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Labour and social regulation

Labour and social regulation covers the legal framework and fundamental social rights that regulates industrial relations, employment and social policies across Europe. It includes national, EU and international legislation.  Union labour law has a direct or indirect impact on the normative and functional frameworks of individual and collective labour law systems of the Member States in a relationship of mutual interference and interaction.  Increasingly Union labour laws are also shaped by agreements that the parties voluntarily enter into and by soft law mechanisms.  The reform or modernising of labour law is currently high on the agenda in several Member States.

Topic

Recent updates

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Regulatory responses to algorithmic management in the EU

Since 2013, Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legislation has been documenting regulatory developments in the Member States of the European Union and Norway. The most recent update to the database...

Article
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Lavoro ibrido in Europa: concetto e pratica

Il termine «lavoro ibrido» è stato reso popolare con l’aumento del telelavoro durante la pandemia di COVID-19, quando le aziende e i dipendenti hanno iniziato a discutere le modalità per...

25 Maggio 2023
Publication
Research report

Eurofound research

Eurofound has monitored legislative developments in industrial relations, working conditions and restructuring in Europe over time and from a comparative perspective across the Member States. The Agency’s work in this area seeks to assist decision-makers to better understand the legal framework for creating policy. It has also put resources in place to assist audiences in understanding the sometimes complex and difficult terminology used.

EU context

This topic covers the legal framework that regulates industrial relations and employment across Europe, including EU legislation and the fundamental labour standards that need to be taken into account.

Legislation is crucial in shaping how Europeans work and live. It is the basis for ensuring better working conditions, equitable labour relations, and equal opportunities for all citizens.

Publications results (81)

Diritto alla disconnessione: attuazione e impatto a livello aziendale

This report explores EU Member States’ legislation around the right to disconnect and assesses the impact of company policies in this area on employees’ hours of connection, working time, work–life balance, health and well-being, and overall workplace satisfaction.

30 November 2023
Publication
Research report
Orario di lavoro
Equilibrio tra vita professionale e vita privata
Condizioni di lavoro e lavoro sostenibile
Telelavoro
Working conditions
Agreements
Labour and social regulation
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Lavoro ibrido in Europa: concetto e pratica

Il termine «lavoro ibrido» è stato reso popolare con l’aumento del telelavoro durante la pandemia di COVID-19, quando le aziende e i dipendenti hanno iniziato a discutere le modalità per organizzare il lavoro dopo la crisi. Il termine è stato sempre più utilizzato per indicare situazioni in cui il

25 May 2023
Publication
Research report
Condizioni di lavoro e lavoro sostenibile
Telelavoro
Work organisation
Labour and social regulation
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Aumento del telelavoro: impatto sulle condizioni di lavoro e sulla regolamentazione

La presente relazione presenta la ricerca di Eurofound sul telelavoro durante la pandemia di COVID-19 nel 2020 e nel 2021. Esamina i cambiamenti nell’incidenza del telelavoro, soffermandosi sulle condizioni di lavoro dei dipendenti che lavorano da casa e sulle modifiche apportate alla

08 December 2022
Publication
Research report
Nuove forme di occupazione
Condizioni di lavoro e lavoro sostenibile
Working conditions
Telelavoro
Employment relationship
COVID-19
L’era digitale: opportunità e sfide per il lavoro e l’occupazione
Labour and social regulation
Orario di lavoro
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Regolamentazione dei salari minimi e di altre forme di retribuzione per i lavoratori autonomi

La presente relazione è realizzata nel contesto del progetto pilota triennale (2021-2023), «Ruolo del salario minimo nell’istituzione della Garanzia universale per i lavoratori», commissionato a Eurofound dalla Commissione europea. È incentrata sul modulo 3 del progetto, che esamina i salari minimi

30 November 2022
Publication
Research report
Retribuzione e reddito
Salario minimo
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Labour and social regulation
Relazioni industriali e dialogo sociale
Relazioni industriali
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Telelavoro nell’UE: quadri normativi e aggiornamenti recenti

La relazione si propone di mappare e analizzare la legislazione e la contrattazione collettiva sul telelavoro nei 27 Stati membri e in Norvegia, evidenziando le principali differenze e analogie tra le legislazioni dei vari paesi e le modifiche apportatevi di recente. Esamina inoltre l’attuale

01 September 2022
Publication
Research report
Orario di lavoro
Working conditions
Telelavoro
Equilibrio tra vita professionale e vita privata
Work organisation
Agreements
Collective bargaining
Labour and social regulation
Relazioni industriali e dialogo sociale
Relazioni industriali
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Salari minimi nel 2022: revisione annuale

