After a week of tough negotiations, major international unions, employers, industry bodies, and governments have come to an agreement to advance workers' rights in the arts and entertainment sector. The high-level meeting took place on 13-17 February at the International Labour Organization (ILO) in... Find out more

Austria: New collective agreement in the electricity sector The trade union GPA has negotiated a new collective agreement in the electricity sector which delivers pay increases of 8.6%-9.6% along with increases in allowances of between 8.6% and 9.3%. Another result of the negotiations is a... Find out more

EU: New recommendation to strengthen EU social dialogue The European Commission presented a proposal for a recommendation comprising a series of measures to encourage the EU Member States to strengthen social dialogue at national level. The EU Commission also published a communication listing future... Find out more

Union recognition can be a tough battle in EU member states in central and eastern Europe When investing in another European Union member state, multinational companies (MNCs) can be expected to respect employees’ rights to the same extent as at home. Occasionally they do but MNCs rarely transfer... Find out more

Europe - Agreement on pay-transparency measures to expose gender pay gap On 15 December, a provisional trilogue agreement on binding pay transparency measures has been reached between the European Parliament and negotiators from the EU Member States. Parliament and Council will still have to... Find out more

EU- Report on minimum wage and pay for the self-employed Eurofound published a new report on minimum wages and other forms of pay for the self-employed. The main objective of the report is to understand how minimum wages, wage rates, fees and other forms of pay could be fixed for specific jobs or... Find out more

Europe - New Guidelines on collective agreements for solo self-employed people The European Commission has adopted Guidelines on the application of EU competition law to collective agreements regarding the working conditions of solo self-employed people. The Guidelines clarify when certain self... Find out more

Europe - New rights to improve work-life balance in the EU EU-wide rules to improve work-life balance for parents entered into application on 2 August. These rules set out minimum standards for paternity, parental and carers' leave and establish additional rights, such as the right to request... Find out more

Germany - Collective agreements for temporary agency work adapted The collective bargaining partners of temporary agency work agreed on the adjustment of the collective pay agreements for the sector. This involved the adjustment of the lowest three wage groups with wage increases between 16 and 24.1... Find out more

Austria - New collective agreement in the chemical and electrical engineering sectors The social partners in the chemical and electrical engineering sectors have negotiated average wage increases of 4.75% and 5%, respectively, over one year, both of which are valid from 1 May 2022. In neither case... Find out more