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This book examines social dialogue and the role of social partners in the governance of the world of work in 34 European countries. Actors in the world of work are facing an increasing number of challenges, including automatization and digitalization, new types of jobs and more diverse forms of employment. Through interviews, surveys and examples of best practice, the volume provides evidence on how social dialogue can meet these challenges, how the social partners can become stranger and more representative, and what role they and social dialogue can play regarding digitalization. The volume also addresses demographic change, migration flows, global supply chain management and environmental objectives.

Excerpt from publisher's website.

The contents are as follows: Enhancing social partners' and social dialogue's roles and capacity in the new world of work: overview / Youcef Ghellab and Daniel Vaughan-Whitehead; Strengthening the representativeness of the social partners and their institutional capacity to shape labour markets through social dialogue / Dominique Anxo; Supporting the autonomous role of the social partners / Bernd Waas; Digitalization and social dialogue: challenges, opportunities and responses / Rafael Munoz de Bustillo Llorente; Enhancing the social partners and social dialogue in the new world of work in the Czech Republic / Sona Veverkova; Reforms and new challenges for work and employment in France: social dialogue under pressure / Christine Erhel; The German industrial relations system under pressure: structure, trends and outcomes / Ulrich Walwei, Lutz Bellmann and Christoph Bellmann; Striking the right balance between autonomy and assumption of responsibility: a way forward for social dialogue in Greece / Daphne Nicolitsas; Social dialogue and the new world of work in Ireland / Philip J. O'Connell; Enhancing the social partners and social dialogue in the new world of work: the case of Italy / Lorenzo Bordogna; Social partners and the world of work in Poland: between East and West / Dominika Polkowska; Social dialogue and world of work challenges in Romania / Magda Volonciu; Enhancing social partners' capacity and social dialogue in the new world of work: the case of Spain / Oscar Molina; Industrial relations, social dialogue and the transformation of the world of work: the Swedish experience / Dominique Anxo; Turkey: enhancing social partners' capacity and social dialogue in the new world of work / Gaye Burcu Yildiz; Social dialogue and the future of work in the Adriatic region / Igor Guardiancich; Social dialogue and the new world of work: the case of the Baltic states / Jaan Masso, Kerly Espenberg and Inta Mierina. Show less

This collection of individual country reports looks at working life during 2020 for 29 countries - the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the United Kingdom. The country reports summarise first evidence on the impact of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results. The reports discuss the policy responses of governments and social partners in their efforts to cushion the socioeconomic effects and include a focus on policy areas that have been accelerated or disrupted due to the crisis. Finally, the reports explore the impact of the pandemic on industrial action, working time and wages.

Edited excerpt from publisher's website.

The reports are as follows: Austria: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Bernadette Allinger; Belgium: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Dries Van Herreweghe; Bulgaria: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Ekaterina Ribarova and Violeta Ivanova; Czechia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Stepanka Lehmann and Sona Veverkova; Denmark: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Maria Hansen and Carsten Jorgensen; Estonia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Ingel Kadarik, Merilen Laurimae and Mart Masso; Germany: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Sandra Vogel and Marc Breitenbroich; Greece: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Elena Kousta; Spain: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Oscar Molina; Croatia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Predrag Bejakovic; Finland: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Amanda Kinnunen; France: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Frederic Turlan; Hungary: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Agnes Hars; Ireland: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Andy Prendergast; Italy: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Roberto Pedersini; Latvia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Raita Karnite; Lithuania: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Inga Blaziene, Rasa Mieziene and Ramune Guobaite-Kirsliene; Poland: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Jan Czarzasty; Portugal: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Maria da Paz Campos Lima and Paula Carrilho; Romania: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Valentina Vasile, Cristina Boboc and Simona Ghita; Slovakia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Ludovit Cziria, Rastislav Bednarik and Daniela Keselova; Slovenia: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Maja Breznik and Barbara Luzar; Sweden: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Anna-Karin Gustafsson and Amanda Kinnunen; UK: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Claire Evans; Luxembourg: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Gaetan de Lanchy; Malta: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Saviour Rizzo; Netherlands: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Amber van der Graaf; Norway: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Asmund Arup Seip; Cyprus: working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 / Pavlos Kalosinatos. Show less

