IR Notes

At the time of Brexit, which marked the United Kingdom’s departure from the EU, any group that had established a European Works Council was obliged to adopt one of several positions, and choose: either to keep the British on board, as before; or to exclude them; or to grant them a minor role as observers or guests but without any voting rights; or lastly, to abolish their EWC altogether, on the basis that the workforce thresholds warranting its creation were no longer met. In addition, the 180 or so non-EU multinational companies that had chosen to locate their representative in the United Kingdom, for the purpose of establishing the EWC, had to make a decision and choose which country they should transfer their representative to. So, more than four years after this earthquake, how have companies positioned themselves?
On the last point, Ireland has gained many of the companies whose representative was previously located in the United Kingdom. How many? The latest statistics published on line by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) estimate that 48 EWCs are now operating under Irish law, whereas the figures of between 100 (SIPTU, 2021) and 200 EWCs (CFTC, 2024) established in Ireland are frequently cited. The data therefore needs to be refined.
As for the fate of the British representatives previously present on 70% of EWCs (De Spiegelaere and Jagodzinski 2020), a study performed by IRES and presented on 3 April this year (see presentation), provides some answers. Taking a sample of 64 multinational companies whose EU legal representative was based in France, Germany and the United Kingdom, only in a tiny number of cases (2) has Brexit represented an innovation opportunity to expand – rather than scale back – the EWC’s perimeter. A majority of EWCs (32) have opted for stability, usually by means of an addendum to the founding agreement or within the context of its global renegotiation. In this scenario, management and EWC representatives agree to maintain the existing situation, by keeping on their British representatives, and maintaining all of their rights. In a number of other cases (13), their participation has been downgraded, with a sole British representative continuing to be involved in the EWC, and with limited rights, acting as an observer or guest. In this scenario, the United Kingdom is often excluded from the transnational scope of application of the European Works Council agreement. Lastly, 17 groups have chosen to simply exclude the United Kingdom from the agreement’s scope of application, and British members left the EWC on 1 January 2021.
Also worthy of note is the choice made by some companies to keep the British representatives on temporarily, until the end of their current term. As a result, several of these groups have recently had to take a position. One such company was Aptar, which adopted an addendum to its agreement, keeping its British representatives on the EWC on a permanent basis, and another was Sanofi, where an addendum to this effect was signed on 19 June.
(*)  Anna Frisone, Marcus Kahmann, Patrick Witzak, Federico Fuchs, Kevin Guillas-Cavan, Marco Hauptmeier, Markus Hertwig, L’impact du Brexit sur les comités d’entreprise européens. Stabilité ou changement institutionnel – un enjeu de négociation, la Revue de l’IRES n° 115, not yet published

Restructuring : The European Commission has put forward a proposal to grant Belgium aid worth 930,000 euros via the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (see European Globalisation Adjustment Fund), to support 417 people who were made redundant in July 2024 in returning to employment, following  the closure of microchip manufacturer BelGaN. Belgium applied to the EGF for aid in February 2025 (see press release).

Collective redundancies : Before closing the hotel down for 20 months for renovation work, the management of Hôtel Plaza in Paris dismissed 29 of its 39 employees, without putting in place a ‘social plan’. This employment protection plan is a requirement imposed by French law on companies with at least 50 employees. One dismissed female employee had claimed that management should have drawn up a social plan, as the 11 employees supplied to it by GSF Jupiter, the company performing maintenance and cleaning services on its behalf, should have been included in the hotel’s workforce. “It must be stated that it does not follow from Directive 98/59 (editor’s note: on collective redundancies) that there is any obligation to draw up and implement an employment protection plan”, explains the CJEU in a judgment dated 19 June, which rules that it does not have jurisdiction to respond to the question posed by France’s Court of Cassation. The Court points out that the directive provides for only “a partial harmonisation of the rules for the protection of workers in the event of collective redundancies”, and that it grants Member States the right “to apply or to introduce laws, regulations or administrative provisions which are more favourable to workers”. French law has done so, by introducing an obligation for companies with 50 or more employees to draw up a social plan. Consequently, only the national court is competent to rule on the dispute.

