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Agreements

Agreements are the outcome of collective bargaining and social dialogue processes. Social partners are encouraged to negotiate and conclude collective agreements  that can then be implemented at European, national, regional, sectoral or company level.  Increasingly Union labour laws are shaped by agreements that the parties voluntarily enter into and by soft law mechanisms. 

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In this pilot project, Eurofound successfully established the feasibility of, and piloted, an EU-wide database of minimum pay rates contained in collective agreements related to low-paid workers. A conceptual and...

26 jaanuar 2024
Publication
Research report

Eurofound expert(s)

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Christine Aumayr-Pintar is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. Her current research topics include minimum wages, collectively agreed wages and gender...

Senior research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (40)

This article discusses developments in collectively agreed wages in the European Union in 2016, putting them into the perspective of developments over the past 15 years. The tendency for growth in both nominal and real collectively agreed wages from 2015 continued. In two countries (Belgium and

25 July 2017

This report describes the developments in collectively agreed pay in the EU Member States in 2014 and compares them to developments in previous years. While growth in collectively agreed pay in nominal terms declined, the declining growth of prices resulted in real collectively agreed pay increasing

05 August 2015

The average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union of 38.1 hours did not change between 2013 and 2014. In both years, the working week also remained, on average, 30 minutes shorter than the EU28 average in the EU15 Member States, and more than 90 minutes longer in the more

16 July 2015

In 2013, the average collective agreed weekly working time in the European Union was 38.1 hours, the same as in 2012. However, the working week was, on average, 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 Member States, and more than 90 minutes longer in the more recent Member States. If the

23 June 2014

The available national data reveal that average nominal collectively agreed pay increases in 2013 were roughly the same as or lower than those in 2012 in all the countries examined. However, because of lower inflation rates, employees in a number of countries saw the purchasing power of their wages

12 June 2014

EIRO’s annual analysis of collectively agreed pay for 2012 finds that although average nominal agreed increases were slightly greater than in 2011 in many countries, the rise in prices diminished people’s purchasing power. In real terms, only a handful of countries had positive collective pay

09 July 2013

In 2012, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union, including Croatia, stood at 38.1 hours, the same as for the EU27 in 2011. The working week was on average 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 countries and over 1 hour and 30 minutes longer in the new Member States

25 June 2013

According to EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends, average collective agreed nominal pay increases in 2011 did not differ greatly from 2010 in most of the 13 countries with available data. Most variations ranged between 0.1 and 0.4 percentage points, except for Belgium with the highest growth in

08 October 2012

In 2011, average collective agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38.1 hours. The working week was on average 30 minutes shorter in the pre-2004 EU15 countries and over 1 hour and 30 minutes longer in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averages nearly 1,720

15 August 2012

EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends for 2010 finds that average collectively agreed nominal wage increases were lower than in 2009 in almost all 13 countries with available data, with Malta being the exception. The highest reductions in nominal pay increases were in Slovakia (5.5% in 2009 to 2.2%

16 October 2011

Online resources results (321)

A look behind 80% bargaining coverage: What do collective agreements actually contain?

The EU Minimum Wage Directive aims to achieve a collective bargaining coverage of 80%. However, not all collective agreements regulate workers’ pay and in some cases pay rates remain outdated for too long.

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Collective bargaining and social dialogue – Back to normal in 2021?

Two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, social dialogue continues to make a significant contribution to helping economies recover. Managing the crisis led many governments to rely on tripartite social dialogue to develop the policies that would mitigate the negative impact of the

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Impact of the COVID-19 crisis on wages and wage setting

The COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on wages and wage setting across Europe in 2020. The uncertain economic scenario, together with the difficulties inherent in online bargaining, led to a general postponement of collective agreements to 2021, especially at company level. Real wages

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To have or have not: A statutory minimum wage

​​​​​​​Cyprus and Italy are currently considering the introduction of a universal minimum wage floor by law. With this move, they would be joining 22 other EU Member States that already have one in place. In the remaining Member States – Austria, Denmark, Finland and Sweden – and in Norway, too

Norway: latest working life developments Q2 2018

A settlement on pensions, amendments to the Working Environment Act, plans for a survey of foreign tour bus companies and a new report on working environments and occupational health are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working

Sweden: latest working life developments Q2 2018

A historic agreement on industrial action regulations and a narrowing gender pay gap are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Sweden in the second quarter of 2018.

Cyprus: latest working life developments Q2 2018

An agreement to restore wider public sector salaries and mass redundancies at CCB bank are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Cyprus in the second quarter of 2018.

Germany: Study reveals huge gap between collectively agreed and usual weekly working time

Data produced by the German Federal Statistical Office and the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health show substantial differences, across and between sectors, in working time that has been collectively agreed and in actual working time. The data also reveal that the longer the working

Cyprus: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017

A work stoppage by cleaning staff at the state hospital in Limassol, and the agreement to establish a single collective agreement for all local government employees are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Cyprus in


Blogs results (2)
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Minimum wages have risen significantly in 2022, as the EU Member States leave behind the cautious mood of the pandemic. However, rising inflation is eating up these wage increases, and only flexibility in the regular minimum wage setting processes may avoid generalised losses in purchasing power

15 juuni 2022
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Whatever the benefits of telework – and there are many, including more flexible working time, increased productivity and less commuting – there are drawbacks, as many of the one-third of Europeans who were exclusively working from home during the pandemic will attest. Primary among these is the ‘alw

3 detsember 2020

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