Ensuring apprentice rights are upheld is a key condition of quality apprenticeships and can be supported and facilitated through establishing representative structures for apprentices at all levels. Until recently, there have been limited opportunities for apprentices to contribute to discussions related to apprenticeship policy at European level and make their voices heard. In response, the European Commission initiated the European Apprentice Network (EAN) in 2017 to represent the voice of apprentices. At national level in Europe, there is limited evidence of structures in place to represent apprentices. The main objectives of this study were to: (1) undertake a mapping of the representation of apprentices in the different bodies in the targeted countries; (2) draw conclusions and make suggestions for action on how representation could be further developed and strengthened at national level and how the European level could support it; and (3) draw conclusions and make suggestions for action on how the European Apprentices Network (EAN) could further grow to enhance its added value in the relationship between national developments and the European policy debate. The study involved the mapping of apprentice representation structures across 37 countries including all EU Member States, Candidate and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries. Four case studies were undertaken to analyse four apprentice representation structures in more detail. These covered Denmark, Netherlands, Australia and Canada.

In total, 68 structures involved in apprentice representation were identified. The type of representation structures varies significantly across countries This study has classified them into three different types: (1) direct representation covering apprentices and vocational education and training (VET) students; (2) indirect representation (wider scope) covering secondary students or youth; and (3) indirect representation (consultation through wider bodies). No relevant structures were identified in Bulgaria, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Albania and Montenegro. This study has identified relevant structures but has not provided an analysis of their relevance/functioning in the national systems. It also shows that apprentices' interests are better safeguarded through structures that represent apprentices directly or VET students overall. Currently, only a limited number of European countries have in place such structures. The report analyses the current role of the EAN and makes suggestions for its future development. It also proposes ways to strengthen apprentice representation across Europe.

Edited excerpts from publication. Show less

Embedded in the particular model of work organization of digital labour platforms, platform workers face several hurdles discouraging them from becoming trade union members. These relate to algorithmic management, regulatory arbitrage regarding the employment arrangements and the promotion of an entrepreneurial orientation among platform workers. Nevertheless, based on data from a representative survey in 14 European countries, union density in the platform economy stands at 13.4 per cent. This should be interpreted as a kind of 'platform unionism' that exists by coincidence, however, as union membership is most likely rooted in the labour market status of platform workers in the conventional economy. Compared to the general population, platform workers have stronger pro-union attitudes and are more receptive to union membership. Probably partly reflecting difficulties in the ability to unionize, there is still a gap, though, between attitudes and willingness to unionize: whereas about two-thirds of platform workers hold positive attitudes towards unions, only over a quarter state that they would like to join a union. Apart from those positive pro-union attitudes, the propensity to unionize also seems to be determined by engagement in offline networks that promote a social norm of union membership and online participation in digital work-related communities. While these findings could inform union recruitment and organizing strategies, it is needless to say that the heterogeneity of the platform workforce, strongly influenced by the different ways in which workers participate in the platform economy, requires at the same time tailor-made strategies.

Published abstract. Show less

This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries - the 27 EU Member States and Norway. The country reports summarise evidence on the impact of the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] COVID-19 pandemic on working life based on national research and survey results during 2021. They outline the policy responses of governments and social partners in their efforts to cushion the socioeconomic effects and include a focus on policy areas related to adapting to the pandemic and the return to work. This includes in particular a focus on new health and safety arrangements at work, new work arrangements, policies to address labour shortages and wages and wage setting. The reports also explore the impact of the pandemic on social dialogue, collective bargaining and industrial action.

Please note that there is no consolidated report on working life in the EU in 2021. The available report provides the collective list of links to the individual country reports.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website. Show less

How artificial intelligence (AI) will impact workplaces is a central question for the future of work, with potentially significant implications for jobs, productivity, and worker well-being. While a growing number of quantitative studies attempt to assess the impact of AI on various labour market outcomes, there remain significant knowledge gaps in terms of how firms, workers, and worker representatives are adapting. This study addresses these gaps through a qualitative approach. It is based on a new data collection that resulted in nearly 100 case studies of the impacts of AI technologies on workplaces in the manufacturing and finance sectors of eight OECD countries [Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States].