Dopo un prudente ciclo di determinazione dei salari minimi per il 2021, via via che le conseguenze negative della pandemia si attenuavano e le economie e i mercati del lavoro miglioravano, i tassi nominali sono considerevolmente saliti per il 2022. Nel suddetto contesto, 20 dei 21 Stati membri che

15 June 2022
Publication
Research report
Dialogo sociale
Social partners
Retribuzione e reddito
Salario minimo
Collective bargaining
Labour and social regulation
Relazioni industriali e dialogo sociale
Relazioni industriali
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Ethics in the digital workplace

Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns. Recently, the policy debate surrounding these concerns has become more prominent and has

30 May 2022
Publication
Research report
Social dialogue
Social policies
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Digitalisation
Labour and social regulation
Job quality
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Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2021

This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries – the 27 EU Member States and Norway. The country reports summarise evidence on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results during 2021. They

19 May 2022
Publication
Other
Social dialogue
Social partners
Pay and income
Working time
Working conditions
COVID-19
Industrial action
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Industrial relations
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Salari minimi nel 2021: revisione annuale

La presente relazione riassume le modalità con cui i salari minimi per il 2021 sono stati determinati durante il 2020, l’anno segnato dalla pandemia di COVID-19, analizzando i problemi affrontati dai responsabili politici nazionali e il modo in cui hanno reagito alle sfide poste dalle ripercussioni

10 June 2021
Publication
Research report
Dialogo sociale
Social partners
Retribuzione e reddito
Working poor
Salario minimo
European Pillar of Social Rights
Collective bargaining
Labour and social regulation
Relazioni industriali e dialogo sociale
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Disabilità e integrazione nel mercato del lavoro: tendenze politiche e sostegno negli Stati membri dell’UE

La presente relazione esamina gli sviluppi politici negli Stati membri dell’UE volti a sostenere l’inclusione delle persone con disabilità nel mercato del lavoro aperto, con un’attenzione particolare alle tre fasi di inserimento nel mercato occupazionale, permanenza nel posto di lavoro e ritorno al

19 April 2021
Publication
Research report
Social policies
Servizi pubblici
Working conditions
European Pillar of Social Rights
COVID-19
Disability and chronic disease
Labour market policies
Labour market participation
Condizioni e qualità della vita
Labour and social regulation
Online resources results (794)

Romania: Amendments to law on social dialogue proposed in parliament

In May 2015, the Romanian Parliament adopted a set of amendments to the Social Dialogue Act. However, in June, the President sent the law back to Parliament for reexamination, claiming that the criteria for representativeness of unions at company level must be reduced.

28 Settembre 2015
Article
Representativeness
Social dialogue
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Germany: Act on Collective Agreement Unity passes, divides unions

24 Settembre 2015
Article
Collective bargaining
Social partners
Social dialogue
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Italy: Mixed reaction to Jobs Act

A new law has been passed in Italy to help give atypical workers more job security. It comes after mounting criticism about the polarisation of the labour market, between the security enjoyed by workers who are employed on indefinite contracts and the vulnerability of those who are not. It will

23 Settembre 2015
Article
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Italy: Economically dependent self-employed work in the Jobs Act

Labour law reforms under the Jobs Act have dispensed with new job contracts based on one or more specific projects. From 2016, this type of contract will be assimilated into another type of employment contract. Workers whose contracts are expiring are entitled to receive an income support measure

23 Settembre 2015
Article
Labour law
Employment relationship
Working poor
Labour market policies
Non-standard employment
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Labour and social regulation
Working conditions and sustainable work

Italy: New rules on job tasks

The Italian government’s labour reforms continue with the adoption of the so-called ‘Jobs Act’. It introduces mobility within and between staff levels, allowing employers to assign workers different job tasks belonging to the same, or even lower, staff level for which they were hired. It has been

23 Settembre 2015
Article
Sustainable work
Employment relationship
Work organisation
Labour law
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Italy: New law streamlines labour inspection

​A National Labour Inspectorate is to be set up under Italy’s new Jobs Act which will carry out all inspections, including those currently carried out by other bodies. The Council of Ministers has also given the inspectorate some responsibilities in tackling undeclared work, such as analysing the

23 Settembre 2015
Article
Fraudulent work
Working conditions
Labour and social regulation
Working conditions and sustainable work

Slovakia: New rules on employing external workers

Strict rules on the employment of external workers have been added to the Slovakian Labour Code. The amendments mean that the length of contract, working hours and pay are no longer a matter for negotiation between employer and worker. The government hopes the new measures will stop abuses such as

21 Settembre 2015
Article
Labour and social regulation

Ireland: Public sector pay restoration talks look set to succeed

Public service trade unions have concluded a ‘pay restoration’ agreement with the government, costing €566 million over a three-year period. The average gross payment per employee will be €2,000, to be paid out between January 2016 and September 2017. Individual unions are balloting on the proposed

21 Settembre 2015
Article
Agreements
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Ireland: Duties and functions of new Low Pay Commission published

The National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015, published in July 2015, sets out the duties and functions of the Low Pay Commission.

