Search

In this paper, the author analyses the current changes that are taking place in the field of labour relations and labour law. The paper covers the previous experiences of digital transformation of labour relations that occurred in the pre-Covid era, on the one hand, as well as the impact of the Sars KOV 19 pandemic on this process today. The author in the paper pays special attention to the parallel digitalization process of the economy expressed through the so-called „the fourth economic revolution" and its impact on the transformation of labour relations in the region and Europe. The paper analyses the aspects of responsiveness of legal systems in Europe and the region of Southeast Europe in terms of acceptance or resistance to the digitalization of the economy and labour. The paper lists the positive aspects of the current and future digital transformation of labour relations, which means for workers, employers, as well as future government labour policies. The negative aspects are also analysed, as possible future challenges that will inevitably bring the digitalization of labour relations, among which the author emphasizes the growth of unemployment, weakening trade union influence, resistance from employees and the aspect of safety and health at work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the individual data from the European Social Survey of 2004 and 2010, the authors of this paper investigate how employment type (permanent, temporary or informal employment) affects subjective well-being in respect to employment protection legislation across European countries. Our study outcomes are in line with previous research disclosing the negative impact of being temporally or informally employed on subjective well-being. The additional contribution of this study is the rigorous analysis of how employment protection legislation (EPL) moderates this effect by applying the multilevel modeling approach for 27 countries. In countries with strict EPL temporary and informal workers are significantly less satisfied with their lives than permanent employees. In countries with liberal EPL no significant decreasing effect from temporary or informal employment on people's subjective well-being was found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In his monograph The Redress of Law, Emilios Christodoulidis provides a sophisticated genealogical study of the emergence of total market thinking in Europe. With market constitutionalism having sidelined political constitutionalism, the potential of law to organise the political community is significantly restricted. By examining the commodification of labour, processes of bargaining, unemployment, and strikes, Christodoulidis demonstrates the destructive consequences of law in the service of market rationalities as well as its potential for strategic action to build collective identity in the EU (European Union). Yet, I argue that this book comes with two significant blind spots, namely a dated understanding of both law and labour. First of all, Christodoulidis's systems theoretical understanding of law is neglecting the material conditions that law continuously re-produces in the course of globalization. Secondly, his vision of labour remains rather traditional, focused on unionised, white, and male workers. Both elements are central pillars of his analysis but do not reflect the current reality of the 21st century. In this Article, I challenge his conceptualization by situating his work in recent research on the role of law and labour regulation in global capitalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Outlines key areas of the Government White Paper Fairness at Work. Identifies the training implications in the proposed changes in collective law and in the improvements in the individual rights of employees. Concludes that the most important train ing needs are likely to arise in the extension of unfair dismissal protection and the right for employees to have trade union representation in disciplinary and grievance hearings. Also examines the training needs arising out of the arbitration option in unfair dismissal proceedings and those arising out of the establishment of a National Minimum Wage and other legislative developments, including the Working Time Regulations. Examines also the issue of collective bargaining about training. This is an is sue that the Government is considering, as opposed to proposing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article studies the impact of employment law on de facto labour market segmentation for 22 European countries from 1991 to 2014. Applying the concept of legal segmentation, the authors distinguish between the standard‐setting (protective), privileging and equalizing functions of employment law and use descriptive and multivariate statistics to indicate their effects on overall employment, and male and female standard and non‐standard employment. High privileging, in combination with high standard‐setting, is found to favour male standard employment and female non‐standard employment, while the equalizing function, aimed at improving the protection of women and other marginalized groups, actually increases male non‐standard employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resumen: El objetivo de este número monográfico es enriquecer el debate sobre la nueva regulación («rerregulación») del derecho individual del trabajo, aplicando el concepto de segmentación legal desde una perspectiva mundial y distinguiendo tres funciones de la legislación laboral: estandarización, constitución de privilegios e igualación. En este artículo introductorio se utiliza una nueva base de datos creada por los autores, que permite agrupar los países según