This report describes and analyses agreements between the social partners on employment and competitiveness in 11 Member States of the European Union. It focuses on innovative collective agreements concluded at both sectoral and company levels which are used by the parties involved (sometimes...

Sexual orientation as a concept is so far not recognised by Greek Law, which implicitly but systematically recognises, accepts, protects and institutionalises human sexuality that is confined within the limits of the traditional married heterosexual couple. Other forms of sexuality are either:...

The Human Rights Act 1998 incorporates into the UK law most of the rights in the European Convention on Human Rights and its Protocols , and authorizes UK courts to enforce these “Convention rights.” None of the existing legislation expressly prohibits sexual orientation discrimintation in...

At European level, the debate on flexicurity is currently high on the employment and social policy agenda. Member States are reflecting on the best way to adapt their systems to the "new reality" of maintaining the balance between the need for flexibility in the labour market to allow companies...

While Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) of both, the United States and the European Union, include labor issues in specific chapters, only US FTAs explicitly have “labor chapters,” while the EU FTAs have a general reference to labor rights through the human rights clause and otherwise refer to...

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Austria is laid down by the Labour Constitution Act (ArbVG). According to the ArbVG, collective agreements can be concluded only between collective organisations of employers and employees. Therefore, the Austrian labour law systematically benefits...

The Belgian collective bargaining system is highly institutionalised and coordinated. Over 90% of employees are covered by a collective agreement, placing Belgium among the countries with the highest coverage in Europe. Also, the Belgian trade unions have a relatively high level of membership...

The right to collective bargaining is set out in the 1972 French Labour Code. In the last decades, collective bargaining has expanded, partly as a result of government initiatives. The importance of sectoral bargaining increased with the adoption of the 1982 Auroux laws, which obliged the...

The legal basis of collective bargaining in Germany is laid down by the Collective Agreements Act, 1949. Collective agreements can be concluded between employer associations (or individual employers) and trade unions. In contrast, works councils – statutory employee representation bodies...