SOCIAL DIALOGUE : SURVEY AND SEMINAR EXPLORE LIMITS OF FLEXICURITY.

PositionSurvey

The findings of the latest survey by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound) on flexibility and social dialogue were presented at a seminar, on 3 March at the European Parliament, attended by experts and the new Employment and Social Affairs Commissioner, Laszlo Andor. As the commissioner summed up at the end of the seminar, "some described this dialogue as solid while others expressed the view that the climate is deteriorating. So to sum up, it is important to continue to study the issue".

POSITIVE FINDINGS

The survey conducted by Eurofound among 27,000 public and private companies across Europe concludes in general that social dialogue is solid and that companies apply a broad range of flexibility measures in Europe. It also identifies the limits of such results. While 63% of employees consider that they are well represented and four companies out of ten offer an institutional form of employee representation, in many companies representation is limited to just a few subjects (health and safety). Similarly, three quarters of managers have a positive perception of the effects of social dialogue and employee representation on the workplace, but they admit their preference for direct consultation of employees rather than going through intermediaries.

On flexibility, the second subject of the survey, the results reveal that more than half the companies offer flexible...

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