una tipología de segmentación legal. Además de abordar las cuestiones metodológicas, se exponen las conclusiones preliminares, contrastándolas con los estudios regionales y temáticos de este monográfico, que proponen políticas destinadas a crear y aplicar normas protectoras inclusivas para todos los trabajadores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with joining the EU and with the desire to be compatible with the European labor market, flexicurity begins to penetrate gradually the Romanian labor market, becoming a topical concept, an economic and social recovery tool. In the simplest possible way, flexicurity can be defined as the compromise between flexibility and work safety. The flexicurity principle was born as a solution to the European dilemma: how to increase the competitiveness of European enterprises in global competition without sacrificing the European social model. Although a gradual passage is attempted, the tradition of a profession inherited from one generation to another or a stable job still exists in the human resource mentality, but it no longer exists in the present society. The concept of flexicurity is relatively new, introduced in Europe in 2006, when the principles of flexicurity were developed, but they were implemented according to the economic specificity of each EU member state. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effects that EU accession has had on the Romanian labor market and the subsequent steps to harmonize Romania with the European Union requirements from the point of view of human resources management, flexicurity at the labor market. In Romania, the flexicurity balance is balanced, in the sense that the trade unions support a broader level of security, and the employers tend to a greater degree of flexibility. In conclusion, the Romanian labor market to develop a high degree of flexicurity must aim at increasing employment and reducing long-term unemployment, promoting workplace security and reducing the rigidity of labor law, especially in case of voluntary dissolution of firms, or of collective redundancies. In addition, the flexibility of collective and individual work contracts is also sought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this paper is to introduce the special issue on "Labour, productivity and growth". Design/methodology/approach -- The paper discusses the articles in the special issue, which investigate the main theme -- labour, productivity and growth -- from different points of view by employing a variety of econometric methods. These include improvement of the evaluation of the impact of labour market flexibility on economic performance, analysis of the macroeconomic law of decreasing returns to labour, a new panel co-integration method, and a reinterpretation of co-integration analysis to assess the impact of incomes policy. Institutional variables, in particular the system of industrial relations, are duly considered. Findings -- The papers in the special issue highlight different causes of sluggish economic (productivity) growth in Europe, in the light of not only traditional macroeconomic variables, such as total factor productivity and labour market flexibility, but also such factors as neo-corporatist industrial relations and management practices, which are generally neglected in the literature. Originality/value -- The paper introduces a number of articles proposing innovations in the interpretation and application of a wide range of theoretical approaches and econometric methodologies. It also discusses several policy suggestions for fighting sluggish productivity growth, including investment in research and development, human capital, flexicurity, innovative industrial relations practices and high-performance workplace practices also considered capable of affecting macroeconomic performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine what could be achieved through workforce mobility in Europe. Design/methodology/approach - The approach taken is a literature and case review. Findings - Findings indicate that full mobility of a European workforce is largely permitted and tolerated though a complex web of legal policy and constraints which need to be reviewed if full mobility is to be achieved within the European Union (EU). Practical implications - The paper draws on integration and trade theory to highlight the issues of mobility within the EU. The paper may prove useful to policy makers and researchers. Originality/value - This paper allows researchers to gain an understanding of the . issues in workforce mobility within the EU and build a conceptual portrait of the challenges faced by policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – To ease adjustments in the labour market, many countries have softened their legislation since the 1970s by introducing flexible labour contracts or by making their use easier. The purpose of this paper is to document labour management of temporary contracts during the last 20 years in Belgium, compared to the situation in its neighbouring countries. The authors investigate the determinants of the use of flexible labour contracts and the consequences of their introduction on labour dynamics. Design/methodology/approach – A dynamic Probit is considered to model the use of fixed term labour contracts (FTCs) and standard dynamic labour demand equations are used to test the impact of labour contracts on the labour adjustment at the firm level, using a panel of around 8,000 firms during the period 1998-2005. Findings – The results indicate that some firms follow labour management based on a core (indefinite term contracts – ITCs) and a peripheral component (FTCs) and manage temporary contracts on a "permanent" basis, from a long run perspective. Estimates also confirm a much faster temporary contracts employment adjustment, while ITCs adjustment does not depend on whether firms employ FTCs. ITCs short-term employment elasticity with respect to wages suggests that workers protection against redundancies is strengthened when firms manage work organisation with both types of contracts. In contrast to ITCs, FTCs are used to meet unexpected demand shocks. