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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)

European Works Councils case studies: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). Both the companies that merged to form GSK in December 2000 had established EWCs under this Directive.

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: the Suez group

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of EWCs is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system at European level

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: The Marazzi Group

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of EWCs is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system at European level

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Air France

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: HSBC

​The HSBC group, which has its headquarters in the UK, is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, with more than 8,000 offices in 80 different countries.

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Sandvik Specialty Steels

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

EWCs in the new Member States - Case study: ABB

ABB is a global company, based in Switzerland and working mainly in the field of energy and automation technology. This case study is based on interviews carried out in the Czech Republic and Poland between March and May 2006 with representatives of the ABB EWC Secretariat in Mannheim, Germany, a

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

EWCs in the new Member States - Case study: MOL

MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Company is a leading integrated oil and gas group in Central and Eastern Europe and, in terms of sales revenues, the largest company in Hungary. This case study is based on interviews carried out in Hungary and Slovakia in April 2006 with HR management representatives and

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Volkswagen

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Boehringer

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Online resources results (298)

Welfare benefits are replacing wages

Since 8 September 2009, when the Latvian cabinet adopted the social safety net strategy, state financing for social security has increased every year.

2 veljače 2012
Article
Employee representation
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

New public sector union elections claim first victims

The Act on the renewal of social dialogue in the public sector (in French) [1] adopted in July 2010 (*FR1009031I* [2]) profoundly changed the rules governing industrial relations and social dialogue in the public sector. Like the reform in the private sector, brought about by the 2008 Social

30 siječnja 2012
Article
Employee representation
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Intersectoral agreement on representativeness heals rift

The conclusion of an intersectoral agreement on 28 June 2011 marks a significant development in Italian industrial relations, following a split among trade union confederations after the General Confederation of Italian Workers (Cgil [1]) had refused to sign the January 2009 Framework Agreement on

8 siječnja 2012
Article
Agreements
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Union derecognition in the spotlight

Where UK employers recognise a trade union for collective bargaining purposes, this is usually based on a voluntary agreement between the parties. However, since 2000, there has also been a statutory procedure through which a union can apply to the independent Central Arbitration Committee (CAC [1])

21 prosinca 2011
Article
Employee representation
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

First assessment of representativeness reform

A report (in French) [1] published in February 2011, and commissioned by the Ministry of Work, Employment and Health [2], examines the impact of the reform of representativeness [3] in 2008 (*FR0808039I* [4]) on industrial relations in 12 French companies. [1] http://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr

12 prosinca 2011
Article
Employee representation
Social dialogue
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Trade union membership stable despite current crisis

According to the annual report published by the Registrar of Trade Unions on 30 September 2011, trade union membership in Malta increased by 483 in absolute terms between 1 July 2009 and 30 June 2011. This represents an increase of 0.6% over the previous year. Based on the figure of 148,546 for the

9 studenog 2011
Article
Social partners
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Two new studies on unionisation and collective agreement coverage

The Ministry of Employment and the Economy (Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriö [1]) has published two studies on the unionisation and the coverage of collective agreements in Finland. Both studies were undertaken by Lasse Ahtiainen. [1] http://www.tem.fi/

17 kolovoza 2011
Article
Employee representation
Agreements
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Unions and students act to help young workers

Young people in Poland face growing difficulties in the labour market. The magazine /Politkya/ has published an article (in Polish) [1] showing that a typical employee who earns less than the minimum wage of PLN 1,386 (€344 as at 1 August 2011) is a young female graduate with no professional

10 kolovoza 2011
Article
Employee representation
Social dialogue
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Union launches campaign to protect workers’ rights

The Coordinating Council of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria (CITUB [1]) decided at its meeting on 12 April 2011 to launch a campaign to protect workers’ rights in the framework of its project ‘Security through the law, flexibility through collective bargaining’. [1] http:/

10 kolovoza 2011
Article
Social partners
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Football players join General Workers’ Union

Maltese football players can be professional or amateur. A player who is paid for participating in any activity connected with football is registered as a professional and can be full-time or part-time players. A full–time professional player is defined as one whose only, or principal, occupation is

5 srpnja 2011
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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