Since 1994, the EU has established mechanisms for information and consultation procedures for workers in transnational companies (European Works Councils Directive 94/45/EC). In 2009, the EWC Directive was reviewed and amended (Recast EWC Directive 2009/38/EC). The year 2016 will see the formal conclusion of a new evaluation procedure designed to ascertain whether the improvements of 2009 have had any impact on the EWC's conditions of operation and whether any further amendements should be considered. This book assesses in detail the ways in which key improvements brought about by the 2009 EWC Recast Directive have been implemented in national legislation. The authors of the book have looked into the national transposition legislation of the 31 countries of the European Economic Area. The findings are very relevant for EU policy-making and for practitioners to deal with differing national legislative regimes.

The protection of jobs and labour law standards achieved by employees in the past has been under pressure from neoliberalization forces for many years. The focused perspectives evident in this original collection of essays go a long way toward clearly de? ning where labour law and social security law must set their sights in order to preserve fair and productive employer-employee relations in the new world of work. Distinguished researchers study the changing realities confronting the labour market, in public policy as well as in industrial relations. Issues and topics include the following: – integration of immigrants into industrial relations; – the social situation of migrant workers; – new phenomena brought by the digital age; – temporary agency work; – harmonizing family and working lives; – sport and labour law; – the role of European Works Councils; and – social and labour reforms. Throughout this book, the contributors emphasize the changing role of the state and reform agendas. Although the central focus is on Europe, there is an abundance of comparative detail, allowing for global application. As a matchless, up-to-date overview and analysis of how new and emerging forms of employment and industrial relations impact employee security, this book will be warmly welcomed by practitioners, academics, and policymakers concerned with ensuring the persistence of fair and viable standards in labour and social security law.

This book by the ETUI Transnational Trade Union Rights Expert Network analyses enforcement as a key element making EU labour law effective or ineffective. Enforcement is the key ingredient that makes rights effective and ensures compliance. It can make or break a legal system. Despite this, enforcement of EU labour law has received little scholarly attention in recent decades and has rarely been examined in a comprehensive way. This book aims to fill this gap. Intended for academics and practitioners alike, the book adopts a threefold approach to examine this issue. First of all, it explores the idea of effective enforcement and sets out the wider context in which EU labour law enforcement takes place. Secondly, it analyses how enforcement operates in particular areas, including non-discrimination, health and safety, information and consultation rights, and the rights of migrating workers. Thirdly, it critically assesses the role of specific actors (in particular collective actors like trade unions, as well as whistle-blowers and the European Labour Authority) and settings (public procurement, economic and monetary policy) regulated by EU law. Drawing on the insights produced by these analyses, the book concludes by proposing a comprehensive Draft for a Model Directive on 'Effective Enforcement of EU Labour Law' as an inspiration for policy development and scholarly debate in this area.

This leading text in the field covers all the major regulatory areas relating to the operations of multinational enterprises, analysing them not only in a legal but also a political and economic context. It is a definitive reference work for students, researchers, and practitioners working with multinational enterprises.

This unique book offers a comprehensive systematization and overview of the EU´s emerging ‘acquis’ and practice of Collective Labour Law. Although the core aspects of Collective Labour Law lie outside the EU’s competence to regulate, the laws and industrial relations systems of Member States are undoubtedly influenced by the EU, and the involvement of Social Partners, i.e. representatives of employers and workers, is essential for many aspects of EU law and policy.

The enlargement of the EU in 2004 and 2007 has led to greatly increased free movement of workers from 'new' to 'old' member states. The unprecedented scale of this migration has had a profound impact on the regulation of labour law in Europe. This book compares the ways trade unions have responded to the effects of the enlargements, and in particular to the increased migration of workers across borders. It undertakes a contextualised comparison of trade union responses in Austria, Germany, Ireland, Sweden and the UK, and examines the relationship between trade unions and labour law at a national and European level. This analysis illustrates how trade unions can use law to better respond to changing regulatory and opportunity structures, and indicates the kinds of laws that would benefit trade unions at a national and European level.

This book offers a unique contribution that examines major recent changes in conflict, negotiation and regulation within the labour relations systems and related governance institutions of advanced societies. The broad scope of analysis includes social welfare institutions, new forms of protest including judicialisation, transnational structures and collective bargaining itself. As the distinguished group of participating authors shows, the accumulation of numerous crucial changes in the interactions of unions, employers, political parties, courts, protestors, regulators and other key actors makes it imperative to reframe the study of collective bargaining and related forms of governance. The shifting dynamics include the growing relevance of multi-level interactions involving transnational entities, states and regions; the increasing tendency of workers and unions to turn to the courts as part of their overall strategy; new forms of solidarity among workers; and the emergence of new populist and nationalist actors. At the same time, sectors of the workforce that feel under-represented by existing institutions have contributed to new types of protest and 'agency'. Building on classical debates, the book offers new theoretical and practical approaches that insert the study of collective bargaining into the analysis of governance, solidarity, conflict and regulation, as they are broadly construed.

Employee participation and voice (EPV) concern power and influence. Traditionally, EPV has encompassed worker attempts to wrest control from employers through radical societal transformation or to share control through collective regulation by trade unions. This book offers a controversial alternative arguing that, in recent years, participation has shifted direction. In Employee Voice and Participation, the author contends that participation has moved away from employee attempts to secure autonomy and influence over organisational affairs, to one in which management ideas and initiatives have taken centre stage. This shift has been bolstered in the UK and USA by economic policies that treat regulation as an obstacle to competitive performance. Through an examination of the development of ideas and practice surrounding employee voice and participation, this volume tracks the story from the earliest attempts at securing worker control, through to the rise of trade unions, and today’s managerial efforts to contain union influence. It also explores the negative consequences of these changes and, though the outlook is pessimistic, considers possible approaches to address the growing power imbalance between employers and workers. Employee Voice and Participation will be an excellent supplementary text for advanced students of employment relations and Human Resource Management (HRM). It will also be a valuable read for researchers, policy makers, trade unions and HRM professionals.

Trade Unions and European Integration brings together pessimists and optimists on trade unionism under the contemporary pressures of European integration. The Great Recession has brought new attention to structural problems of the European integration process, specifically monetary integration; holding the potential of disabling any trans-national co-ordination. Other authors argue that the current crisis also poses the chance for mobilization and new impulses for European trade unionism. This is discussed in the volume alongside a variety of topics including bargaining coordination, co-determination, European governance regimes, and European wide mobilization. While the importance of the question of how trade unionism and wage policy can, will, and should develop under the conditions of European integration seems widely shared, the polarization of the debate itself deserves our attention to learn about the opposing arguments and points of view; and to enhance academic discussion as well as consultancy to policy makers. This volume addresses this debate by bringing together the most distinguished voices and searching for common ground as well as new perspectives on European trade unionism and collective bargaining. The chapters of the volume, organised topically, are each accompanied by a comment from a distinguished scholar, highlighting the divisions of the debate. With this innovative approach, this book advances the dialogue between what have become openly opposed camps of optimists and pessimists on the future of European integration, trade unionism and its future chances. Trade Unions and European Integration will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as European Studies, Industrial Relations, Political Economics, Social Movements and Sociology of Work.

Inquisitive and diverse, this innovative Research Handbook explores the ways in which human rights apply to people at work, through national constitutional provisions, judicial decisions and the application of rights expressed in supranational instruments. Key topics include evaluation of the role of the ILO in developing and promoting internationally recognized labour rights, and the examination of the meaning of the obligation of business to respect human rights, considering the evolution from international soft law to incorporation in codes of conduct and the emerging requirement of due diligence.