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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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Minimum wages for low-paid workers in collective agreements

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

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)

Working time developments – 2010

In 2010, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38 hours. The figure was 0.4 hours lower in the pre-2004 EU15 and 1.7 hours higher in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averages around 1,708 hours – around 1,693 hours in the EU15 and 1

27 July 2011
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Working time

Working time developments – 2009

In 2009, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38.7 hours. The figure was 0.8 hours lower in the pre-2004 EU15 and 0.9 hours higher in the new Member States. Agreed normal annual working time averages around 1,750 hours – just above 1,700 in the EU15 and a

25 July 2010
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Working time

Pay developments – 2009

EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends finds that the average collectively agreed nominal wage increase across the EU fell from 5% in 2008 to 4.2% in 2009. In the former EU15, the average nominal increase declined from 3.8% in 2008 to 3.1% in 2009, while in the 12 new Member States that joined the EU

23 June 2010
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Pay and income

Pay developments – 2008

EIRO’s annual analysis of pay trends finds that the average collectively agreed nominal wage increase across the EU fell from 7% in 2007 to 6.6% in 2008. Taking into account inflation, which rose strongly in 2008, the rate of real pay increase across the EU fell sharply, from 3.6% in 2007 to 1.3% in

03 September 2009
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Pay and income

Working time developments – 2008

In 2008, average collectively agreed weekly working time in the European Union stood at 38.6 hours; agreed normal annual working time averaged about 1,740 hours. Of the three economic sectors examined in this study, agreed weekly working hours are highest in metalworking (38.7), followed by the

23 July 2009
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Working time

European and international framework agreements: Practical experiences and strategic approaches

Transnational Framework Agreements are a new industrial relations instrument that encourages the recognition of social partnership across national borders and could lead to new forms of social regulation at global level. The rationale for taking the initiative to negotiate such agreements can be

22 June 2009
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Pay developments – 2007

The review of pay trends in Europe in 2006 and 2007 finds that average collectively-agreed nominal wage increases across the EU rose from 5.6% in 2006 to 7% in 2007. However, taking into account rising inflation, the rate of real increase fell from 2.7% in 2006 to 2.3% in 2007. During the period

03 August 2008
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Pay and income

Working time developments – 2006

This review of working time developments in Europe in 2005 and 2006 finds that over the period the average collectively agreed weekly working time in the EU was 38.7 hours, while agreed normal annual working time averaged around 1,750 hours. Of the eight sectors and occupational groups examined in

18 July 2007
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Working time

Pay developments – 2006

This review of pay trends in Europe in 2005 and 2006 finds that average collectively-agreed nominal wage increases across the EU rose from 4.9% in 2005 to 5.6% in 2006. When inflation is taken into account, the rate of real increase rose from 1.9% in 2005 to 2.7% in 2006. However, the data show that

01 July 2007
Publication
Research report
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Industrial relations
Pay and income

Foundation research on European works councils 1994–2006 (résumé)

Increasingly, corporate decision-making takes place at transnational level; however, employees’ rights to information and consultation are still defined at national level. To bridge this gap, a 1994 Directive was adopted, aimed at promoting voluntary agreements on the constitution and operation of

12 March 2007
Publication
Résumé
Agreements
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Online resources results (321)

Rescue workers get better collective agreement

Due to the economic crisis, the government had to make major cutbacks in the state budget in 2009, forcing the Estonian Rescue Board (Päästeamet [1]) in turn to cut its budget. This led to an 8% cut in salary for rescue workers, border guards and police officers as of 1 July 2009. The collective

28 märts 2011
Article
Collective bargaining
Pay and income
Agreements
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Health social partners agree recruitment and retention framework

The European-level social partners in the hospitals and healthcare sector are the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU [1]) and the European Hospital and Healthcare Employers’ Association (HOSPEEM [2]). Their formal sectoral dialogue [3] which began in 2006 (*EU0610039I* [4]) has led

24 märts 2011
Article
Agreements
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Government, regions and social partners agree to relaunch apprenticeships

In the Italian labour market, unemployment levels for the young are among the highest in the EU. In December 2010, 29% of people between 15 and 24 were unemployed. This figure is three times higher than average unemployment level in the EU for the same period (8.6%).

23 märts 2011
Article
Agreements
Skills and training
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

2010 bargaining round examined

In January 2011, the Collective Agreement Archive (WSI-Tarifarchiv [1]) of the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI [2]) within the Hans Böckler Foundation (HBS [3]) issued a press release (in German) [4] summarising the findings of its report on the 2010 collective bargaining [5] round.

14 märts 2011
Article
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Pay and income
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

GDF Suez launches international social dialogue

On 16 November 2011, the management of GDF Suez signed a global agreement on fundamental rights, social dialogue and sustainable development (529Kb PDF) [1] with three international union federations – the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers’ Unions (ICEM [2]), the

7 märts 2011
Article
Agreements
Social dialogue
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Strike action suspended nationwide

At an all-trade union congress held on 13 December 2010, the leaders of the Pancyprian Public Employees’ Trade Union (PASYDY [1]), the Pancyprian Federation of Labour (PEO [2]) and the Cyprus Workers’ Confederation (SEK [3]) proposed that strikes that had been announced for mid-December 2010 be

24 veebruar 2011
Article
Agreements
Industrial action
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

TNT Post and unions agree to halve the number of forced redundancies

After four weeks of sporadic strikes each lasting up to several days, TNT Post [1] and the trade unions reached agreement in principle on the overall number of job losses at TNT. The number of redundancies will be almost halved from 4,500 to 2,300. In the end, TNT withdrew its initial demand that

16 veebruar 2011
Article
Agreements
Restructuring
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Bank of Scotland Ireland agreement on staff transfer

Bank of Scotland Ireland (BOSI [1]) announced in August 2010 that it would be winding down its remaining operations in Ireland and some 800 employees would be transferred to an independent service company. Earlier in 2010, 750 workers were made redundant from the bank due to a combination of the

10 veebruar 2011
Article
Agreements
Restructuring
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Fiom workers strike over opt-out clause

The industrial metalworking sector employs more than 1.6 million people in about 60,000 enterprises (Federmeccanica data (in Italian) [1]). The metalworking sector accounts for more than 47% of the total employment in Italian manufacturing. The National Collective Agreement for Metalworking (in

27 jaanuar 2011
Article
Agreements
Industrial action
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Bank workers brought into public welfare scheme

The banking sector used to have a large number of employees who were not automatically part of the General Social Security Scheme (RGSS). Their benefits came instead from employee and company pension schemes. Moreover, pension entitlements set by collective agreements in the banking industry have

27 jaanuar 2011
Article
Agreements
Social protection
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Blogs results (2)
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How to ensure adequate minimum wages in an age of inflation

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
Carlos Vacas‑Soriano
Blog
Pay and income
Minimum wage
Agreements
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Industrial relations
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Does the new telework generation need a right to disconnect?

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
Oscar Vargas Llave
Blog
Working conditions and sustainable work
Work-life balance
Collective bargaining
Agreements
Digitalisation
Teleworking
Labour and social regulation
Anticipating and managing the impact of change

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