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Relaciones laborales

Tanto los sindicatos, como las organizaciones patronales y las autoridades públicas desempeñan un papel en la gobernanza de la relación de empleo. Se trata de partes interconectadas en un sistema que funciona a escala europea, nacional, sectorial, regional, y empresarial. En los últimos años, a medida que evolucionan la tecnología y las formas de trabajo en el marco de un entorno económico en permanente transformación, los sistemas de relaciones laborales han afrontado retos fundamentales.

En este contexto, la Comisión Europea puso en marcha en 2015 un «nuevo comienzo» del diálogo social europeo. En una declaración conjunta de junio de 2016, la Comisión, el Consejo de la Unión Europea y los interlocutores sociales subrayaron el papel esencial de dicho diálogo como componente significativo de la formulación de políticas sociales y de empleo en la UE.

Topic

Recent updates

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This 2024 annual review of minimum wages provides a synopsis of minimum wage setting during 2023 in the EU27 and Norway. It reports in detail on the processes and outcomes...

26 Junio 2024
Publication
Research report

EU context

La labor de Eurofound

A lo largo de 40 años, Eurofound se ha consolidado como centro fundamental de recursos técnicos especializados para el seguimiento y el análisis de las tendencias en el ámbito de las relaciones laborales. Entre los temas considerados figuran los vínculos entre el diálogo social europeo y de ámbito nacional. Sobre la base del conocimiento de su Red de corresponsales europeos en 28 Estados miembros de la UE y Noruega, ha examinado la evolución seguida en todos los Estados miembros y en la UE en su conjunto. 

Aportaciones fundamentales

Eurofound ha elaborado diversos análisis comparativos, artículos y estudios de caso en toda la UE28 y Noruega en el área de las relaciones laborales, así como bases de datos actualizadas periódicamente sobre asuntos afines.

En un reciente estudio se catalogan y analizan las dimensiones e indicadores fundamentales que atañen a los sistemas de relaciones laborales en Europa en el siglo XXI. En otra vía de la investigación se considera el modo en que los interlocutores sociales en la UE y Noruega han afrontado nuevos temas, instrumentos y enfoques innovadores para dar respuesta a los numerosos desafíos políticos, jurídicos y sociales que se han planteado en los últimos años.

La remuneración y el tiempo de trabajo siguen siendo áreas de alto interés y se revisan cada año. Dos de las cuestiones en las que se centra el reciente informe sobre remuneración son, por un lado, los niveles salariales mínimos establecidos por ley en toda la UE, y por el otro, la negociación salarial colectiva.

Desde 2006, Eurofound ha llevado a cabo estudios sobre la representatividad de las organizaciones sectoriales europeas de interlocutores sociales, conforme al mandato establecido por la Comisión Europea.

Recursos

Informes sobre la evolución de la vida laboral 

Eurofound proporciona datos sistemáticos y comparables sobre los sistemas de relaciones laborales nacionales y los avances en el terreno de la vida laboral, sirviéndose a tal efecto de herramientas de seguimiento e información, sobre la base de las aportaciones de su Red de corresponsales europeos en los 28 Estados miembros y Noruega.

 

Key outputs

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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...

24 Octubre 2023
Publication
Research report
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La revisión anual de los salarios mínimos de 2023 se elaboró en el contexto de una inflación sin precedentes en toda Europa. Aunque esto dio lugar a fuertes aumentos de...

29 Junio 2023
Publication
Research report
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Como parte de su mandato de promover el diálogo entre los interlocutores sociales, Eurofound ha realizado un seguimiento y un análisis de la evolución de los sistemas de relaciones laborales...

