Fundação Europeia para a Melhoria das Condições de Vida e de Trabalho
A agência tripartida da União Europeia que disponibiliza informação com o objetivo de contribuir para o desenvolvimento de melhores políticas sociais, de emprego e laborais
A agência tripartida da União Europeia que disponibiliza informação com o objetivo de contribuir para o desenvolvimento de melhores políticas sociais, de emprego e laborais
It emerged in April 1997 that the former president of the Irish Congress of
Trade Unions (ICTU), Phil Flynn, is expected to play a key role in the new
"partnership-based" industrial relations structure currently being drawn up
between management and unions at Ireland's state-owned airline, Aer Lingus.
Over 4,000 workers are employed by the airline and a further 1,600 by its
maintenance subsidiary, TEAM.
In March 1997, Guardian Europe SA, signed its first-ever collective agreement
for blue-collar workers. The deal provides for pay increases, while its
provisions on other terms and conditions largely mirror statutory provisions.
On 8 April, AKZO-Nobel and the unions reached agreement on both working time
reductions and pay increases. The dispute, which had served to divide
AKZO-Nobel and the industrial unions since 13 March (NL9703108N [1]), was
resolved to everyone's satisfaction.
Padraig Flynn, the commissioner responsible for employment, industrial
relations and social affairs, announced on 3 April 1997 that the Commission
is to take infringement proceedings against three member states for their
failure to apply certain Community legislation in the social field. Reasoned
opinions outlining the Commission's view are to be sent to France, Italy and
Greece. The details of the cases are as follows:
Following negotiations which have been held in a cooperative atmosphere,
Belgacom, the partially privatised, but still largely government-owned
Belgian telephone company, has announced plans to reduce rather drastically
its number of employees. The current workforce of about 26,000 will have to
be reduced by about 5,000 by the end of 1998.
In April 1997, the Confindustria employers' confederation organised a
"virtual demonstration "of around 14,000 employers against a government
exercise to raise public revenue and reduce spending by a total of ITL 15,500
billion, deemed necessary to keep Italy's 1997 budget within the parameters
set by the Maastricht Treaty on European Union.
The German chemical industry enjoys a long tradition of successful
consensus-based industrial relations. In spring 1996, the bargaining partners
concluded a "solidarity pact" in the form of a package of regional and
national collective agreements. The agreements ran for 12 months and covered
590,000 employees in western Germany. The aim of the deal was to meet the
challenges of globalisation and structural change, as well as to extend the
competences of the social partners at enterprise and company level. The
implementation of the two most important elements of the solidarity pact -
the employment alliance and the collective agreement on part-time work for
older workers - has recently been reviewed.
HK, the largest affiliated trade union of the Danish Confederation of Trade
Unions (LO), with 357,000 members, has launched a two-month image and
recruitment campaign. DKK 4 million will be spent on newspaper advertisements
and bill boards, which will be followed up by local initiatives. The campaign
will aim to improve recruitment and visibility, initiate debates on
objectives, and explain the utility value of being a member.
The annual report of the Labour Inspectorate (Arbeitsinspektion) for 1995,
has now become available to the public after debate in parliament. The
Arbeitsinspektion's activities are regulated by the 1993 Labour Inspection
Act (Arbeitsinspektionsgesetz, ArbIG). This stipulates that the Labour
Inspectorate has to contribute through its activities to an effective
protection of employees, and especially has to watch over compliance with
protective legal regulations and to inform and support employers and
employees accordingly. The Labour Inspectorate has free access to all places
of employment as well as housing and accommodation and welfare institutions.
Exceptions are places of employment covered by other organisations - as in
agriculture and forestry, mining, areas of the transport sector and public
education - as well as religious buildings, private households, and offices
of the territorial administration.
The Standing Committee for Social Dialogue (the Economic and Social Council's
tripartite committee) has approved new rules relating to family credits in
Portugal.
Eurofound’s work on COVID-19 examines the far-reaching socioeconomic implications of the pandemic across Europe as they continue to impact living and working conditions. A key element of the research is the e-survey, launched in April 2020, with five rounds completed at different stages during 2020, 2021 and 2022. This is complemented by the inclusion of research into the ongoing effects of the pandemic in much of Eurofound’s other areas of work.
Eurofound's representativeness studies are designed to allow the European Commission to identify the ‘management and labour’ whom it must consult under article 154 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). This series consists of studies of the representativeness of employer and worker organisations in various sectors.
