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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.

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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)

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

De term “hybride werken” werd algemeen bekend door de plotselinge toename van telewerken tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie, toen bedrijven en werknemers begonnen te bespreken op welke manieren het werk na de crisis kon worden georganiseerd. De term wordt steeds vaker gebruikt om situaties aan te duiden

25 May 2023

In dit verslag presenteert Eurofound zijn onderzoek naar telewerken tijdens de COVID-19-pandemie in 2020 en 2021. Er wordt gekeken naar veranderingen in het aantal telewerkers, de werkomstandigheden van thuiswerkende werknemers en veranderingen in de regelgeving met betrekking tot deze werkregeling

08 December 2022

Dit verslag werd opgesteld in het kader van het driejarig (2021-2023) proefproject “De rol van het minimuminkomen bij de vaststelling van de universele arbeidsgarantie”, dat door de Europese Commissie in opdracht is gegeven aan Eurofound. Het verslag is gericht op de derde module van het project

30 November 2022

In dit verslag worden de wetgeving en de collectieve onderhandelingen over telewerk in de 27 lidstaten en Noorwegen in kaart gebracht en onder de loep genomen. Onder andere wordt ingegaan op de belangrijkste verschillen en overeenkomsten tussen de landen wat betreft de wetgeving inzake telewerk en

01 September 2022

Na een voorzichtige loonronde voor 2021 zijn de nominale minimumlonen voor 2022 aanzienlijk gestegen naarmate de negatieve gevolgen van de pandemie afnamen en de economieën en arbeidsmarkten verbeterden. In dit verband hebben 20 van de 21 EU-lidstaten met wettelijke minimumlonen hun tarieven

15 June 2022

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

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

In dit verslag wordt samengevat hoe de minimumlonen voor 2021 werden vastgesteld in 2020 – het jaar dat gekenmerkt werd door de COVID-19-pandemie. Het geeft een beeld van de moeilijkheden waarmee nationale beleidsmakers zich geconfronteerd zagen en van de wijze waarop zij bij hun besluitvorming over

10 June 2021

In dit verslag worden de beleidsontwikkelingen in de EU-lidstaten onderzocht die gericht zijn op de bevordering van de inclusie van personen met een handicap op de open arbeidsmarkt. Daarbij wordt met name aandacht besteed aan de drie stadia van de indiensttreding, het behoud van de baan en de

19 April 2021

Online resources results (793)
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Collective bargaining and social dialogue – Back to normal in 2021?

Two years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, social dialogue continues to make a significant contribution to helping economies recover. Managing the crisis led many governments to rely on tripartite social dialogue to develop the policies that would mitigate the negative impact of the

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Back to work after COVID-19: Testing, vaccines and green certificates

In the second pandemic year 2021, access to one’s place of work was increasingly dependent on providing proof of either having been tested, vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in several countries. Specific professional groups – such as essential workers and workers in critical infrastructure –

Labour market regulation, effectiveness of legal rights and obligations, and safety and health at work 9 March 2021 Presentation by Barbara Gerstenberger, Head of unit - Working life, Eurofound

9 maart 2021

Connecting and disconnecting and work-life balance 9 March 2021 Presentation by Tina Weber, Research manager - Employment unit, Eurofound

9 maart 2021
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Member States are dawdling on gender pay transparency

The gender pay gap in gross hourly earnings in the EU was 14.8% in 2018. To help combat discriminatory pay practices by employers, the European Commission recommended in 2014 the introduction of pay transparency measures in all Member States. But more than half still have not implemented any such

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Summer time arrangements in the EU: A tripartite outlook on ‘Cloxit’

On 31 March 2019, clocks across the EU will go forward one hour, a Union-wide event since 2002. However, the European Commission has proposed abolishing the bi-annual hour change, an idea favoured by the vast majority of respondents in a public consultation. This article discusses reactions by

United Kingdom: latest working life developments Q2 2018

The social partners’ joint statement on the risk of a no-deal Brexit risk, launch of the first labour market enforcement strategy and a record low for workers’ strikes are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in the UK in

Belgium: latest working life developments Q2 2018

Ongoing discussions about pension reform for ‘heavy occupations’, the signing of an agreement in the non-profit sector and strikes in the railway sector are the main topics of this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Belgium in the first quarter of 2018

Latvia: Latest working life developments – Q4 2017

The state budget for 2018, tax reforms, the ending of strike action by healthcare workers, and continued wage growth are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Latvia in the fourth quarter of 2017.


Blogs results (12)
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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 september 2022
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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

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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 maart 2022
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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

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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 mei 2021
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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
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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 november 2020
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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 mei 2020
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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 april 2020

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