Skip to main content
employment_relationship.jpg

Employment relationship

Individual employment relations are the relationship between the individual worker and their employer. This relationship is shaped by legal regulation and by the outcomes of social partner negotiations over the terms and conditions governing the employment relationship. Regardless of the type and duration of the employment relationship, workers have the right to fair and equal treatment regarding working conditions, access to social protection and training.

Topic

Recent updates

Eurofound expert(s)

gijs-van-houten-2023.png

Gijs van Houten is a senior research manager in the Employment unit at Eurofound. He has specific expertise in cross-national survey methodology and the analysis of workplace...

Senior research manager,
Employment research unit
Publications results (47)

Casual work, both intermittent and on-call, contributes to labour market flexibility and is therefore increasingly used across Europe. In some countries, practices go beyond the use of casual employment contracts to include other types of contracts and forms of self-employment.

20 December 2019

This report sets out to describe what labour market segmentation is and why it is problematic for the labour market and society, as well as disadvantaged groups. It takes a broad view of the term to examine the situation that arises when the divergence in working conditions between different groups

02 December 2019

Platform work emerged onto European labour markets about a decade ago. While still small in scale, it is growing and evolving into a variety of forms. Different types of platform work have significantly different effects on the employment and working conditions of the affiliated workers.

23 September 2019

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

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing

24 September 2018

The onset of the digital revolution has resulted in technological advances that are constantly evolving. A key element of concern to policymakers is the impact that these changes will have on the world of work and employment. This report reviews the history of the digital revolution to date, placing

24 May 2018

This report examines developments in non-standard employment over the last decade. It looks at trends in the main categories of non-standard employment – temporary, temporary agency and part-time work and self-employment – based mainly on data from the European Union Labour Force Survey. It

13 September 2017

Across European countries, the ‘employment contract’ has been, and still is, the point of reference for determining the rights and obligations of both workers and employers. When direct subordinated employment is disguised as self-employment, it is termed ‘bogus’. Work can be contracted in several

27 July 2017

Employment relations remain defined vis-à-vis the standard employment relationship (permanent, full-time, direct). Fixed-term contracts are therefore understood as non-standard employment contracts by which an employer hires an employee for a fixed duration. The main difference between permanent and

27 July 2017

Regulated at European level, the posting of workers is a practice used between companies located in different countries A worker is posted when their original employer sends them to work, for a temporary period, in another company. Posting has been defined as a specific form of labour mobility

27 July 2017

Online resources results (89)

Netherlands: New Act on work and security

The Netherlands’ new Act on Work and Security will change employment and dismissal law. The aim is to create a new balance between ‘insiders’ – permanent employees who have high levels of protection – and ‘outsiders’, flexible workers who have little or no protection. The act was passed in July 2014

Portugal: Employment protection weakened

After the troika intervention ended in Portugal in May 2014, important changes were made to employment rules. These allow companies to dismiss workers for ‘unsuitability’, and companies in crisis to suspend collective agreements. They also reduce the period for which expired collective agreements

Bulgaria: Job satisfaction in light of poor economic outlook

The Institute for Social and Trade Union Research conducted national surveys on work climate in 2010 and 2012. The subsequent report, presented in 2013, provides a comparative analysis of the job satisfaction of employees, and those who are self-employed, with issues such as job security, pay

United Kingdom: Impact of the recession on workplaces and on employment relations

The first findings of the 2011 UK Workplace Employment Relations Study, published in January 2013, present an authentic picture of employee representation, collective bargaining and consultation arrangements in British workplaces. They also throw an interesting light on the impact of the recession

Bulgaria: Trend of improved working conditions

The results of this survey clearly show that working conditions in many sectors, and in the Bulgarian economy as a whole, have improved. Despite some areas of continuing concern, there has been a positive change in the attitude of both management and employees. Action taken to improve working

France: Older workers and employment

The ageing population and the consequent increase in the share of older workers in the workforce have raised concerns among both policy makers and social partners across Europe. In France, the employment rate of older workers is still below the EU average, although it has increased slightly in the

Increasing numbers employed through fraudulent temporary work agencies

In two years, the number of employees working through ‘/mala fide/’ or fraudulent temporary work agencies has almost doubled. While, in 2006, the figure was 80,000 workers, this irregular practice now involves some 150,000 people a year. More than half of the temporary agency workers from eastern

Unions support Sonera and Telia merger plans

In late March 2002, two telecommunications companies, the Finnish Sonera and Swedish Telia, announced their intention to merge. The merger would create the largest telecommunications operator in the Nordic countries and a significant operator on the European scale. According to the companies, the

Holzmann construction company files for bankruptcy protection

On 21 March 2002, the German-based construction company Philipp Holzmann AG filed for bankruptcy protection in court. The collapse of Germany's second-largest construction company came after several leading banks, among others Deutsche Bank, Dresdner Bank, Commerzbank and HypoVereinsbank, failed to

2000 annual review for Japan

GDP increased by 1.7% in real terms in 2000, substantially higher than the 0.8% growth rate for 1999. A major factor was the increase in fixed capital investment by the private sector, particularly investment in information technology (IT) industries. The real growth rate in private fixed investment


Blogs results (6)
ef22043.png

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 March 2022
ef20086.png

Standard employment is not simply being replaced by non-standard work; employment is becoming more diverse, and policy must accordingly become more tailored. The last decade has seen much public and policy debate on the future of work. Standard employment – permanent, full-time and subject to labour

15 December 2020
ef20084.png

​​​​​​​With remote working becoming the new normal for many workers, it is surely the case that many employers are anxious to ensure that their employees are putting in full working days. Companies are likely to be investing in and deploying digital technologies for tracking employee performance

9 December 2020
ef20081.png

According to the dictionary, an organisation is an organised group of people with a particular purpose. To achieve this purpose, tasks are divided between the members of the group, and the task of some of those people is to manage the others. Interestingly, whereas most tasks are allocated based on

27 November 2020
three_vectors_image.png

Digital technologies are transforming work, but the implications have not yet been fully grasped. In a recent Eurofound report, we focus on three main vectors of change to discuss the effects of digital technologies on work and employment and the policy responses such change demands.

fraudulent_contracting.jpg

Research Manager Isabella Biletta looks at fraudulent practices in the contracting of work. Such practices involve the abuse of legitimate employment relationships with the aim of sidestepping labour and social regulations and with the effect of undermining workers’ rights and fair competition in

1 June 2018

Disclaimer

When freely submitting your request, you are consenting Eurofound in handling your personal data to reply to you. Your request will be handled in accordance with the provisions of Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies and on the free movement of such data. More information, please read the Data Protection Notice.