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the growing literature on the impact of the introduction of new flexible contracts on the labour demand at the firm level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The theoretical effects of labor regulations, such as employment protection legislation (EPL), on innovation is ambiguous. EPL increases job security, and the greater enforceability of job contracts may increase worker investment in innovative activity. But EPL increases firms' adjustment costs, which may lead to underinvestment in activities that are likely to require adjustment, including technologically advanced innovation. In this paper, we find empirical evidence that these effects are at work--in particular, a higher share of multinational enterprise innovative activity in countries with high EPL is technologically advanced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As migrant workers, EU-8 nationals enjoy a right to equal treatment with nationals in respect of their terms and conditions of employment. While some employers have tried to meet their legal obligations towards EU-8 nationals, others have denied them their employment rights under UK law. In this paper, we explore how EU-8 migrants make use of Employment Tribunals (ETs) to enforce their employment rights. How many cases do they bring before ETs, and what are they about? Are claims brought alone or with support, and if so, from whom? How are EU-8 workers treated once they are before a Tribunal and how successful are their claims? If there is evidence that EU-8 migrants are successfully bringing claims to enforce their employment rights, then fears about undercutting and exploitation of vulnerable workers are perhaps less serious than they would first appear. If they are not, then concerns about (mis)treatment are justified and prompt the further question as to how their rights could be better protected in practice, particularly given the introduction of fees for accessing ETs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to review the case for improved (supra-national) regional social and labour policies in principle, assess the extent to which existing regional associations of governments and regional organizations are actually developing effective regional labour policies in different sub-regions of Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia, and finally explore the driving forces behind their development and suggest how they might be further enhanced. Design/methodology/approach – The paper compares the emergence of regional policies concerning labour rights and migrant workers' rights across regions. A sample of more than 15 regional arrangements are then ranked on the basis of their commitment in these areas. Finally, correlations between these rankings and different indicators of (real) regional interdependence are looked at. Findings – The paper shows that regional socio-economic policies are gaining importance in different world regions, although speeds are varied and generally low. It is difficult, however, to find strong correlations with indicators of regional interdependence such as trade or migration. Originality/value – The paper presents one of the first systematic accounts of the development of regional socio-economic policies in different world regions. It shows at the same time that huge opportunities for new policy initiatives exist in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores emerging notions of solidarity in the discourse and practice of European labour law. New forms of solidarity are giving expression to the increasingly transnational nature of collective bargaining, as well as reflecting the global dimension of economic restructuring and the cross-national impact of the economic and financial crisis. The solutions which are coming to the fore are characterised by a rejection of protectionism and a recognition of the need to adjust labour standards to the multiplicity of interests at stake. The institutional innovations which are most likely to endure are those which recognise an active role for the social partners in framing and implementing solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Temporary contract migration schemes have experienced a revival in Europe. Such schemes mean that a significant number of migrant workers have limited access to rights and entitlements, let alone full citizenship. The temporary nature of their migration poses obstacles to traditional ways of organizing workers. This changing landscape of migration dynamics, thus, requires a changing landscape of migrant rights activism also. The focus in this paper is on collective activism by social justice organizations and their engagement with, and handling of, the subject matter of migrant workers' rights. Based on insights from scholars working on social movements and transnational advocacy networks, I argue that a transnational and trans-institutional perspective is required in addressing temporary migrants' socioeconomic and legal insecurities, and it is the concept of the 'network' which captures best these interactions between multiple actors at multiple sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates cross-country differences in wage mobility in Europe using the European Community