Skip to main content
agreements.jpg

Agreements

Agreements are the outcome of collective bargaining and social dialogue processes. Social partners are encouraged to negotiate and conclude collective agreements  that can then be implemented at European, national, regional, sectoral or company level.  Increasingly Union labour laws are shaped by agreements that the parties voluntarily enter into and by soft law mechanisms. 

Topic

Recent updates

ef22064_card_cover.png

In this pilot project, Eurofound successfully established the feasibility of, and piloted, an EU-wide database of minimum pay rates contained in collective agreements related to low-paid workers. A conceptual and...

26 January 2024
Publication
Research report

Eurofound expert(s)

christine-aumayr-2023.png

Christine Aumayr-Pintar is a senior research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. Her current research topics include minimum wages, collectively agreed wages and gender...

Senior research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (40)

In this pilot project, Eurofound successfully established the feasibility of, and piloted, an EU-wide database of minimum pay rates contained in collective agreements related to low-paid workers. A conceptual and measurement framework was devised, a total of 692 collective agreements – related to 24

26 January 2024

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

This report examines the average weekly working hours across Europe in 2021 and 2022. It covers important developments resulting from legislative reforms in collective bargaining at national or sectoral level, drawing on debates about the reduction of working time and the four-day working week.

24 October 2023

Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. The full range of their effects in the workplace is yet to be seen. It is, however, important not only to explore the ethical implications of digital te

12 September 2023

After a long period of price stability, inflation has made a remarkable comeback in the EU. While nominal wages picked up in 2021 and 2022, real wage growth has remained below inflation, affecting mainly low-income groups.

06 September 2023

This report investigates the involvement of social partners in the just transition to a climate-neutral economy, with a particular focus on the territorial just transition plans. These plans aim to support the regions most negatively affected by the just transition by assisting workers to retrain

19 July 2023

This report is carried out in the context of the three-year pilot project (2021–2023), ‘Role of the minimum wage in establishing the Universal Labour Guarantee’, mandated to Eurofound by the European Commission. Its focus is module 3 of the project, investigating minimum wages and other forms of pay

30 November 2022

This working paper investigates the practical implementation of the European Works Council (EWC) Directive at company level. It explores the challenges faced by existing EWCs and provides examples of solutions identified and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. In

25 October 2022

This report sets out to map and analyse legislation and collective bargaining on telework in the 27 Member States and Norway. It highlights the main cross-country differences and similarities regarding telework legislation and recent changes to these regulations. It also examines the current situati

01 September 2022

This report analyses recent developments and emerging practices in collective bargaining processes and outcomes, mainly in the private sector. The report covers collective bargaining systems in 10 EU Member States and is based on cases identified through interviews with key stakeholders and

31 August 2022

Online resources results (321)

Workplace representation reforms proposed

Draft legislation based on a consultative document prepared by Luxembourg’s Ministry of Work and Employment, Social dialogue within companies (in French, 288Kb PDF) [1], is intended to reform social dialogue [2] within businesses in the country. The Luxembourg Government [3] has passed the draft of

Tension between social partners in construction sector

The collective agreement in Luxembourg’s construction sector expired in 2009. Its provisions have continued to apply to the 14,000 workers employed in the industry and they have not had a pay increase for three years. Construction is one of the largest sectors of Luxembourg’s economy.

Failed privatisation deal ends in mass redundancy

Bulgarian manufacturer Vazovski Mashinostroitelni Zavodi (VMZ [1]) was founded in 1936 and is located in the town of Sopot. It is the biggest enterprise on the military and industrial complex. [1] http://www.vmz.bg/

New Labour Code takes full effect

A new Labour Code has been introduced by Hungary’s government which aims to align the regulation of collective rights with that of contractual individual law enshrined in the country’s Civil Code. The Labour Code, in principle, allows collective agreements, agreements with works councils in

Landmark agreement paves the way for labour market reform

Four months after the French Government [1] asked the social partners to begin negotiations over labour market reform, a national interprofessional agreement (in French, 317Kb PDF) [2] was signed on 11 January 2013. The social partners had been asked to conclude an agreement ‘to the fullest extent

Agreement to improve working life at La Poste

The suicides of two employees at French postal group La Poste [1] were widely reported [2] in the national media at the beginning of 2012. The suicides were blamed on an ‘oppressive’ work culture at the company. [1] http://www.laposte.com/Everything-about-La-Poste/Who-we-are/Facts-and-figures [2]

Steel giant and union sign international health and safety agreement

On 14 November 2012, management at steel multinational ThyssenKrupp [1] and representatives of the European trade union IndustriAll Europe [2] signed an agreement [3] on health and safety for the company’s elevator division, ThyssenKrupp Elevator [4]. This represents IndustriAll’s first

Social partners sign new charter for car industry

A plan to help revive the ailing car industry in France, backed with €60 million of government and industry money, was signed on 20 December 2012. The new car charter (in French, 211 Kb PDF) [1] covers car manufacturers and their suppliers from the metallurgical, plastics, rubber and textiles

Employers forge ahead in metalwork wage-bargaining

In 2011, the wage-bargaining round in Austria’s metalworking sector was marked by the first strikes for 25 years (*AT1112011I* [1]). At the time, negotiations were being conducted by the six subsectoral employer organisations of the Federal Economic Chamber (WKO [2]) in the metalworking sector, as

Protests and social unrest over wage arrears

The irregular and delayed payment of wages is a problem that has dogged periods of transition and economic reform in Bulgaria, but it is especially acute in times of crisis. The Bulgarian Government seems to have had a significant impact on the worsening of the situation. Wages have not been paid


Blogs results (2)
ef22069.png

Minimum wages have risen significantly in 2022, as the EU Member States leave behind the cautious mood of the pandemic. However, rising inflation is eating up these wage increases, and only flexibility in the regular minimum wage setting processes may avoid generalised losses in purchasing power

15 June 2022
ef20082.png

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 December 2020

Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.