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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)

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
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