Household Panel. We examine the impact of specific wage-setting institutions, such as the collective bargaining and the trade union density, the employment protection regulation and the welfare state regime on wage mobility. We apply a log-linear approach that is very much similar to a restricted multinomial logit model and much more flexible than the standard probit approach that is typically applied in the research on wage mobility. It is shown that the macro-economic context and the aforementioned specific institutions explain a substantial part of the cross-country variation that is larger than the part that regime type explains. The findings also confirm the existence of an inverse U-shape pattern of wage mobility, showing a great deal of low-wage and high-wage persistence in all countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job insecurity causes far-reaching negative outcomes. The fear of job loss damages the health of employees and reduces the productivity of firms. Thus, job insecurity should result in increasing social costs. Analysing representative data from 17 European countries, this paper investigates self-perceived job insecurity. Our multi-level analysis reveals significant cross-country differences in individuals' perception of job insecurity. This finding is not only driven by social-structural or institutional differences, but the perception of job insecurity is also influenced by nation-specific unobserved characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the social, economic and political conditions in Europe. According to the author, the Spring European Council continues to review the Lisbon Strategy and the progress that has been made in pursuing reforms and investing in the fields of research and development as well as education. He added that the ETUC has opposed to the basic premises of the European Commission's Green Paper Modernizing labor law to meet the challenges of the 21st century. He also stated that the Commission published a report to the electoral participation of EU citizens in the Member State of residence which aims to evaluate the application of Community law in the 2004 European elections.

In recent years, there has been greater scrutiny of the legitimacy of governance within international and regional institutions and an emerging interest in deliberative democracy. This paper examines the potential impact of these trends on the survival of current mechanisms for the making of transnational labour law, which may be thought to reflect corporatist rather than pluralist or deliberative practices. We focus on two examples: the tripartite constitutional foundation of the International Labour Organisation, which ensures that employer and worker representatives share in standard-setting alongside government representatives, and the predominantly bipartite process of social dialogue between management and labour for the formulation of European Community social policy. Despite significant differences in approach, both organisations have chosen to prioritise participation by trade unions and employer representatives within designated bargaining structures that are ostensibly designed to achieve some balance in their relative influence; however, the reasons for this preference have not always been apparent. This paper investigates how corporatist structures have been adapted for application at the international and European level, and seeks to analyse their potential for legitimacy, and thereby their durability. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper summarises a large-scale research project, jointly funded by the European Commission and the Northern Ireland Office, about the legislation, policies, and practices which act against the employment of people with a criminal record in the European Union. The disparity of legal guidance between countries effectively restricts the opportunities for people with a criminal record to work in the country they choose. This paper intends to increase awareness of the policies across Europe which affect the employment of people with a criminal record with a view to addressing the marginalisation of this group and thereby encouraging the re-integration of ex-offenders into society. Details of the work undertaken by a project based in Northern Ireland, 'Coping with Convictions' which endeavours to tackle some of the existing barriers to ex-offender employment are described. In addition, the recent introduction of UK legislation, allowing employers greater access to criminal record information, and the implications this may have for ex-offenders seeking employment are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to identify macro-level determinants of early work exit and investigate whether the effects of these determinants differ across educational groups. We used data from the Survey on Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) (2011–2013) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) (2010/2011–2012/2013) as well as macro-level data and included 10,584 participants in 14 European countries. We used logistic multilevel analyses to examine educational differences in macro-level determinants of early work exit. Macro-level determinants were: minimum unemployment replacement rates, expenditure on active labour market policies (aimed to help the unemployed find work) and passive labour market policies (unemployment and early retirement benefits), employment protection legislation (costs involved in dismissing individuals), unemployment rates, statutory pension age and implicit tax on continued work. We found low-educated workers to be more at risk of early work exit than higher educated workers. In low-educated men, higher unemployment replacement