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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

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
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Mária Sedláková is a research officer in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. She is responsible for drafting overview reports for sectoral representativeness studies, management...

Research officer,
Working life research unit
Publications results (40)

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 measurement framework was devised, a total of 692 collective agreements – related to 24

26 January 2024

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 balance, health and well-being, and overall workplace satisfaction.

30 November 2023

This report examines the average weekly working hours across Europe in 2021 and 2022. It covers important developments resulting from legislative reforms in collective bargaining at national or sectoral level, drawing on debates about the reduction of working time and the four-day working week.

24 October 2023

Automation and digitisation technologies, including artificial intelligence, are rapidly evolving and becoming increasingly powerful and pervasive. The full range of their effects in the workplace is yet to be seen. It is, however, important not only to explore the ethical implications of digital te

12 September 2023

After a long period of price stability, inflation has made a remarkable comeback in the EU. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the energy crisis spurred by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the disruption of the international supply chain, among other factors, have driven up the

06 September 2023

This report investigates the involvement of social partners in the just transition to a climate-neutral economy, with a particular focus on the territorial just transition plans. These plans aim to support the regions most negatively affected by the just transition by assisting workers to retrain

19 July 2023

Dieser Bericht wird im Rahmen des dreijährigen Pilotprojekts (2021-2023) „Die Rolle des Mindestlohns bei der Einführung der allgemeinen Garantie für Arbeitende“ erstellt, mit dem Eurofound von der Europäischen Kommission beauftragt wurde. Der Schwerpunkt liegt auf Modul 3 des Projekts, in dem

30 November 2022

This working paper 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 solutions identified and remaining issues from the point of view of both workers and management. In

25 October 2022

In diesem Bericht sollen die Rechtsvorschriften und Tarifverhandlungen zur Telearbeit in den 27 Mitgliedstaaten und Norwegen erfasst und analysiert werden. Darin werden die wichtigsten länderspezifischen Unterschiede und Gemeinsamkeiten in Bezug auf die Rechtsvorschriften zur Telearbeit und die

01 September 2022

In diesem Bericht werden jüngste Entwicklungen und aufkommende Praktiken bei Tarifverhandlungen und deren Ergebnisse, hauptsächlich im Privatsektor, untersucht. Erfasst wurden Tarifverhandlungssysteme in 10 EU-Mitgliedstaaten, wobei auf Basis von Interviews mit maßgeblichen Interessenträgern und

31 August 2022

Online resources results (321)

Amalgamation creates largest education and sectoral union

Traditionally, Lithuania’s trade unions in the education sector have been among the strongest in the country. Unions have staged a number of strikes and protest campaigns over the past decade, and have managed to negotiate better wages for Lithuanian teachers compared to other public sector

Restructuring plan agreed for electronics giant

On 4 June 2013, the Italian company Indesit [1] told unions that it would be introducing an industrial restructuring [2] plan to reorganise three Italian plants between 2013 and 2015. The plan includes a €70 billion investment plan to cover product and process innovation to reduce water and energy

Striking public transport workers reach agreement

In September 2012, an agreement (in Italian) [1] was signed between the managers of the public transport company in the Italian city of Genoa, Amt [2], and unions. It sets out a recovery plan for the company which was threatened with closure because of significant financial losses. [1] http://www

New industrial relations protocol for gas sector group

During the last five years, the Snam [1] group of companies has been restructuring with the support of the Ministry of Economic Development. The goal was to find structural synergies, achieve efficiency gains in the gas supply chain, and improve work organisation and human resources, both

Collective bargaining developments marked by stability

At the end of 2013, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment in the Netherlands (SZW [1]) published its annual report [2] on collective agreements in the country. The report covers developments in collective agreements in the Netherlands in 2012 and, where information is available, in 2013. [1]

Unions upbeat about post-crisis wage bargaining

On 7 January 2014, a new round of collective bargaining started in Denmark in the private sector, under the auspices of the Danish Confederation of Danish Trade Unions (LO [1]) and the Confederation of Danish Employers (DA [2]). The negotiations covers almost 600,000 employees. [1] http://www.lo.dk

General approach on posted workers agreed

The European Commission (EC [1]) has been looking at the issue of posted workers for some time. In March 2012, the Commission issued a proposal for a new Directive on the enforcement of the posted workers Directive 96/71/EC (240 KB PDF) [2]. [1] http://ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm [2] http://ec.europa

Above-inflation wage increase for metalworking sector

Austria’s annual main bargaining round takes place in the autumn and traditionally starts with the strong and influential metalworking industry. For the second time in a row, the Federal Economic Chamber’s (WKO [1]) six subsectoral employer organisations conducted separate negotiations, having, in

Rise in real wages in retail sector

In Austria’s retail sector, more than half a million white-collar employees, mostly women, will be covered by a new, innovative two-year collective agreement concluded between the social partners on 13 November 2013.

Strike action averted in mining industry

The mining company OKD [1], which has around 13,000 staff, faces economic difficulties (CZ1307029I [2]). In May 2013, it announced job and wage cuts the sale of part of its property. [1] http://www.okd.cz/ [2] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/undefined/mining-company-okd


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 amo

15 Juni 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 Dezember 2020

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