Corral Alza, Antonio

This report explores the motivations, opportunities and challenges of born globals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in integrating and managing their global value chains (GVCs). The study also investigates the role of selected policy measures in supporting SME internationalisation, including different types of support in Europe and beyond.

Developments in Working Life in Europe is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound and provides an overview of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the European Union and Norway.

The use of supplementary employee reward systems has increased across Europe in recent decades, both in terms of the number of companies using them and the number of employees covered. Supplementary reward systems include performance-related pay, profit-sharing, payment by results and benefits in kind. These forms of remuneration can help to motivate and reward workers and to link pay to company results.

In September 2015, Spanish trade union UGT published a report on occupational diseases up to August 2015, analysing data for the period January–August 2015 (by gender, age, economic activity, region, etc.) and comparing them...

A good practice guide for eliminating wage gaps between men and women was recently launched by the Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises CEPYME). The report outlines the business benefits that equal pay can bring to a company.

Workplace innovation (WPI) refers to practices that enable employees to participate in organisational change in such a way as to improve the quality of their working life and organisational performance. This report examines the motives behind the adoption of WPI and describes its implementation across companies in Europe. It analyses the impacts of WPI from the perspective of the different players – organisation, management, employees and employee representatives – in 51 companies across 10 EU Member States.

The economic crisis and recent labour reforms in Spain have hindered the development of policies to help employees have a better work–life balance, according to a report released in March 2015. The report, backed by the CCOO union federation, examines existing rights concerning work–life balance and working time in large Spanish companies.

Experts acknowledge the success of Spanish measures to encourage self-employment, but argue that many unemployed people have decided to set up their own businesses only because they cannot find a job, and that necessity-driven new businesses have lower survival rates. They say entrepreneurship should be supported with long-term measures adapted to entrepreneurs’ actual needs.

Micro and small companies constitute the backbone of private business in Europe, accounting for nearly 99% of all enterprises, more than half of total employment in the private sector and an even greater proportion of new jobs. Despite their crucial place in the economy, there has been little research on micro and small companies, particularly in terms of the implementation of fundamental workers’ rights – such as health and safety at work – and the positive role of social dialogue in striving for good working conditions and industrial relations. Given this knowledge gap, Eurofound undertook a research project aimed at investigating industrial relations and social dialogue in micro and small companies. The research was based on various information sources, including a review of Eurofound’s earlier research and other literature on the topic, a comparative evaluation of contributions from 28 national correspondents and 10 case studies of good practice in micro and small companies in five countries.

During the last few decades, public administration workers have been subject to a number of structural, modernising reforms, in a framework often designated as ‘new public management’. The current economic and financial crisis has also meant that the steep rise in public debt has prompted many authorities to try to reduce public expenditure by introducing freezes and reductions in pay and employment for civil servants. This report sets out to provide an overview of the main causes and reasons for change in central public administration in the European member states plus Norway. It also looks at the impact these changes have had on the sector's working conditions, as well as exploring how this situation is expected to evolve.