rates, higher expenditure on passive labour market policies, stricter employment protection legislation and a higher implicit tax on continued work were associated with a higher risk of early work exit, whereas no macro-level factors were associated with early work exit in highly educated men. In women, a higher expenditure on passive labour market policies and a higher implicit tax on continued work were determinants of early work exit, regardless of educational level. To conclude, low-educated men seem to be especially responsive to the effects of pull factors that make early retirement financially more attractive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article responds on comments made in a paper which investigated widening wage differentials in the U.S. and increasing unemployment in Europe. Giuseppe Bertola stressed that the model had been made intentionally simple in order to focus on the effects of differences in labor-market institutions. The hope was that this model would be useful in explaining the component of wage inequality which had been most difficult to rationalize by more conventional approaches. He also said that the increasing idiosyncratic uncertainty which they postulate need not be completely unrelated to stories stressing skill-biased technological progress. Bob Hall observed that there were a number of possible schemes which would effectively vitiate the European anti-firing laws. For instance, the worker and the firm could draw up an agreement at hiring time that gives either party the right to initiate a separation. If this is impractical or illegal, then the firm could try to find a new job for a redundant worker at another firm and thus avoid the penalty imposed for firing a worker. A third possibility is for the firm to diversify either by entering an industry which requires employment growth or by acquiring growing firms.

This paper has a number of important objectives in the field of plant and company industrial relations, its primary focus being an examination of the German labor-management relationship as regulated by the 1952 and the recent 1972 Works Constitution Acts.[1] These Acts provide for the establishment and operation of a system of Works and Company Councils, and although the 1972 Act has largely replaced its predecessor, the provisions of the 1952 Act regulating the Supervisory Board system outside the coal, and the iron and steel industries still remain. This system of Supervisory Boards and the Works and Company Councils represent the most important cornerstones of worker participation in German industry. The possible extension of the Supervisory Board and European Works Council system across the European Economic Community could raise weighty political and industrial relations issues for Britain.
This paper considers the legislative provisions regarding the rights and powers of Works and Company Councils, including the co-decision-making rights in manpower and personnel policy, rights to effective consultation over production changes, the economic viability of the firm, intended changes in the organization, type, and location of the firm's productive activity, and labor's rights to involvement in the efficient running of the plant. The paper also considers the Economic Committee at company level, the role of the trade union in plant industrial relations affairs, an analysis of how the provisions of the 1952 Act have operated in practice and the likely effects of the 1972 Act on labor and management. An attempt will be made to draw relevant implications for the British industrial relations system with particular emphasis on the role of the shop steward: the purpose of such a comparison is to evaluate the possible benefits the British system of labor-management relations could derive from a formalization along German lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Çalışma ve Toplum is the property of Calisma ve Toplum and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines changes in labor markets and labor rights for 13 post-communist states of East Central Europe and the Former Soviet Union. It focuses on the simultaneous pressures to increase the flexibility of labor markets and improve labor standards in the years since the collapse of communism. Comparative measures and patterns of both de jure and de facto standards and flexibility are presented, and the roles of key institutional promoters of change are analyzed. I find that a combination of democratic regime type and European Union accession has pulled East European states toward the strengthening of collective labor rights. The effect is strongest on the states that joined the EU in 2004, weaker for those joining in 2007, while the three post-Soviet, non-accession states remain significantly more labor-repressive. Labor market flexibilization has been a more uniform trend in the post-communist region. In the context of this project’s inter-regional comparisons, contemporary Eastern Europe has the strongest labor rights. At the same time, the decline of trade unions and limits of collective bargaining in most post-communist states undermine the effectiveness of transposed EU legislation and bargaining institutions in empowering labor. As shown by the exceptional case of Slovenia, strong unions are necessary to fully enforce rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to point out that there is not a clear and direct right to enjoy an environment of quality in the European Convention of Human Rights. Nevertheless, the jurisprudence of the Court has played an important role in creating a specific category of a fundamental right to the environment. An interesting interpretation of the European Convention of Human Rights has been