Social services : On 26 June, European social partners in the social services sector signed a Framework of Actions on Retention and Recruitment in Social Services. This initiative is the main step taken so far by this young European sectoral social dialogue committee, which was established in 2023. The text contains 15 concrete actions for combatting the problems of labour shortages and high staff turnover rates, which compromise care quality and availability. They include improving employees’ work-life balance by introducing flexible time schedules and family-friendly policies, and preventing musculoskeletal disorders and psychosocial risks.

Chemical sector : On 30 June, the European chemical industry social partners issued a joint statement on fair employment of third country nationals in subcontracting chains. The signatories note that “isolated cases of employment malpractices affecting particularly third country national (TCN) workers have occurred”. Faced with a labour shortage, they wish to “recognize the importance to highlight the need for continued efforts to ensure fair treatment, compliance with labour laws, and the protection of all workers in the EU, including TCN workers’ rights throughout the subcontracting chains”.

Content moderators : Led by the Uni Global Union federation, a global trade-union alliance has been set up to cover the content moderators employed by digital giants such as TikTok, Meta, Alphabet and OpenAI. It is calling on these companies to adopt mental health protection measures throughout their supply chains for the workers who shield internet users from violent content. Based on a report analysing the problematic situations encountered, UNI Global proposes eight protocols designed to reduce risks (see press release).

Health and safety in the waste sector : The European Public Service Union (EPSU) has published a report on the waste sector, highlighting “the alarming risks faced by nearly one million workers keeping Europe’s towns and cities clean”. The report identifies a number of safety problems linked to climate change, technological changes and the outsourcing of public services.

Employee participation in the workplace : The Länder would like to modernise employee participation arrangements and to make changes to the rights enjoyed by works councils (see Federal Council resolution). The Federal Council (Bundesrat) will vote on a global resolution that seeks to clarify the definition of an employee, to boost protection against anti-trade union actions, and to enhance data security in the face of new forms of work organisation and artificial intelligence. For example, works councils should be entitled to hold meetings and elections on line.

Individual learning accounts : At a conference, Natalia Efremova, Vice-Minister of Labour and Social Policy, declared that individual learning accounts will be developed in collaboration with social partners, to improve access to training. Every worker or unemployed person will have a digital account, which they can use to select a particular type of training. She also announced the creation of sectoral training funds to remedy the shortage of skilled labour in some sectors, and the introduction of micro-certificates aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of the working population via short training courses.

Maintaining essential services during strikes : A new law proposed by the government seeks to ensure that essential services will continue to be provided when disputes arise during negotiations between social partners (see press release). The amendments have been drawn up by a tripartite group, in the wake of a resolution passed by the government in 2022. The texts call on trade unions to ensure that industrial action does not give rise to health and safety risks. Employers, for their part, will be able to issue orders instructing that emergency work be carried out, and to apply to the courts for a strike prohibition order if their employees then fail to undertake this essential work.

Accompanying parenthood : On 19 June, Parliament passed the law that will protect persons who are planning to become a parent from discrimination in the workplace, including those engaged in a medically assisted procreation or adoption procedure. (IR Notes 252). This law will increase the number of leaves of absences granted for the purpose of attending appointments with medical professionals and the authorities.

Vocational retraining : Social partners have adopted a national cross-industry agreement to promote vocational transitions and retraining. Its main measures are expected to be incorporated into a draft law, currently being debated in Parliament, which is already transposing two national cross-industry agreements on social dialogue and employment of older workers. The new agreement changes the frequency of certain interviews that an employer is required to conduct with an employee during the course of their working life. A “regular appraisal” [entretien professionnel] will now be held once every four years instead of two, while a “longer-term appraisal” [entretien de bilan], previously conducted at six-yearly intervals, will now be held once every eight years. In addition, the agreement provides employers with means of topping up an employee’s personal learning account, for the purpose of jointly funding training. It also merges two existing mechanisms offering retraining pathways, either internally or externally.

