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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
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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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Online resources results (321)

Social partners agree on changes to Labour Code and Social Security Code

Government ministers found that, when making redundancies, they had to pay out large, additional and unforeseen amounts to people who had accumulated a great deal of annual leave over many years. Businesses, on a slightly smaller scale, were also facing this problem. To solve it, ministers amended

Interim report on 2010 bargaining round

In July 2010, the Collective Agreement Archive (Tarifarchiv [1]) of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut, WSI [2]) within the Hans Böckler Foundation (Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, HBS [3]) published its interim report (in German) [4] on the

Croke Park deal delivers cost containment and promises major change in public sector

In June, the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU [1]) backed what has become known as the ‘Croke Park’ agreement, by 1,894 delegate votes to 986. The agreement, negotiated at Croke Park, Ireland’s premier sports stadium, means a four-year pay freeze, and commitments

New collective agreement concluded in chemicals industry

On 21 April 2010, the Mining, Chemicals and Energy Industrial Union (IG BCE [1]) and the German Federation of Chemicals Employers’ Associations (BAVC [2]) announced in a press article (in German) [3] the conclusion of a new collective agreement in the sector. It runs for 11 months and will cover 550

Tension in hotel trade over renewal of pay agreement

The labour agreement for the hotel trade covers over 16,000 skilled and unskilled workers. There have been increasing delays in the agreement’s renewal over the past 10 years, due to the two sides being able to reach agreement only after mediation. The previous agreement, which officially expired on

New agreements pave the way to tackle social dumping

Private sector wage agreements in the early spring of 2010 were signed in Denmark in the wake of the global economic crisis and were predicted to be low-cost settlements in favour of the employers in order to sustain the competitiveness of companies. It was anticipated that wage increases would be

Volkswagen Slovakia increases wages by 3%

The automotive industry in Slovakia is producing new models after overcoming the recent downturn. Volkswagen Slovakia, based in Bratislava, has brought out an improved version of the 4WD Touareg and is preparing to produce a new small family car in 2011. Employees’ wages were kept down by the

New agreements concluded in key private sector accord areas

In the spring of 2010, the biennial collective agreements in Norwegian working life were due to be renegotiated. This year, the private sector wage settlement was to be carried out as an industry-level settlement – in other words, all of the private sector collective agreements are to be negotiated

EU social partners reach agreement on inclusive labour market

On 25 March 2010, the EU-level cross-sector social partners presented a joint autonomous framework agreement (863Kb PDF) [1] on inclusive labour markets. The parties involved included the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC [2]), the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and

Largest employer organisation in industry leaves industrial agreement

In 1996, the Swedish government advised the social partners at sectoral level to propose, by the end of March 1997, a new framework for wage setting and negotiations within industry. The purpose of this new framework was to ensure a better functioning of the wage negotiations that would be more 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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