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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)

Lithuania: Trilateral agreement promoting social dialogue signed

An agreement on reforms crucial to Lithuania’s economic growth was signed on 16 October after almost a year of discussions. The agreement, signed by Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and representatives of the social partners, identifies long-term objectives such as improving efficiency in the

Germany: Latest working life developments – Q1 2017

The conclusion of several collective wage bargaining rounds and the nomination of Martin Schulz to run as the Social Democrats’ candidate for Chancellor in September’s federal elections are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working

Sweden: No wage coordination – new trend or just an exception?

Disagreement over how to reduce the gender pay gap led to Swedish blue-collar unions failing to coordinate their wage-bargaining for the first time since the 1980s. The fragmented 2016 wage bargaining round has led to uncertainty over how this breakdown will affect future bargaining, the Industrial

Ireland: Landmark agreement at the Irish Aviation Authority

A major new five-year collective agreement between the Irish Aviation Authority and the trade union IMPACT balances the company’s need for cost stability and change with the union’s goal of protecting pay and conditions. The aim is to improve relations at a key European transport hub in an industry

Slovenia: Employers withdraw from social agreement for 2015–2016

Slovenian employer organisations withdrew from the 2015–2016 social agreement at the end of November 2015, after Parliament approved amendments to the law on the minimum wage. Employers said the government had acted unacceptably and arbitrarily in making the changes. Trade unions, however, argue

Ireland: New public sector agreement passed

The Lansdowne Road Agreement was approved by the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in September 2015. The deal extends the provisions of the previous Haddington Road Agreement, but introduces phased pay restoration between 2016 and 2018 of around €2,000 for most public sector workers in a flat rate

Ireland: Public sector pay restoration talks look set to succeed

Public service trade unions have concluded a ‘pay restoration’ agreement with the government, costing €566 million over a three-year period. The average gross payment per employee will be €2,000, to be paid out between January 2016 and September 2017. Individual unions are balloting on the proposed

Sweden: SAS employees sue company trade union

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) was both directly and indirectly involved in several labour disputes in May and June 2015.

Italy: Banks sign collective agreement after two years of unrest over pay

Banking unions finally agreed pay rises with the Italian Banking Association (ABI) in March 2015 after nearly two years of unrest.


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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