The findings provide a nuanced picture of the benefits and challenges of AI for workers, adding granularity to the public debate. The case studies show that, to date, job reorganisation appears more prevalent than job displacement, with automation prompting the reorientation of jobs towards tasks in which humans have a comparative advantage. The job quality improvements associated with AI - reductions in tedium, greater worker engagement, and improved physical safety - may be its strongest endorsement from a worker perspective. At the same time, the case studies highlight certain challenges - higher skill requirements, a deficit of specialised AI skills, and frequent reports of increased work intensity - underscoring the need for policies to ensure that AI technologies benefit everyone.

Published abstract. Show less

This paper analyses the job retention schemes implemented in response to the [Coronavirus Disease 2019] Covid-19 crisis, showing quantitative trends and differences in terms of expenditure on the schemes and the number of workers involved. The key focus is on a qualitative analysis of the schemes' key properties. The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) classification of JRSs states that they all share the objective of preserving the ties between companies and their employees in times of temporary economic difficulties. They support incomes of workers who keep their employment contract even if the work is fully suspended. Depending on the primary objective and the nature of support, three different categories of JRS can be distinguished: short-time work schemes, furlough schemes, and wage subsidies. In order to understand the diversity of job retention schemes implemented in the Covid-19 crisis, we first develop a typology, distinguishing between the three underlying types. We then provide a comparative overview of the different schemes implemented in the context of the crisis, considering their design as well as their size in terms of expenditure, and map adjustments made to them in the course of the crisis. The third section analyses the evolution of the take-up of the schemes in the course of 2020. The remaining sections discuss in detail such key properties as: eligibility criteria, the level of support for employees and employers, the role of collective bargaining and worker participation, dismissal protection, measures to avoid misuse, and training provisions.

The paper concludes by drawing lessons from experiences with the Covid-19 pandemic in light of the discussion on whether and how permanent schemes should be established. It argues that the main issue is to find a design that balances the interests of all stakeholders. This would require meaningful financial participation on the part of employers, effective integration of the schemes into active labour market policies, and provisions to avoid misuse, including the effective involvement of worker participation and collective bargaining structures.

Edited excerpts from publication.

This research also features an online annex of brief country studies that provide an overview in a standardised format of the characteristics of the three types of JRSs. The annex is comprised of the following reports: Job retention schemes in Europe: Austria / Dennis Tamesberger and Rudolf Moser; Belgium / Chris Serroyen; Bulgaria / Lyuben Tomev; Croatia / Katarina Jaklin; Cyprus / Horen Voskeritsian; Czechia / Jan Drahokoupil; Denmark / Trine P. Larsen and Anna Ilsoe; Estonia / Epp Kallaste; Germany / Torsten Muller; Greece / Horen Voskeritsian; Finland / Markku Sippola; France / Catherine Vincent; Ireland / Ger Gibbons; Italy / Michele Faioli and Silvio Bologna; Lithuania / Inga Blaziene and Rasa Mieziene; Luxembourg / Sylvain Hoffmann; Malta / Luke Anthony Fiorini; The Netherlands / Jan Cremers; Norway / Jorgen Svalund; Poland / Barbara Surdykowska; Portugal / Maria da Paz Campos Lima. Show less

This study reviews the impressive economic and labour market recovery experienced by four small European countries: Austria, Denmark, Ireland and the Netherlands. The study is largely based on nine reports prepared for the ILO comparative European country employment policy reviews (CEPRs). Its main aim is to analyse the success of the labour market situation in these countries and the factors responsible, particularly the promotion of social dialogue and the institution of critical macroeconomic and labour market policies. The study comprises four major sections: an introduction; an analysis of labour market progress and remaining problems in each of the four countries; a discussion of the reasons for labour market success; and a conclusion with policy recommendations. Several annexes contain further information and references are included. Show less

This paper presents an empirical analysis on the determinants of aggregate levels of training across fourteen OECD countries. Training data comes from the 1994 International Adult Literacy Survey (IALS), which provides highly comparable cross-country data on the percentage of employed individuals that received job-related training. We use a panel data structure to explain the levels of training across country and age groups from the average literacy skills of the corresponding population subset and other cross-country variables, including indicators of compression in the wage structure, the rate of unionization, the unemployment rate, the level of innovation activity and measures of industrial structure. We find that the average level of literacy skills in each age-group has a positive and highly significant effect on the proportion of workers that receive training, which is consistent with microeconomic evidence on the effect of educational attainment on the probability that workers participate in training. More importantly, our analysis shows that compression at the bottom of the wage distribution increases training but compression at the top has the opposite effect. These effects are robust and highly significant across gender and for different age-group samples. Potential policy implications are discussed.

