Italy’s parliament has introduced new voucher-based work schemes for occasional work. The regulations cap the amount that can be earned or paid in this way, and companies with more than five permanent employees may not use vouchers. However, there are few other limits on voucher-based work and the social partners have been critical.
The Taylor Review, commissioned by the UK government and published in July 2017, set out to determine best practices in modern employment and to define the basic rights of workers in light of widely publicised cases of poor working conditions. However, despite the review’s many recommendations, there is no legal requirement for the government to implement any of them.
A collective agreement implementing ‘right to bargain’ legislation has been negotiated between the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union and food preparation company Freshways Food. This includes union–management relations, rules on industrial action, and union access to the company’s financial information. Freshways had previously opposed trade union recognition, as allowed by Irish law.
A proposal to bring in a law allowing part-time workers in Germany to claim a full-time job has failed. The ruling coalition of the Social and Christian Democrats could not agree on the extent of the initiative. The proposal was put forward by Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Andrea Nahles.
The second evaluation of Greece’s current financial support programme (Third Memorandum) was completed in May 2017 with the introduction of new legislation affecting pensions, taxes, collective redundancies, collective bargaining and collective agreements, strike action and Sunday opening. Unions and employer associations expressed their opposition to the new measures.
Eurofound’s work programme for 2013–2016 had the strategic objective of providing high-quality, timely and policy-relevant knowledge as input to better informed policies. This catalogue comprises an annotated list of the publications produced from the 2013–2016 work programme, sorted by year of publication and including those scheduled for publication in 2017.
Continued growth in the Czech economy, staff shortages in the social services sector, the tightening of agency employment rules and legislative measures to regulate Uber are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in the Czech Republic in the second quarter of 2017.
Continued conflict at the Port of Gothenburg and an increase in sick leave due to mental ill-health in the workplace are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Sweden in the second quarter of 2017.
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).
Recommendations to position Denmark as a digital frontrunner in Europe, legislative proposals for health and safety and the terms of reference of the working environment committee are the main topics of interest in this article. This country update reports on the latest developments in working life in Denmark in the second quarter of 2017.
Eurofound’s European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2003, the first edition of the survey.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2007, the second edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound's European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS) examines both the objective circumstances of European citizens' lives and how they feel about those circumstances and their lives in general. This series consists of outputs from the EQLS 2012, the third edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 2003.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2005, the fourth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
Eurofound’s European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS) paints a wide-ranging picture of Europe at work across countries, occupations, sectors and age groups. This series consists of findings from the EWCS 2010, the fifth edition of the survey. The survey was first carried out in 1990.
This publication series explores scenarios for the future of manufacturing. The employment implications (number of jobs by sector, occupation, wage profile, and task content) under various possible scenarios are examined. The scenarios focus on various possible developments in global trade and energy policies and technological progress and run to 2030.
This report 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 identified solutions and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. The report looks at the way that EWCs meet the requirements of the EWC Directive in terms of establishing processes of information and consultation.
The hospital sector has been deeply impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Hospitals and their workers are on the frontline in the fight against the virus, and they face a number of significant challenges in terms of resources, work organisation and working conditions. 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?
Given that compliance with lockdown measures is a first line of defence against COVID-19, maintaining trust in institutions is vital to ensure a coordinated, comprehensive and effective response to the pandemic. This report investigates developments in institutional and interpersonal trust across time, with a particular emphasis on the COVID-19 pandemic period and its impact. It examines the link between trust and discontent and investigates the effect of multidimensional inequalities as a driver of distrust.
This paper provides an analytical summary of state of the art academic and policy literature on the impact of climate change and policies to manage transitions to a carbon neutral economy on employment, working conditions, social dialogue and living conditions. It maps the key empirical findings around the impact of climate change and the green transitions on jobs, sectors, regions and countries in Europe, identifying the opportunities and risks that climate change policies bring to European labour markets.
Lockdown measures and the economic shift following the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a widening of the gender divide between men and women, putting at risk some of the gender equality gains that had been made in previous years. This report analyses changes in the distribution of paid and unpaid work, along with care and domestic responsibilities, among men and women during the crisis. It also explores the impact of the pandemic on the well-being of women and men.
The report provides an overview of the scale of teleworking before and during the COVID-19 crisis and gives an indication of ‘teleworkability’ across sectors and occupations. Building on previous Eurofound research on remote work, the report investigates the way businesses introduced and supported teleworking during the pandemic, as well as the experience of workers who were working from home during the crisis. The report also looks at developments in regulations related to telework in Member States and provides a review of stakeholders’ positions.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have varied across sectors, occupations and categories of worker (for instance, according to gender, age or employment status). Hours worked have declined the most in sectors such as accommodation services and food and beverage services, and in occupations heavily reliant on in-person interaction, such as sales work. At the same time, it’s in these sectors that labour shortages have become increasingly evident as labour markets have begun to normalise.
The COVID-19 crisis has increased inequality between social groups in health, housing, employment, income and well-being. While a small part of society was able to hold on to or increase its wealth, other groups such as women, young people, older people, people with disabilities, low- and middle-income earners and those with young children were acutely affected by the pandemic. Drawing on current research on how to best measure multidimensional inequality, this report highlights recent trends in inequality in the context of the COVID-19 crisis.
The financial services sector is pertinent for studying the impact of digitalisation, as the main ‘raw material’ of the sector is digitally stored and processed. Process automation in the sector is likely to lead to significant job losses over the next 10 years, as the high street bank presence declines and the online bank presence increasingly accounts for a higher share of overall activity. Such trends have already been identified in bank restructurings captured in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor.
This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the textiles and clothing 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.