done in the judgements quoted in this article expanding the limits of the Convention through a wide interpretation of the "traditional" human rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper I take issue with the services directive, commenting on the article by Nicolaïdis and Schmidt (2007). Unrestrained services trade, I argue, would broaden competition and benefit Central Eastern and Western Europe alike, in the presence of compensating factors or in the long run. Despite the welfare-enhancing effects, the services directive did not succeed in realizing the home-country principle. Instead the host-country retains its rights with regard to freedom of establishment, to posted workers and to self-employed persons temporarily crossing European borders. For employees, moreover, abolishing the host-country rule was never considered. I explain this result drawing on Machiavelli's, Rawls' and Olson's insight that numerically few losers can successfully oppose benefits for the whole economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In view of recent evaluations of the European Employment Strategy (EES), the European Employment Taskforce urged the Member States to step up their efforts to implement the Lisbon objectives. In the absence of decisive action, it looks increasingly unlikely that these objectives will be achieved by 2010. In the opinion of the Taskforce, the EES is approaching 'the moment of truth', making the question of how to proceed even more pressing. Actors at European level tend to seek a solution in a combination of merely procedural reforms and a more comprehensive and intensified involvement of the relevant actors at the relevant levels. However, in the light of past experience, it is questionable to what extent this approach will lead to better results. This paper aims to provide an answer to the question of whether the proposed changes properly address the existing imbalance between the economic and social objectives of the EES, and to consider whether the EES needs another approach. A critical review is presented of the instruments and implementation methods of the EES for the purposes of a more effective delivery of the Lisbon objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the dominance of the economic approach (see the first part of this paper) the Treaty of Rome provided for only a small body of provisions concerning labour relations, with the emphasis on guaranteeing the free movement of labour. In the absence of a sound legislative basis in the Treaty, it is not surprising that European labour legislation has been adopted on a piecemeal basis. This is to a certain extent the result of the competition between the (pure) economic model and the social policy approach of European integration. The former favours abstentionism by member states, the latter, especially in the formulation of social rights, seeks a high level of employment rights protection. Against this background nearly all areas of European Labour Law are characterised by the need to strike a balance between economic and social objectives. Some examples of this are the respect for the freedom of contract, limited only by the duty not to discriminate against workers on grounds of sex, ethnic origin, age and other factors, and the safeguarding of entrepreneurial decision-making, limited only by information and consultation rights for workers. In examining the Directives on atypical work (part-time, fixed-term employment) it is evident that considerable efforts have been made to strike a balance between employers' and employees' interests. Clearly, not all the legislation commands universal support, but this is only to be expected in view of the heterogeneity of the 15 Member States. However, it seems that European Labour Law has achieved a considerable degree of success in the search for social cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses gender differences in regional employment in Europe. An industrial relations approach is used, which requires that regulations and institutions in the labour market be analysed in regard to power relations in the workplace. Gender relations and working conditions are seldom included when welfare-state arrangements and the functioning of the labour market are discussed at a national level. The results of this study show that welfare-state policies, in a broad sense, support women's opportunities to take part in paid work in the labour market. Women in Europe are beginning to occupy an increasing share of the new jobs that are created as they improve their labour-force participation rates. Women are also moving into higher growth sectors of the economy to a larger extent than men. But in terms of occupations, hierarchies and power relations, the mechanisms of segregation in the workplace are changing very slowly. While considerable literature exists on the segregation processes within organizations, very little deals with how to change segregation patterns and how to balance the differences in power between women and men in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent Eurozone crisis has reinvigorated neoliberal policies and brought to the fore an academic and policy debate over the deregulation of employment relations’ institutions ‘in the name of competitiveness’. In the context of this debate, we ask the following question: have firms with employment relations institutions been less able to improve productivity during the crisis? We consider this question by examining data from the European Company Survey. We also look into different models of capitalism to gauge whether there are context-specific institutional effects that may mediate firm-level outcomes. Contrary to the dominant neoliberal discourse, we