Published abstract reprinted by permission of the copyright owner. Show less

This volume contains a collection of 30 recent articles selected from the 'International labour review', offering the insights of economists, sociologists and lawyers into a wide range of gender issues and country settings. It provides an opportunity to reflect upon the connections between measured labour market outcomes and the real lives people lead, what work means to them, the care work continuum, and the very notion of 'gender equality'. A preface by Martha C. Nussbaum is followed by an introductory article, 'Social choices and inequalities' by Mark Lansky, Jayata Ghosh, Dominique Meda and Uma Rami.

Edited excerpts from publisher's website.

Part two, 'Concepts and conceptions', contains the following articles: Equality and empowerment for decent work / Bob Hepple; Discrimination and equality at work: a review of the concepts / Manuela Tomei; Inequality at work in the informal economy: key issues and illustrations / Barbara Harriss-White; Distribution of income and job opportunities: normative judgements from four continents / Deborah Levison, Joseph A. Ritter, Rosamund Stock and Richard Anker; Missing women?: the under-recording and under-reporting of women's work in Malaysia / Anja Karlsson Franck and Jerry Olsson; Life domain preferences among women and men in Israel: the effects of demographic variables / Moshe Sharabi. Part three, 'Female labour force participation: gender gaps and segregation', contains: Globalization, social exclusion and gender / Marilyn Carr and Martha Chen; Closing the gender gap in education: what is the state of gaps in labour force participation for women, wives and mothers / Ina Ganguli, Ricardo Hausmann and Martina Viarengo; Ethnic wage gaps in Peru: what drives the particular disadvantage of indigenous women / Alexandre Kolev and Pablo Suarez Robles; Unlimited unskilled labour and the sex segregation of occupations in Jamaica / Heather E. Ricketts and David V. Bernard; Falling female labour force participation in Kerala: empirical evidence of discouragement / Shalina Susan Mathew; Gender equality at work in sub-Saharan Africa: a case study of Mali's modern sector / Saliha Doumbia and Dominique Meurs; The socio-cultural dimension of women's labour force participation choices in Switzerland / Fabio B. Losa and Pau Origoni; Gender equality, part-time work and segregation in Europe / Theo Sparreboom; Gender and labour in times of austerity: Ireland, Italy and Portugal in comparative perspective / Tindara Addabbo, Amelia Bastos, Sara Falcao Casaca, Nata Duvvury and Aine Ni Leime.

Part four, 'From unpaid to underpaid: the care-work continuum', contains the following articles: Care workers in Argentina: at the crossroads of labour market institutions and care services / Valeria Esquivel; Underpaid and overworked: a cross-national perspective on care workers / Shahra Razavi and Silke Staab; How care-work employment shapes earnings in cross-national perspective / Michelle J. Budig and Joya Misra; Discounted labour?: disaggregating care work in comparative perspective / Naomi Lightman; Hierarchies of care work in South Africa: nurses, social workers and home-based care workers / Francie Lund; The expansion of social care and reform: implications for care workers in the Republic of Korea / Ito Peng; Care arrangements and bargains: anganwadi and paid domestic workers in India / Rajni Palriwala and N. Neetha; Childcare and geographical mobility in southern Europe / Ildefonso Mendez; The globalization of nurse migration: policy issues and responses / Nicola Yeates. Part five, 'Regulation of 'women's work': a mixed record', contains: Night work of women in industry: standards and sensibility / George Politakis; Women in the Japanese labour market, 1947-2003: a brief survey / Junko Kumamoto-Healey; Social security reform and gender equality: recent experience in central Europe / Elaine Fultz and Silke Steinhilber; The ILO's Domestic Workers Convention and Recommendation: a window of opportunity for social justice / Martin Oelz. Part six, 'Organization for empowerment and better work', contains the following articles: Collective bargaining and equality: making connections / Adelle Blackett and Colleen Sheppard; Challenges facing nurses' associations and unions: a global perspective / Paul F. Clark and Darlene A. Clark; Organizing migrant care workers in Israel: industrial citizenship and the trade union option / Guy Mundlak and Hila Shamir; Can more inclusive wage-setting institutions improve low-wage work?: pay trends in the United Kingdom's public-sector hospitals / Damian Grimshaw. Show less