11 Diciembre 2020
Publication
Flagship report

Current and ongoing research

 

Other ongoing work

    • Social dialogue in companies, particularly linkages that can be drawn between national and EU level, to better understand of cooperation mechanisms used in decision-making and implementation in multinational companies
    • Exploration of the role of national social partners in the European semester and analysis of quality and effectiveness of their involvement
    • Summary of discussions on capacity-building social dialogue to support a meaningful and effective social dialogue
    • A flagship report on industrial relations covering topics related to both social dialogue and working life developments, including updates on collectively agreed pay
    • Representativeness studies on a variety of sectors to provide the European Commission required information to assess the representativeness of European sectoral social partner organisations
    • Highlights of recent developments of selected features of working life in so called topical updates, with one featuring statutory minimum wages
    • Updated time series in EurWORK database of wages, working time and collective disputes
    • Updated time series and update on developments in collectively agreed pay
    • Exploring the feasibility for an Industrial Action Monitor

    Eurofound expert(s)

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    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
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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
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    Victoria Cojocariu is a research support officer for the representativeness studies in the Working Life unit at Eurofound. She is responsible for the management of the research...

    Research support officer,
    Working life research unit
    Publications results (517)

    This article discusses the issues related to religion in the workplace, a topic that has received considerable attention in the media recently. An overview of significant cases of dispute between employers and employees is provided, as well as examples of social partners’ initiatives to accommodate

    31 July 2017

    This article discusses developments in collectively agreed wages in the European Union in 2016, putting them into the perspective of developments over the past 15 years. The tendency for growth in both nominal and real collectively agreed wages from 2015 continued. In two countries (Belgium and

    25 July 2017

    This EurWORK topical update summarises the views of European and national-level stakeholders on recent debates on implementing the principle of ‘equal pay’ for posted workers. Directive 96/71/EC foresees that posted workers must be granted the minimum standards of employment conditions applicable in

    18 July 2017

    This study provides information designed to encourage sectoral social dialogue in railways and urban public transport. The aim of Eurofound’s series of studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial

    03 April 2017

    This report provides an update on the role of national social partners in the European Semester process over the period 2015–2016, describing the main developments and changes compared with a previous Eurofound study on their involvement during the period 2011–2014.

    24 February 2017

    This study provides information designed to encourage sectoral social dialogue in the postal and courier activities sector. The aim of Eurofound’s series of studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial

    20 February 2017

    In 22 out of 28 EU Member States, a generally applicable statutory minimum wage exists; the level of this minimum wage varies greatly from one country to another. This article provides information on statutory minimum wage levels, how the minimum wage has been determined for 2017 and minimum wage

    09 February 2017

    Evidence from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Italy and Spain reveals that social partners are closely involved in setting up national strategies to manage digital change in the world of work. Up to now, this has been a high-level affair and there are only a few collective agreements or

    30 January 2017

    This study provides information designed to encourage sectoral social dialogue in the shipbuilding sector. The aim of Eurofound’s series of representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in selected

    27 January 2017

    This study provides information designed to encourage sectoral social dialogue in the sugar manufacturing sector. The aim of Eurofound’s series of representativeness studies is to identify the relevant national and supranational social partner organisations in the field of industrial relations in

    18 January 2017

    Online resources results (1688)
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    Minimum wages in Belgium

    Minimum wages in Belgium exist at national and sectoral levels and are the outcome of collective bargaining. The national minimum wage typically lags behind sectoral minimum wages in Belgium, and policymakers have been concerned about the relative decrease in the national minimum wage compared with

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    Cyprus introduces a national statutory minimum wage

    On 31 August 2022, a new decree on minimum wages was published in Cyprus after a long and arduous process of negotiations and social dialogue. The ministerial decree, which came into effect on 1 January 2023, established a national minimum wage in Cyprus for the first time, a groundbreaking and cont

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    Minimum wage debate in Italy

    Italy has no minimum wage prescribed by law. Minimum wages are set through collective agreements at sectoral level, and the majority of employees in Italy are covered by a collective bargaining agreement in which wages are set. This article outlines the latest positions (2023) of the government and

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    Measures to lessen the impact of the inflation and energy crisis on citizens

    As governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine, this article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound’s EU PolicyWatch

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    Minimum wage hikes struggle to offset inflation

    As the EU economy advanced its recovery following the pandemic, the high rate of inflation throughout 2022 meant that wage setting actors made their decisions under a cloud of uncertainty. While nominal increases in statutory minimum wages reached an all-time high, minimum wage workers in most count