Early retirement for workers with arduous jobs : Under the new collective agreement governing cleaning companies, from 2026 onwards, employees who work for these companies will be eligible to retire up to 30 months before they reach the statutory retirement age if their working conditions are physically demanding (see press release). The FNV trade union confederation has expressed its satisfaction with this development. The new collective agreement also includes measures that will automatically convert structural overtime into a new contract of employment with longer working hours, and will extend the generational pact to include employees who work for several employers, so that they can move to an 80% of full-time work schedule while continuing to receive 95% of their wages.

Occupational health and safety : On 26 June, the management of the Clariane group (63,000 employees) and the European Public Service Union (EPSU) signed their second joint text: a European health and safety agreement on preventing accidents at work and supporting employees, following on from the European charter for the fundamental principles of social dialogue, signed in 2023 (see Clariane and EPSU press releases). The new agreement supersedes the European protocol on health and safety at work and prevention of accidents, signed in 2021. The text proposes a number of measures, often inspired by grassroots practices, which seek to promote a health and safety culture, and working conditions that are conducive to everyone’s safety; to prevent violence and support employees who fall victim to violence (paying their legal costs); and to take actions relating to health and quality of life at work, e.g. raising awareness of issues related to women’s health (cardiovascular disease, endometriosis, the menopause). The signatories also want to see action plans implemented in every establishment, aimed at reducing accident risks and absenteeism. A monitoring committee is tasked with analysing trends in accidentology and absenteeism data, and the actions put in place in the various countries. It will meet twice a year in person, and its members will be granted an annual time credit of 10 hours. The text of the agreement specifies the monitoring indicators to be used and examples of practices that have led to the measures set out in the agreement.

Digital transformation and AI : On 23 January, the management of the Belgian chemicals group Syensqo (13,500 employees, 38% of them in Europe) signed a global framework agreement on digital transformation and artificial intelligence with the Syensqo Global Forum and its European Works Council. This agreement is based on compliance with the fundamental principle of a ‘human in control’, asserting that human supervision will always remain present in any decision-making processes involving AI. The text, which is global in scope, confers a major role on the EWC: 1/ Responsible AI policies will be developed and updated in consultation with the EWC. 2/ A regular dialogue between the EWC and the company’s digital management and AI teams is provided for. 3/ Once every three months, the select committee will receive a presentation on the company’s digital and AI plans before they are implemented, so that the committee can put forward its own contributions. Where plans are of particular importance, the agreement provides for an information and consultation process conducted at the appropriate level, in line with the scale of the plan.  A training, reskilling and upskilling programme will also form an integral part of the roll-out of a new digital/AI tool. The agreement guarantees compliance with the principles of well-being at work, including the right to disconnect. In addition, employee representatives can use company systems to carry out their duties, and as such, “will not have their digital footprint monitored, accessed or held in any way”.

Working conditions : On 17 June, at a seminar for European social partners held behind closed doors, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) unveiled the Preliminary results of the latest European Working Conditions Survey (EWCS), conducted in 2024 (see EPSU press release). This survey of more than 35,000 European workers, which is conducted once every four years, is the only available barometer for monitoring trends in working conditions in the EU. These results are particularly eagerly awaited, insofar as they may be used by the European political decision-makers who are due to put forward a roadmap for quality jobs by the year-end. The results offer long-term comparisons, e.g. of the proportion of workers who are exposed for at least three-quarters of the time, or even all of the time, to high temperatures. This figure rose from 19% in 1995 to 26% in 2024. The other interesting feature of this survey is that it includes a number of new questions. The question regarding the efforts made by employers to accommodate women’s health issues shows that 23% of employers are providing adaptations, at least partially, for painful periods, and 17% are doing so for disruptive menopausal syndrome. The question about the use of generative AI at work is very interesting, too: 12% of European workers used this at work in 2024, and of these, 28% were in the financial services sector, 21% in other services and 18% in the education sector. Industry came in fourth place, with 11%. Bearing in mind that the survey ended in November 2024, whereas ChatGPT was starting to be widely used from 2023 onwards, we can only imagine what the results will look like in 2025! Overall, workers believe that technology creates more tasks and interactions with colleagues than it removes.