Surveys
International: National minimum wage update 2008
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 15/01/2009
National minimum wages in the EU in July 2008 ranged from €112 per month in Bulgaria to €1,610 in Luxembourg, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.
International: Minimum wage update 2007
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 09/08/2007
In 2007, national minimum wages in the EU range from €1,570 per month in Luxembourg to €92 in Bulgaria, according to the latest figures from Eurostat.
UK workplace discrimination relatively low
Source: Equal Opportunities Review
Date: 01/12/2006
Levels of workplace discrimination in the UK are low by global standards, according to a major survey - the Kelly Global Workforce Index.
European Union: Employing an ageing workforce
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/11/2006
Increasing the employment of "older workers" has been a focus of European Union policy for many years. A new study examines national policies and looks at company practice on this issue across Europe in a series of case studies.
European Company Statute state of play
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/11/2006
The European Company Statute and its employee involvement Directive came into force in October 2004. Two years on, we review progress in national implementation and in the establishment of European Companies.
International: OECD Employment Outlook 2006
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/08/2006
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development recently published its annual Employment Outlook. This year's report urges countries to ensure that all economic policies support measures to boost employment and incomes.
European Commission issues first report on worker mobility
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/03/2006
The European Commission has produced a report on how transitional labour market restrictions placed on eight of the 10 new EU member states have worked in practice during their first phase, from 1 May 2004 until 30 April 2006.
I do like Mondays
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 17/02/2006
HR and finance professionals claim to be most productive on a Monday, according to a survey in 11 countries by recruitment consultancy Robert Half Finance & Accounting.
European Company Statute state of play
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2005
The European Company Statute and its employee involvement Directive came into force in October 2004. More than a year later, few European Companies have been established, while a number of EU member states have not yet implemented the Directive.
International: OECD Employment Outlook 2005
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2005
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) recently published its annual Employment Outlook. This year's report urges countries to introduce more dynamic employment policies as a response to globalisation.
International: The minimum wage debate
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/09/2005
The majority of EU member states have a statutory minimum wage, while in many other countries collective bargaining at sectoral level sets binding minimum rates of pay. In this feature, we examine the debate surrounding the introduction, implementation and uprating of the statutory minimum wage in European countries.
European minimum wage survey
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/08/2005
The majority of EU member states have a statutory minimum wage, while in many other countries, collective bargaining at sectoral level sets binding minimum rates of pay.
International: OECD publishes Employment Outlook Report 2004
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2004
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has recently published its annual Employment Outlook Report. In this year's report, the OECD sets out some of the evidence for a reassessment of the organisation's jobs strategy, which has been in place for 10 years.
UK has the second-worst health rate
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 23/01/2004
Long-term illnesses and disabilities have a greater impact on the UK's labour market than almost any other European country, according to official statistics analysed by the European Union.
International: Comparative labour costs in 2002
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/01/2004
Hourly labour costs in western German manufacturing industry in 2002 were 28% above the average among its competitor countries, according to the most recent annual report issued by the Institute of the German Economy. In eastern Germany, however, the hourly rate was on a level with that in Italy. Overall, the report noted that since 1980, in all the countries surveyed, non-wage labour costs increased more steeply than wages.
International: OECD publishes Employment Outlook report 2003
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2003
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has recently published its annual Employment Outlook report. The overall message of the 2003 report to policymakers is that the workforce must expand through the integration of under-represented groups. Crucially, there must be investment in skills. Without progress in these areas, the prospects for economic growth in many countries will be undermined as the population ages.
International: Labour costs 2000
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2001
Hourly labour costs in manufacturing industry are still highest in western Germany, according to a new study. However, the gap between western Germany and its competitor countries is gradually narrowing.
Employee resistance blocks company change programmes across Europe
Source: IRS Employment Trends
Date: 01/11/2000
Nine out of 10 European companies are encountering major problems at the implementation stage of change programmes, and their top managers believe that the principal difficulty is employees holding back progress through "lack of support, reluctance to change and general inertia". This is the disturbing finding of research conducted among 400 chief and senior executives by Louis Harris/The Taylor Nelson Sofres Group on behalf of Cambridge Management Consulting.
Case studies
International: ArcelorMittal signs Europe-wide restructuring deal
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 10/12/2009
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, signed a European agreement with trade unions in November 2009 on managing and anticipating change. The accord provides for no plant closures or compulsory redundancies during the current economic downturn, and puts in place long-term training and skills policies, along with commitments to dialogue with employee representatives and unions.
Two new global accords on CSR and labour standards
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/11/2005
New global framework agreements on corporate social responsibility and labour standards were concluded in September 2005, at the France-headquartered building materials manufacturer the Lafarge Group, and at the Luxembourg-headquartered steel group Arcelor.
International: Restructuring in the European steel industry
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/05/2003
The new steel giant Arcelor was created out of a merger of French, Luxembourg and Spanish iron- and steel-producing organisations in February 2002. Part of a sector that has undergone significant restructuring over the past 20 years, Arcelor is embarking on a process of reorganisation, which has been met with heavy criticism from trade unions, over the coming decade.
