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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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Eurofound expert(s)

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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)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Online resources results (298)

Controversy over employee information and consultation procedure

The general framework of employee information and consultation is regulated by Act 467/2006, which transposes Directive 2002/14/EC [1] into Romanian law, and stipulates the right of management and labour to ‘define freely and at any time through negotiated agreement the practical arrangements for

Unions in dispute over recognition at bank

Employment relations in Malta are governed and regulated by the Employment and Industrial Relations Act (EIRA) (215 KB PDF) [1]. However, the act does not regulate trade union recognition at a place of work. More than one trade union claiming majority representation – 50% plus one – among the same

Supermarket catastrophe uncovers poor working conditions in retail sector

In the heavily populated Rīga suburb of Zolitūde, the roof of a Maxima supermarket collapsed at 6pm on 21 November 2013. The store was busy and the roof over the cash registers collapsed onto cashiers and lines of customers. An hour later, another part of the roof collapsed burying both the injured

Trade union position stable after workplace elections

Workplace elections are held in Luxembourg every five years. The most recent elections were held on 13 November 2013, and 437,000 employees and retired workers were eligible to vote. , However, the turnout was just 36% (approximately 158,000 people). Just over 700 companies were involved.

Changes in social partner organisations

On 31 October 2013, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS [1]) in the Netherlands published new figures on union density. [1] http://www.cbs.nl/nl-NL/menu/home/default.htm

Financial sector creates its first trade union

The Estonian financial sector is strongly intertwined with the Scandinavian model, where trade unions are an important part of the sector. When the Scandinavian banks expanded to Estonia in the 1990s, unsuccessful attempts were made to form trade unions for workers in the sector. Employers now say

Unions call for worker representation on boards

A report published on 22 October 2013 by the Trades Union Congress (TUC [1]) makes the case for a stronger voice for workers in corporate governance structures, including ‘a mandatory system for the representation of workers on company boards’. [1] http://www.tuc.org.uk/

New rules give trade unions extended rights

Union membership in Lithuania is low – about 10% of all employees. The unions are divided into three main confederations, the Lithuanian Trade Union Confederation (LPSK [1]), the Lithuanian Labour Federation (LDF [2]) and Solidarumas [3]. They are divided – historically at least – on ideological

Steps made to improve seafarers’ employment rights

As part of the European Commission’s (EC [1]) better regulation policy, it issued a ‘Fitness Check’ report in July 2013 focusing on worker involvement issues in EU law. It examines the directives that cover worker information and consultation at national level (*EU1308011I*). [1] http://ec.europa.eu

Changes to works councils law affect training budget

The Works Councils Act (WOR [1]) was first enacted in 1950. There have been seven major revisions of the act since it first came into force (*NL9709130F* [2]). An eighth revision has been made this year, 15 years after the last significant changes, and came into force on 19 July 2013. [1] http://www


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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