes from 1986 to 1995 by /Labour
Market Trends/ (April 1997) highlights that the UK had the fourth-lowest
strike rate of the 22 member countries of the Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) in 1995. Only Austria, Switzerland and
Germany had a lower level of strikes than the UK. The UK strike rate has been
below the OECD average since 1986 and below the EU average since 1990.
Between 1991 and 1995 the average rate in the UK was 24 working days lost per
1,000 workers - an 82% fall over the previous five-year period. But the UK's
rise in the international "league table" of two places since 1994 took place
despite an increase in the strike rate itself.
New legislation proposed by the Portuguese Government on the regulation of
part-time work is currently under discussion amongst the social partners. The
most important points include the definition of part-time work, the
requirement that part-timers should have employment contracts in writing and
pro rata minimum pay.
As part of the European Year against Racism, a collective agreement signed in
the temporary work sector in Belgium has laid down a "Code of Best Practice"
on the prevention of racial discrimination against foreign temporary workers.
We review the agreement, signed in May 1996, and its background.
A Presidential Decree on the establishment of European Works Councils (EWCs)
in Greece was signed on 20 March 1997. Its purpose is to transpose into Greek
law EC Directive 94/45/EC on the provision of information and consultation to
employees in Community-scale undertakings and Community-scale groups of
undertakings, which, under the terms of the Directive, should have been
transposed by 22 September 1996. The Presidential Decree takes up the option
provided in the Directive of not applying its provisions to maritime workers.
Under a novel provision in the Finance Bill, 1997 which gives effect to this
year's Budget, employees are now entitled to tax relief on individual
lump-sum payments paid in the context of company restructuring. The payments
can be made by companies to their employees for agreeing to pay
restructuring, which must involve overall pay reductions of at last 10% of an
employee's average salary for the previous two years and must remain in force
for at least five years. While it is possible that basic pay could be hit by
the measure, the sort of payroll reductions envisaged are more likely to
effect non-basic pay items such as overtime, bonus payments and shift
allowances.
The cases have been hailed as a major victory for all National Health Service
(NHS) staff by the Manufacturing, Science and Finance (MSF) trade union,
which represented the workers involved in their cases. The union's national
secretary, Roger Kline said that the: "case is a momentous one. It has
implications for women staff throughout the NHS and other industries. It is a
landmark decision and is the biggest single breakthrough on equal pay for
women for many years."
An Intergovernmental Conference is the method used by the Member States of
the European Union (EU) to agree on basic changes to the Treaties which
govern the workings of the Union. Changes to the Treaties are not carried out
within the framework of the EU itself, but by direct negotiations between the
governments of the Member States within the context of the IGC. The current
IGC is the sixth in the history of European integration.
In the Netherlands, there has been a long struggle over how responsibilities
for administering social security should be divided between social partners
and the government. The Dutch social security administration has been
reorganised - most recently from March 1997 - under pressure of criticism
about organisations in which the social partners play a dominant role.
Financing the social security system has become a structural problem in the
relations between the Government and the social partners. This has become
especially manifest in conflicts concerning the level at which social
security contributions should be set.
In France, regulation of the working week is based on a piece of legislation
passed in 1936, which laid down a work schedule spread over five days.
Decrees on the application of this law made special provision, in each
sector, for the way in which these hours would be organised. The one
concerning banking dates from 1937.
The incidence of collective bargaining across a variety of sectors in
Portugal has tended slightly to decrease in the first quarter of 1997.
However, at the same time, the number of strikes has been increasing - often
to enforce reductions in working time
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound's representativeness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
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 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
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.
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.
Given that compliance with lockdown measures is a first line of defence against COVID-19, maintaining trust in institutions is vital to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and effective response to the pandemic. This report investigates developments in institutional and interpersonal trust across time, with a particular emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic period and its impact. It examines the link between trust and discontent and investigates the effect of multidimensional inequalities as a driver of distrust.
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.
Between 2021 and 2023 Eurofound is carrying out a pilot project on minimum wage on behalf of the European Commission. The question of how minimum wages and other forms of pay can be fixed for the self-employed is investigated as a part of this project through mapping national and sectoral approaches. Out of concern for the challenging conditions that the self-employed face, some Member States have established or are discussing establishing statutory forms of minimum pay for certain categories of self-employed.
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
Lockdown measures and the economic shift following the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widening of the gender divide between men and women, putting at risk some of the gender equality gains that had been made in previous years. This report analyses changes in the distribution of paid and unpaid work, along with care and domestic responsibilities, among men and women during the crisis. It also explores the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of women and men.
The report provides an overview of the scale of teleworking before and during the COVID-19 crisis and gives an indication of ‘teleworkability’ across sectors and occupations. Building on previous Eurofound research on remote work, the report investigates the way businesses introduced and supported teleworking during the pandemic, as well as the experience of workers who were working from home during the crisis. The report also looks at developments in regulations related to telework in Member States and provides a review of stakeholders’ positions.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
This report analyses the working lives of workers in Europe in 2021, when the continent was still in the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines working conditions during that period and the association between job quality and work outcomes such as health and well-being, work–life balance, and financial security. The report also considers how the shifts in working life during the pandemic are likely to affect work in the future.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in European sectoral social dialogue taking place at cross-sectoral level. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations at cross-sectoral level in the EU Member States.
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