EurWORK European Observatory of Working Life

Eurofound’s long-established observatories on industrial relations (EIRO) and working conditions (EWCO) have since 2014 been combined to form EurWORK: the European Observatory of Working Life. EurWORK gathers all Eurofound's resources on working conditions and industrial relations, and is supported by a Network of Eurofound Correspondents across all EU Member States and Norway.

Eurofound runs two regular surveys on working life issues: the European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) and the European Company Survey (ECS).

EurWORK focuses on

Working conditions and sustainable work

The demographic challenge of an ageing population and the increasing diversity of working life have led to an increased focus on the concept of sustainable work over the life course. This emphasises the relevance of the quality of a worker’s job and their working environment over the entire course of their working life.

Industrial relations

Trade unions, employer organisations and public authorities all play a role in the governance of the employment relationship. They are interlocking parts in a system that operates at European, national, sectoral, regional and company level. In recent years, as technology and forms of work evolve within a constantly changing economic environment, industrial relations systems have faced key challenges.

Reporting on working life developments

Eurofound provides systematic and comparable data on national industrial relations systems and developments in working life through monitoring and reporting tools drawing on contributions from its network of correspondents across 28 Member States.

Featured - Latest developments in working life in light of the COVID-19 pandemic

In early March 2020, working life in EU Member States came under enormous pressure due to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 disease and the precautionary measures taken by governments in subsequent weeks. This article gives a brief overview of the first reactions of European institutions and some of the responses by EU social partners to those challenges in the first quarter of 2020.

EU level: Latest developments in working life

Social partners’ reactions to the Commission's proposals for a strong social Europe, including a minimum fair wage initiative, are the main topics of interest in this article. This EU update reports on the latest developments in working life in the EU in the first quarter of 2020. Topics related to the COVID-19 pandemic are presented in a separate article (see above).

 

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EurWORK Publications