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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. 

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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 Januar 2024
Publication
Research report
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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...

30 November 2023
Publication
Research report

Eurofound expert(s)

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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)

Z izjemo nekaj nenadnih povečanj je v zadnjih letih sindikalno ukrepanje v državah članicah na splošno upadlo. Med pandemijo covida-19 se je ta trend nadaljeval, pri čemer ne preseneča, da so se najpomembnejši delovni spori pojavljali v sektorju zdravstvenih in socialnih storitev, izobraževalnem

07 February 2022

Digitalne tehnologije so mnogim delavcem omogočile, da svoje delo opravljajo kadar koli in kjer koli, kar prinaša prednosti in slabosti. Podatki Eurofoundakažejo, da je za zaposlene, ki delajo na daljavo, dvakrat bolj verjetno, da bodo presegli zgornjo mejo 48 delovnih ur, ne bodo imeli dovolj

09 September 2021

Eurofound od leta 2016 pozorno spremlja vključevanje nacionalnih socialnih partnerjev v oblikovanje politik v ciklu evropskega semestra. Leta 2020 je bil poudarek na njihovem vključevanju v prvih mesecih izbruha pandemije covida-19. Čeprav je pandemija pomenila velik izziv za socialni dialog

09 March 2021

Developments in information and communication technology (ICT) have been among the key drivers of change in working life over the past two decades. Specifically, telework and ICT-based mobile work (TICTM) exemplifies how digital technology has led to more flexible workplace and working time

02 July 2020

The effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives of individuals and societies, including on the economy and labour markets, is unprecedented. The impact of the global health emergency has placed a growing number of businesses under threat, putting the jobs of more and more workers at risk and

24 June 2020

This study examines the interaction between social dialogue practices and human resources management (HRM) policies in European multinational companies (MNCs). It looks at the changing role of HRM and its interaction with European Works Councils (EWCs), which can act as a link between different

16 June 2020

This report, as part of an annual series on minimum wages, summarises the key developments during 2019 and early 2020 around the EU initiative on fair wages and puts the national debates on setting the rates for 2020 and beyond in this context. The report features how minimum wages were set and the

04 June 2020

Annual review of working life 2017 is part of a series of annual reviews published by Eurofound and provides an overview of the latest developments in industrial relations and working conditions across the EU and Norway. The annual review collates information based on reports from Eurofound’s

22 October 2018

This report examines the development of collectively agreed pay in conjunction with the development of actual compensation (‘wages’) and labour productivity in real terms. It applies both a longer-term perspective (the early 2000s to 2017) and a short-term perspective, with a focus on the outcomes

10 October 2018

This annual review covers several issues related to working time in the EU and Norway in 2015 and 2016. It is based mainly on contributions from Eurofound’s Network of European Correspondents (NEC).

16 August 2017

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)
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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 Junij 2022
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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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