10 Settembre 2015
Article
Working poor
Minimum wage
Pay and income
Working conditions
Labour and social regulation
Working conditions and sustainable work

Ireland: New sectoral wage mechanisms under Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015

New sectoral wage-setting mechanisms are established under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015.

10 Settembre 2015
Article
Collective bargaining
Employee representation
Representativeness
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Blogs results (12)
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Regulating platform work in Europe: A work in progress

The platform economy is one of those moving targets, which, despite receiving increasing media and policy attention, has proven difficult to regulate. Given the heterogeneity of employment relationships, business models, types of platform work and cross-border issues, this is not surprising. Yet, in

27 Settembre 2022
Dragoș Adăscăliței
Blog
Platform work
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Digitalisation
Labour and social regulation
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Resumed EU Semester calls for better involvement of the social partners in implementing recovery and resilience plans

With the arrival of the month of May, the 2022 European Semester Spring Package is anticipated soon. After a transformative year in 2021, which saw the launch of the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) under NextGenerationEU, the European Semester cycle has resumed its role as the reference

3 Maggio 2022
Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras
Blog
Social partners
European Pillar of Social Rights
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue
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Platform cooperatives ensure caring in the sharing economy

Whether it is couch surfing, baby-sitting, pizza delivery or getting Ikea furniture assembled by somebody who can do it better, platforms can mediate all kinds of voluntary or professional services. Platform work is at the heart of the ‘sharing economy’. But while this may sound like a new form of

31 Marzo 2022
Beate Steurer
Blog
New forms of employment
Employment relationship
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
Digitalisation
Labour and social regulation
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Gender pay transparency: Advancing the cause through a truly European proposal

With its proposed directive on gender pay transparency, the European Commission has significantly bolstered the set of tools for delivering its objectives compared to those presented in its 2014 Recommendation. The proposed portfolio of measures addresses many shortcomings of the instruments that

18 Giugno 2021
Christine Aumayr-Pintar
Blog
Pay and income
Working conditions and sustainable work
Gender equality
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue
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As Member States take different approaches to regulating telework, will the EU bring them into line?

The massive and rapid adoption of telework in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 lockdowns exposed gaps in the legislation governing telework arrangements across the EU Member States. In some cases, there was no regulation in place; in others, it was too restrictive. Governments scrambled to put

31 Maggio 2021
Federica De Blasio
Blog
Working conditions and sustainable work
Teleworking
Digitalisation
Labour and social regulation
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Does the new telework generation need a right to disconnect?

Whatever the benefits of telework – and there are many, including more flexible working time, increased productivity and less commuting – there are drawbacks, as many of the one-third of Europeans who were exclusively working from home during the pandemic will attest. Primary among these is the ‘alw

3 Dicembre 2020
Oscar Vargas Llave
Blog
Working conditions and sustainable work
Work-life balance
Collective bargaining
Agreements
Digitalisation
Teleworking
Labour and social regulation
Anticipating and managing the impact of change
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Are simple statistics enough? On the benefits of gender pay reports and audits

Following a sluggish response by many Member States to introduce or modify gender pay transparency measures, as it recommended in 2014, the European Commission intends to table a proposal for EU-level legislation on pay transparency later in 2020. In this context, a new Eurofound study investigated

6 Novembre 2020
Christine Aumayr-Pintar
Blog
Pay and income
Gender equality
Discrimination at work
Labour and social regulation
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Racial discrimination is not a thing of the past in the EU

25 Giugno 2020
Anna Gallinat
Blog
Working conditions and sustainable work
Working conditions
Employment and labour markets
Discrimination at work
Inclusive labour markets
Migration and mobility
Labour and social regulation
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Can short-time working save jobs during the COVID-19 crisis?

On 2 April, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new fund of up to €100 billion to support EU Member States to introduce short-time working or similar schemes, including for the self-employed, in an effort to safeguard jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Known as SURE

5 Maggio 2020
Tina Weber
Blog
COVID-19
Labour market policies
Labour and social regulation
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Economic downturns expose the vulnerability of a growing number of precarious workers

Up to the start of 2020, recent EU economic and labour market trends were often discussed in terms of the periods before and after the Great Recession. It now appears likely that, in the short- to medium-term, the repercussions of that economic crisis will be dwarfed by the unfolding impact of the

21 Aprile 2020
Tina Weber
Blog
COVID-19
Non-standard employment
Employment status
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets

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