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    First responses to cushion the impact of inflation on citizens

    Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Governments throughout the EU had already started to intervene with policy measures in a

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    Policies to support EU companies affected by the war in Ukraine

    As the war in Ukraine has intensified, the cost of food, raw materials and energy prices, already high due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has continued to rise substantially. Ahead of coordinated action at EU level, as agreed by EU energy ministers on 9 September 2022, governments across the EU have

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    Minimum wages in 2022: Bigger hikes this time around

    The first overview of minimum wage setting for 2022 shows that, while some negotiations are still ongoing, virtually all EU Member States have increased their nominal statutory rates. Compared to last year, when most countries settled for cautious increases against a background of deep uncertainty

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    Mixed impacts of COVID-19 on social dialogue and collective bargaining in 2020

    ​​​​​​​A first analysis of developments in working life in 2020 shows that the COVID-19 pandemic had a considerable impact on social dialogue and collective bargaining in the EU, Norway and the UK, albeit to varying degrees. While in some countries, standard procedures were by and large maintained

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    Minimum wages in 2021: Most countries settle for cautious increase

    ​​​​​​​Despite the unusually tough economic and labour market conditions, most EU Member States made nominal and real increases to their minimum wages in 2020. This is what a first overview of recent minimum wage developments reveals. Some countries lived up to earlier promises or pre-agreements


    Blogs results (18)
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    The workings of industrial relations are constantly evolving. In this blog piece, Eurofound authors Christian Welz and Ricardo Rodriguez Contreras discuss a tool that Eurofound has developed to enable this process of change to be monitored and analysed, enabling stakeholders in Member States to asse

    28 Marzo 2018
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    Measures to promote gender pay transparency haven’t been delivered yet in half of Europe – making EU level legislative action to speed up implementation an option. In this blog, originally posted in Social Europe, Christine Aumayr-Pintar details what we know about the measures from countries that ha

    28 Febrero 2018
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    Average unemployment rates continue to fall across Europe, employment is growing again in middle-paying jobs, offshoring is on the decline, the proportion of routine jobs is falling, and efforts to make work more sustainable have borne fruit.

    6 Junio 2017
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    The growth in average (nominal) pay of employees has accelerated in recent years in EU countries after a slump following the economic crisis. Similar developments show up in data on collectively agreed wages. However, higher wage growth figures do not automatically mean that all employees benefit eq

    27 Febrero 2017
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    Europe has gone through significant economic change over the past decade. Businesses have had to manage the challenges posed by the financial crisis, globalisation and a rapidly changing labour market. Eurofound's new report Win-win arrangements: Innovative measures through social dialogue at compan

    3 Octubre 2016
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    On the eve of the 11th International Labour and Employment Relations Association (ILERA) European Congress, we look at the issue of representativeness in Europe, and how ensuring that workers and employers are fairly represented at EU-level is an important aspect of European democracy.

    7 Septiembre 2016
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    The European Union (EU) has strong legislation in place that protects workers from being exploited and also enables businesses to engage in fair competition. Workers are mobile and can move freely within the EU single market across borders – without being dependent upon traffickers. Yet, the latest

    3 Mayo 2016
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    ​Nowadays we all know that long or excessive working hours may have serious negative impacts on a person’s health and wellbeing. Eurofound‘s new report 'Working time developments in the 21st century' suggests that if working time standards are mainly left to legislation or to be set unilaterally by

    4 Marzo 2016

    Upcoming publications results (8)

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the graphical industry. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation

    July 2025

    This report reviews the quality of the national social partners’ involvement in the implementation of the reforms and investments shaping the digital and green transition in the context of national policymaking. These reforms and investments stem mainly from the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

    March 2025

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the extractive industries sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective par

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the construction sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participatio

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the chemical sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participation in

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the road transport sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effective participat

    December 2024

    This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the actors involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the postal and courier activities sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted, their role and effec

    November 2024

    This publication comprises individual country reports on developments in working life in each of the 27 EU Member States and Norway in 2023, based on national research and survey results. The topics covered include the political context in 2023; updates on the social partners and social dialogue ins

    July 2024

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