do not find any strong evidence that employment relations institutions are negatively associated with productivity increases. Instead, we find that certain high performance work practices are positively and significantly associated with productivity increases across EU-15 and in particular institutional contexts. Taken together these results challenge the neoliberal ‘low road’ policies that are focused on dismantling employment relations institutions and suggest shifting the attention towards context-sensitive ‘high road’ policies and practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In this paper the authors examine the theoretical framework of the set of laws, provisions, regulations, recommendations and pronouncements that embody the active employment policies in Europe. They illustrate that the theoretical framework is influenced in its attribution of meaning and significance to its subject matter by its relationship with the definitions of employment. To do this they provide an analysis of: the collective agencies, the courses of action, the recipient groups, the relations between the collective agencies, the courses of action decided upon and their recipient subjects, the supporting measures by which these courses of action will be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section presents the status of several research on international and comparative industrial relations, as of October 1984. They include a plant-closing project which begun in Cleveland, Ohio to Great Britain, the Netherlands, Belgium, West Germany and Sweden, a study on the problem of trade barriers, a study on the policies of the Norwegian Labor government regarding the allocation of oil revenues it derived from the North Sea oil fields in the early 1970s, and a study on appropriate participative schemes in enterprises and organizations in selected Asian countries.

. 'Meta-regulation' describes the transnational governance of industrial relations emerging from attempts to resolve conflicts between national collective agreements and EU Member States' freedom to provide services and post workers abroad. The norm underpinning such meta-regulation is competition, not only between workers from different EU Member States but also between States' labour regulations. Using the concepts of 'structural power' and 'social field', the authors discuss judicial decisions that illustrate the gradual meta-regulation of industrial relations in the EU and show how the power asymmetry between labour and capital is growing in favour of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the meaning of autonomy in European context, particularly from the definition of social dialogue adopted by the European Commission and its social partners. The author discusses the applicability of collective autonomy parameters as developed by labour law and industrial relations theory. The author argues that autonomy should be considered as a primarily procedural issue and that autonomous agreements should be recognized as relevant to the European legal system.

The article offers insights on flexicurity, an approach to labour market regulation that is aimed at combining labour market flexibility with individual security in the European Union (EU) countries, and globalization. It explains the emergence of the approach as a new and common model for social policy under the European Employment Strategy (EES). Also explored is the political association between flexicurity and globalization. Key components of flexicurity are tackled, including comprehensive lifelong learning (LLL) strategies.

Employment protection legislation attracted particular attention in the past decade as a potentially important cause of persistently high unemployment in Europe. In response to this concern, a considerable number of OECD countries liberalised the rules governing employment. Italy opted for the deregulation of so-called «non-standard» employment relations for particular groups within the labour market, but left «standard» employment and pre-existing work contracts largely unchanged. This choice was justified by policy-makers with the argument that, in the long run, it may be a way to integrate the weakest components of the work force into the labour market -- that is, in standard, secure employment. This process has been referred to as «partial and targeted deregulation». As a consequence, non-standard employment has grown especially among the younger cohorts, creating a real «secondary, underprotected. labour market which arises substantial problems of social citizenship and potential marginalisation. In this paper we investigate the consequences of these flexibilisation efforts for the labour-market entry of recent cohorts. In particular, we ask whether these measures have effectively helped to integrate young people into the labour market, or whether they have simply added employment precariousness to pre-existing problems of social inequality that afflict Italian society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lisbon Strategy commits the EU to making labour market regulation more employment friendly with commentators anticipating some resulting convergence on the US model. Surprisingly, part of this post-Lisbon convergence has taken the form of a major extension of EU Social Policy with the expansion of anti-discrimination policies to address the case of age discrimination. We argue that unlike the US experience, it is the current preoccupation with raising European employment rates that has led to this expansion of ‘hard law’ Social Europe. We are unable to provide an efficiency rationale for this extension and assess alternative explanations. We also provide arguments suggesting that its impact is likely to differ from those experienced in the US. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In modern developed economies it is the service sector that generates jobs. In Anglo-Saxon economies, where employment protection legislation is low and unions comparatively weak, services account for three-quarters of income and four-fifths of jobs. Yet in France, Germany and Italy, where the reverse is true, the service sector accounts for much less of the economy in terms of income and jobs. This article shows that employment protection legislation – defended by trade unions still dominating manufacturing in continental Europe – results in higher unemployment rates and also negatively affects the growth of services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Employment Strategy (EES) is set to remain centre stage as the EU embraces ten new member states. The evidence regarding the prospects of the accession countries meeting the increasingly explicit targets that the EES has set for the years up to 2010 does not yield a favourable prognosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under external pressure, the Greek system of industrial relations has undergone radical regulatory changes since 2010. These have led to a significant contraction of higher level bargaining and a process of disorganized decentralization, bringing the collective bargaining system to a brink of collapse. Emerging demands on the part of both employers and unions to preserve multi-level bargaining, together with greater support on the part of the state, could halt or even reverse some of these trends. But the scope for success of such efforts depends on how far 'regulated austerity' continues to dominate European policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign students and trainees are welcomed by the EU for study purposes. Member States must ensure that during their studies third-country national (TCN) students can legally work for at least ten hours a week, whereas trainees may not. This article deals with these often overlooked TCN students and trainees as migrant workers. It presents an extensive analysis of EU labour migration Directives on the level of protection of TCN students and trainees in comparison to illegally staying TCNs, with a case-study based on Dutch employer sanctions case law. The aim of the article is to map this reclassification of students and trainees as workers. One conclusion is that legally staying migrants may be more vulnerable and receive less protection under EU law than irregular migrant workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines whether European countries' collective labour standards are converging and if so why. It presents new data on labour protection in 45 European countries and shows that the EU is a labour standards convergence club. It reviews the soft and hard instruments which the EU adopted in order to promote labour standards. The article models the competition, emulation and learning convergence mechanisms using a spatial econometric approach, and shows that EU countries learn from each other's successes and emulate one another. The article thus presents new evidence of the mixture of domestic and cross-national factors which shape labour standards in Europe. It adds to the growing evidence of countries' spatial dependencies in various policy areas. Most importantly, it provides evidence showing that soft co-ordination is an effective instrument which has had a positive impact on labour standards, and has led to horizontal convergence in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on a study which examined the possibilities for a European Community system of labor market regulation. Information on the number of forces that are working in favor of convergence of European community; Conclusion of the study.

European Union legislation reflects the consensus reached by the governments of member states. Yet laws have to be implemented in widely differing national contexts and may not therefore achieve the same objectives or have the same effects. Proposals for regulating working conditions, promoting equality of opportunity and reconciling paid and unpaid work are often driven by the need to avoid competitive disadvantage, with little regard for their possible impact on the everyday lives of individuals. This paper examines the temporal dimension of European legislation from a gendered perspective, and its implications for the patterning of women's employment and family life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This submission traces the scope of the religious exemptions for religious organisation both under the Irish Employment Equality Acts 1998-2011 at national level and under the EU Framework Directive on Employment and Occupation, Directive 2000/78/EC of November 2000, at EU level. It will be demonstrated that the Irish religious exemptions are broader in scope than those at EU level and therefore constitute a severe limitation on the equality rights of Irish citizens falling within protected grounds of non-discrimination other than religion or belief under the EU Employment Equality Directive. Special regard is had to the limitation of the rights of Irish citizens falling within the protected ground of non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. It is considered whether, by allowing overly broad exemptions to subsist beyond the exigencies of a strict proportionality test, the Irish State is in effect giving efficacy to the typified intolerance between religions organisations and the LGBT community and in so doing, contributing to the perpetuation of these intolerances in Irish society rather than their erosion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]