This series reports on developments in minimum wage rates across the EU, including how they are set and how they have developed over time in nominal and real terms. The series explores where there are statutory minimum wages or collectively agreed minimum wages in the Member States, as well as minimum wage coverage rates by gender.
The European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) launched in 1990 and is carried out every five years, with the latest edition in 2015. It provides an overview of trends in working conditions and quality of employment for the last 30 years. It covers issues such as employment status, working time duration and organisation, work organisation, learning and training, physical and psychosocial risk factors, health and safety, work–life balance, worker participation, earnings and financial security, work and health, and most recently also the future of work.
The European Restructuring Monitor has reported on the employment impact of large-scale business restructuring since 2002. This series includes its restructuring-related databases (events, support instruments and legislation) as well as case studies and publications.
Eurofound’s Flagship report series 'Challenges and prospects in the EU' comprise research reports that contain the key results of multiannual research activities and incorporate findings from different related research projects. Flagship reports are the major output of each of Eurofound’s strategic areas of intervention and have as their objective to contribute to current policy debates.
Eurofound’s European Company Survey (ECS) maps and analyses company policies and practices which can have an impact on smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, as well as the development of social dialogue in companies. This series consists of outputs from the ECS 2019, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2004–2005 as the European Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance.
This series reports on and updates latest information on the involvement of national social partners in policymaking. The series analyses the involvement of national social partners in the implementation of policy reforms within the framework of social dialogue practices, including their involvement in elaborating the National Reform Programmes (NRPs).
This series reports on the new forms of employment emerging across Europe that are driven by societal, economic and technological developments and are different from traditional standard or non-standard employment in a number of ways. This series explores what characterises these new employment forms and what implications they have for working conditions and the labour market.
The European Company Survey (ECS) is carried out every four to five years since its inception in 2004–2005, with the latest edition in 2019. The survey is designed to provide information on workplace practices to develop and evaluate socioeconomic policy in the EU. It covers issues around work organisation, working time arrangements and work–life balance, flexibility, workplace innovation, employee involvement, human resource management, social dialogue, and most recently also skills use, skills strategies and digitalisation.
The fifth round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded from 25 March to 2 May 2022, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe two years after COVID-19 was first detected on the European continent. It also explores the reality of living in a new era of uncertainty caused by the war in Ukraine, inflation, and rising energy prices.
As part of a process to collect information on essential services, the European Commission (DG EMPL) requested Eurofound to provide input on certain aspects of existing and planned measures in the Member States to improve access to essential services, in reference to Principle 20 of the European Pillar of Social Rights. The scope of the exercise included energy services, public transport and digital communications, and the focus was on people at risk of poverty or social exclusion (in practice, people on low incomes in most cases).
This report will map the existing regulations on telework in European Union Member States, including in legislation and collective agreements. It will present the most recent changes to these regulations and shed light on how the future of (tele)work could be regulated at both national and EU level, in order to improve working conditions in telework arrangements and reduce the risks associated with telework and with specific ways of working remotely.
The civil aviation sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. It is one of the most severe crises the sector has ever experienced, giving rise to a number of significant challenges for companies and workers alike. This study will explore the role of social dialogue and collective bargaining in how the sector is adapting to the pandemic. What kinds of changes have been introduced, either through social dialogue or collective bargaining? Are the changes temporary or permanent?
This report explores the association between skills use and skills strategies and establishment performance, and how other workplace practices, in terms of work organisation, human resources management and employee involvement, can impact on this. It looks at how skills shortages can be addressed, at least in part, by creating an environment in which employees are facilitated and motivated to make better use of the skills they already have. This further supports the business case for a more holistic approach to management.
This report focuses on trends and developments in collective bargaining that were evident from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. It examines potential new strategic approaches and priorities incorporated in negotiation agendas, as well as collective bargaining practices and coordination at sector and company levels in the private sector.
This policy brief will provide an update on upward convergence in the economic, social and institutional dimensions of the European Union, as outlined in the European Pillar of Social Rights and its accompanying Social Scoreboard.
Between 2021 and 2023 Eurofound is carrying out a pilot project on minimum wage on behalf of the European Commission. The question of how minimum wages and other forms of pay can be fixed for the self-employed is investigated as a part of this project through mapping national and sectoral approaches. Out of concern for the challenging conditions that the self-employed face, some Member States have established or are discussing establishing statutory forms of minimum pay for certain categories of self-employed.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the electricity sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the electricity sector in the EU Member States.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the gas sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in the European sectoral social dialogue and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of this Eurofound’s study on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the gas sector in the EU Member States.