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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

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)

Time-off provisions for employee representatives in Europe - Background paper

M

15 November 2011
Publication
Customised report
Working time
Working conditions
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): Strabag SE

Strabag is a multinational building and construction company. It operates in three areas: building construction and civil engineering; road construction; and tunnelling and services, in more than 500 locations worldwide. In 2009, Strabag SE had 75,500 employees, of which more than 80% worked in

20 October 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): Fresenius SE

Fresenius was one of the first German companies with a two-tier corporate governance structure to become a European company in July 2007. The actors involved in the negotiation process worked under the impression to accomplish pioneer work. Both the management and the employee side representatives

20 October 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): Hager SE

The Hager Group is a family-run company based in the German Saarland with approximately 10,000 employees worldwide. The company offers a complete range of systems, solutions and services for energy distribution in buildings, including security solutions as well as electrical installations supplies

20 October 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): Elcoteq SE

Elcoteq is a global contract manufacturer of electronic equipment headquartered in Luxembourg. While the origins of the company are in Finland where Elcoteq was founded in 1984, the established production sites in European as well as non-European countries. Until 2008 the European centre of the

20 October 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Industrial relations and sustainability: the role of social partners in the transition towards a green economy

This study examined best practice examples of social partner involvement in greening the economy in different Member States. It analysed the role of the trade unions and employers’ associations as well as employees, their direct representatives and company management in selected projects at national

28 June 2011
Publication
Research report
Employee representation
European Green Deal
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Job creation
Just transition
Social partners

The European Company Survey – First Findings (Résumé)

In spring 2009, Eurofound launched a large-scale representative survey addressed to managers and employee representatives. The European Company Survey 2009 – Flexibility practices and social dialogue (ECS) is the second European-wide establishment survey launched by Eurofound. The European Company

30 May 2011
Publication
Résumé
Social dialogue
Working time
Working conditions
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Company Survey 2009 - Overview

The European Company Survey 2009 on flexibility practices and social dialogue is the second European-wide establishment survey to be undertaken by Eurofound. The survey documents flexibility strategies in firms and is a unique source of comparative information on social dialogue at the workplace

30 May 2011
Publication
Research report
Social dialogue
Working time
Working conditions
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): GfK SE

GfK, the German-based market research company, transformed itself into an SE in 2009. Management saw the change as reflecting GfK’s international perspectives and structure, although it also had the side effect of avoiding a major change in the composition of the supervisory board. The

23 May 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Employee involvement in companies under the European Company Statute (ECS): SCOR SE

The reinsurance group SCOR was the first French listed company to create a European Company (SE) with employee participation. Three parallel agreements secure employee involvement through a common SE works council for the SCOR SE and its two subsidiaries. This was an important progress, since with

25 April 2011
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Participation at work
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Online resources results (298)

Negotiations start at Electrolux-Zanussi to resolve participation controversies

In autumn 1996, following what company management considered the constant opposition of some works councils to worker participation, the Electrolux-Zanussi group in Italy announced that it intended to terminate all company-level agreements on participation from the end of March 1997. At the same

27 lipnja 1997
Article
Participation at work
Employee representation
Collective bargaining
Industrial action
Social partners

European and national works councils in the Netherlands

Within the framework of European Works Councils, "Community-scale" companies are defined as those employing at least 1,000 workers with branches or subsidiaries which employ 150 workers or more in at least two European Union member states. According to government estimates, approximately 100

27 lipnja 1997
Article
Employee representation
Participation at work
Labour and social regulation
Social partners

New union for employees of international and European organisations

On 28 April 1997, the German Public Services, Transport and Traffic Union (Gewerkschaft Öffentliche Dienste, Transport und Verkehr, ÖTV) and the German White-Collar Workers' Union (Deutsche Angestellten-Gewerkschaft, DAG) announced the foundation of a new joint subsidiary union for the employees of

27 svibnja 1997
Article
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Social partners
Employee representation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Economic and Social Council gives opinion on reform of collective agreements legislation

Luxembourg's Economic and Social Council has recently responded to a government request for its opinion, with a view to reforming the Law of 12 June 1965 relating to collective agreements and of the Grand-Ducal Order of 6 October 1945 dealing with the National Conciliation Office (Office National de

27 svibnja 1997
Article
Labour law
Employee representation
Collective bargaining
Social partners
Labour and social regulation

Preliminary agreement for the renewal of national railworkers' contract

On 7 May 1997, a preliminary agreement (which requires ratification) was signed for the renewal of the Italian national railworkers' contract. The new contract, which comes into effect from January 1997 and will expire on 31 December 1999, deals with company recovery plans and pay.

27 svibnja 1997
Article
Pay and income
Work organisation
Employee representation

The industrial relations consequences of the "new" Labour Government.

From 1979, the economic policy of successive Conservative Governments was based on a fundamental belief in the effectiveness of free markets. In the case of the labour market, there was an emphasis on deregulation and the importance of flexibility in creating employment and economic growth. The

27 travnja 1997
Article
Industrial relations
Labour market policies
Minimum wage
Pay and income
Employee representation
Employment and labour markets
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Determining terms of employment: works council or union?

A current bill amending the 1971 Works Councils Act has focused attention on the increasingly important role played by Dutch works councils in the negotiation of terms of employment. However, although the function of the trade unions is being somewhat eroded, even in the area of determining primary

27 ožujka 1997
Article
Collective bargaining
Employee representation
Social partners
Labour law
Labour and social regulation

Only one firm in five has a works council

In the Works Constitution [1] Act (Betriebsverfassungsgesetz) of 1972, works councils [2] in Germany are given extensive rights of information, consultation and co-determination [3]. The employer has to provide the works council with both timely and comprehensive information on all matters related

27 veljače 1997
Article
Employee representation
Blogs results (1)
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Restructuring: Do unions still matter?

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
Sara Riso
Blog
Restructuring
Working conditions
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Data results (1)

European Company Survey

24 listopada 2023
Reference period:
2019

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