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Employee representation

Employee representation may be defined as the right of employees to seek a union or individual to represent them for the purpose of negotiating with management on such issues as wages, hours, benefits and working conditions. In the workplace, workers may be represented by trade union and through works councils – or similar structures elected by all employees. EU law has established rights and obligations for employees and their representatives to be informed and consulted via a set of directives that provide for the information and consultation of the workers, at both national and international level.

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Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras

Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras is a research manager in the Working Life unit at Eurofound and focuses on comparative industrial relations, social dialogue and collective bargaining...

Research manager,
Working life research unit
Publications results (74)

European Works Councils case studies: GlaxoSmithKline (GSK)

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). Both the companies that merged to form GSK in December 2000 had established EWCs under this Directive.

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: the Suez group

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of EWCs is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system at European level

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: The Marazzi Group

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council (EWC) for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of EWCs is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system at European level

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Air France

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: HSBC

​The HSBC group, which has its headquarters in the UK, is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, with more than 8,000 offices in 80 different countries.

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Sandvik Specialty Steels

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

EWCs in the new Member States - Case study: ABB

ABB is a global company, based in Switzerland and working mainly in the field of energy and automation technology. This case study is based on interviews carried out in the Czech Republic and Poland between March and May 2006 with representatives of the ABB EWC Secretariat in Mannheim, Germany, a

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

EWCs in the new Member States - Case study: MOL

MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas Company is a leading integrated oil and gas group in Central and Eastern Europe and, in terms of sales revenues, the largest company in Hungary. This case study is based on interviews carried out in Hungary and Slovakia in April 2006 with HR management representatives and

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Volkswagen

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

European Works Councils case studies: Boehringer

In September 1994, the Council of Ministers decided on a Directive on the establishment of a European Works Council for the purposes of informing and consulting employees (94/45/EC). The emergence of European Works Councils (EWCs) is a major part of the development of an industrial relations system

16 October 2008
Publication
Case study
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Online resources results (298)

United Kingdom: Report identifies key levers for improving workplace productivity

Amid the extensive debate about the UK’s relatively poor productivity record, a recent report from Acas identifies seven key factors for improving workplace productivity: well-designed work; skilled managers; effective conflict management; clarity about rights and responsibilities; fairness

26 November 2015
Article
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Innovation
Participation at work
Work organisation
Working conditions
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Germany: Survey on works council elections in 1,600 companies

A high turnout of voters marked the latest works council elections in Germany, underlining their importance to the German industrial relations system. However, a study published in January 2015 shows that they remain male-dominated, with women holding only 25% of the seats. Two-thirds of works

28 September 2015
Article
Employee representation
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Ireland: Steady union density decline over last decade

There has been a steady decline in union density in Ireland since 2003, according to a new study by Frank Walsh, School of Economics, University College Dublin.

11 September 2015
Article
Employee representation
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Ireland: New sectoral wage mechanisms under Industrial Relations Amendment Act 2015

New sectoral wage-setting mechanisms are established under the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015.

10 September 2015
Article
Collective bargaining
Employee representation
Representativeness
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Hungary: New act restricts worker representation in the law enforcement sector

Unions have criticised the new act governing law enforcement services as undermining the activity of interest representation organisations.

4 September 2015
Article
Employee representation
Labour law
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Sweden: Fall in union density

Sweden has a tradition of high trade union density rates, but the share of Swedish workers who are members of a trade union has dropped in the last decade from 80% to 70%. This might seem high from a global perspective, but Sweden is also one of the countries where unionisation is declining most

31 August 2015
Article
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Slovenia: Proposed amendments to legislation attempted to secure universal employee participation in management

A Slovenian parliamentary group sought to secure employee participation in the management of Slovenian Sovereign Holdings, which manages the country’s state-owned assets.

30 July 2015
Article
Work organisation
Employee representation
Participation at work
Working conditions
Industrial relations
Labour and social regulation
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Germany: Trade union membership more stable in 2014

Following years of declining membership, trade union numbers in Germany began to stabilise in 2014.

24 June 2015
Article
Employee representation
Social partners
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

Malta: Armed forces allowed to join union

Members of the armed forces, police, department of civil defence and prison wardens have been given the right to join a trade union – but not to strike.

12 June 2015
Article
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue

France: Companies establish single database for works councils' consultations

The Employment Safeguarding Act requires companies to establish such a database to store information of an economic and social nature.

19 May 2015
Article
Participation at work
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Blogs results (1)
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Restructuring: Do unions still matter?

Trade unions in many EU Member States face the issue of declining membership. This is a fundamental challenge for organised labour, but it is premature to speak about the redundancy unions: when it comes to important decisions affecting the workplace, restructuring being one, trade unions remain a

20 November 2019
Sara Riso
Blog
Restructuring
Working conditions
Employee representation
Industrial relations
Employment and labour markets
Working conditions and sustainable work
Industrial relations and social dialogue
Data results (1)

European Company Survey

24 October 2023
Reference period:
2019

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