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Employee representation

Employee representation may be defined as the right of employees to seek a union or individual to represent them for the purpose of negotiating with management on such issues as wages, hours, benefits and working conditions. In the workplace, workers may be represented by trade union and through works councils – or similar structures elected by all employees. EU law has established rights and obligations for employees and their representatives to be informed and consulted via a set of directives that provide for the information and consultation of the workers, at both national and international level.

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Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound and focuses on comparative industrial relations, social dialogue and collective bargaining...

Research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (74)

Social dialogue still matters in Europe. Recent EU-level policy debates have highlighted that, particularly since the 2008 crisis, the emergence of new debates on social justice, democracy, the quality of work and new models for labour relations have been challenging traditional industrial relations

12 July 2016

This report studies practices in EU establishments for direct and indirect employee participation in decision-making. Indirect employee participation is the involvement of employee representatives in decision-making processes, while direct employee participation describes direct interaction between

14 December 2015

This report examines the differences in alignment, timing and content of workplace information and consultation processes at national and European level. It compares the legal situation at national and European level in six EU Member States: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and the

07 July 2015

European Works Councils (EWCs) provide an important vehicle for transnational information and consultation in multinational companies. This report explores the efforts of 10 EWCs to make these bodies optimally fit for purpose for European company level social dialogue. Looking at the developments in

10 June 2015

The aims of this project are to explore recent experiences in the practice of information and consultation (I&C) at national level, building on the findings of the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) 2011 report entitled Information and consultation practice across Europe five years

30 May 2013

This report analyses data from Eurofound’s European Company Survey of 2009 to examine the incidence of performance-related pay (PRP) in European establishments and what determines it, with a specific focus on the role of employment relations. Larger establishments, those in foreign ownership, in the

16 October 2012

The financial global crisis, the deepest the world has experienced since the 1930s, originated in the US mortgage market and led to a liquidity shortfall in the US banking system, the full effect of which started to be felt in August 2007. One of the first victims was the UK bank Northern Rock

16 February 2012

An increasingly important aspect of EU policy making is that of ‘greening’ the economy, in the face of an urgent need to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Greening the economy means producing products and services with less energy, fewer raw materials and with reduced carbon emissions. It

16 February 2012

This study shows the main characteristics and specifics of the ARC sector in four European countries. The overall picture shows that the activities of contractors go beyond the agricultural and forestry sectors, into construction services or services to public authorities. The project also shows

15 January 2012

Across Europe, diverse forms of employee representation structures have developed, providing workers with differing opportunities to voice their interests and to be consulted by their employers directly, at their workplaces, on matters such as economic and human resources developments, working

20 November 2011

Online resources results (298)

Industrial relations landscape to change after review

In 2010–2011, social partners in Bulgaria began discussions on new criteria for representation at national level on the country’s tripartite council. The council brings together social partners from employer organisations and unions to discuss a range of national issues with the government.

Trade unions file complaint with ILO against courts

Members of Poland’s two biggest trade unions at LOT Aircraft Maintenance Services (LOT AMS [1]), NSZZ Solidarność [2] and the Trade Union of Airport Ground Staff (ZZNPL [3]), part of the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions (OPZZ [4]), went on strike on 18 March 2012. [1] http://lotams.com/en [2]

Agreement eases tension at Flamanville nuclear site

Agreement has been reached at the territorial level of the Département of Seine-Maritime on working conditions at the nuclear reactor construction site of Flamanville. French energy giant EDF [1] is building the reactor, and the new agreement is intended to improve the provision of information, work

New labour dispute resolution system

In Lithuania, a two-level procedure for Individual Labour Dispute (ILD) resolution existed. It provided for the hearing of individual labour disputes by a special Labour Disputes Commission at company level and in the courts. This was seen as unsatisfactory to both employers and employees, and was

Grand conference to launch new government’s social reform strategy

During the French election campaign, the attitude of socialist candidate François Hollande towards relations with trade unions and business leaders, indicating that he would respect their autonomy, set him apart from Nicolas Sarkozy, his competitor for the Presidency.

Sharp rise in applications for union recognition

Employers in the UK are obliged to grant trade union recognition for collective bargaining if the union successfully applies to the independent Central Arbitration Committee (CAC [1]) under a statutory procedure introduced in 2000 (*UK0007183F* [2]). [1] http://www.cac.gov.uk [2] www.eurofound

GDF Suez signs Europe-wide agreement on gender equality

Based in France, GDF Suez [1] is an electricity, gas and energy environmental services group with 219,000 employees worldwide, around 191,000 of them in Europe. It was created in 2008 by the merger of GDF and Suez (*FR0808029I* [2]). [1] http://www.gdfsuez.com/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef

Company-level employment contracts trigger wages drop

A report issued by the Labour Inspectorate (SEPE [1]) on developments in employment contracts during the first four months of 2012 showed that 46% of new contracts in the private sector were for flexible forms of work such as part-time work and work rotation. [1] http://www.ypakp.gr/

Workers increasingly excluded from bargaining model

A new anthology entitled Insiders and outsiders – the scope of the Danish bargaining model (in Danish) [1] draws on a series of studies carried out by scholars at the University of Copenhagen’s Employment Relations Research Centre (FAOS [2]). It explores the impact of union membership and collective

Temporary agency workers granted national minimum wage

On 20 December 2011, Germany’s Federal Cabinet agreed to include the temporary agency work sector in the Posted Workers Act (AEntG [1]) so that the minimum hourly wage scale (in German, 37Kb PDF) [2] could apply to these workers. The Posted Workers Act stipulates that minimum wages can only be


Blogs results (1)
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Trade unions in many EU Member States face the issue of declining membership. This is a fundamental challenge for organised labour, but it is premature to speak about the redundancy unions: when it comes to important decisions affecting the workplace, restructuring being one, trade unions remain a

20 studenog 2019
Data results (1)
24 listopada 2023
Reference period:

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