Quality employment, Central government, Europe

The beginning of the month was the deadline for the transposition of the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive (TPWCD) into national law. The directive is a significant update and revision of the Written Statement Directive and provides a range of new rights in relation to training, probationary periods, second jobs, advanced notice of work schedules, protection against abuse of zero-hours contracts and transfers to more secure employment. A major concern for EPSU has been the clause that allows Member States to deny key rights to public service workers. It is not yet known

A new report from the Eurofound research agency, based on the European Working Conditions Survey, reveals key factors influencing health and well-being at work. While regulations on working time are important in restricting excessive hours, the report warns that work intensity and flexibility also need to be addressed. It also says that working arrangements are an important element and that more job control can help improve well-being along with the basic factors that demonstrate a recognition of a worker's skills and commitment, including pay, career prospects and job security.

The latest issue of the Journal of International Trade Union Rights features a number of articles examining the extent to which public service workers find their rights restricted in relation to organising, collective bargaining or the right to take collective action. Nadja Salson of EPSU contributed an article highlighting two developments. First, is EPSU's legal action against the European Commission over its failure to put forward the information and consultation agreement in central government to the European Council for transposition into a directive and the second is the loophole in the

On 17 December the European trade unions and employers in central government administrations signed guidelines on tackling violence and harassment. This extends coverage to 8.9 million public employees and civil servants in addition to the millions of workers who are already covered by the guidelines adopted in 2010 in local and regional government, hospitals, education, commerce, and private security. While not legally binding, the guidelines provide basic yet fundamental guidance on how to put in place a policy and a procedure to prevent and deal with harassment and violent acts, in close

The ETUC has produced a new leaflet on the rights of the 22 million workers in the EU (10% of the total) who are self-employed and have no employees. The ETUC points out that they often have fewer rights than employees. For instance, in some countries they have no right to join a trade union and to benefit from union protection and support. This brochure looks at why self-employed workers need better rights, what unions are doing about this and what the priorities are for the future?

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has published two reports on collective bargaining and social dialogue. A working paper on social dialogue in public services was published to mark the 40th anniversary of ILO Convention 151 on labour relations in the public services. It covers three of the European social dialogue committees in which EPSU is involved along with examples of how social dialogue works in Italy, Denmark and the Czech and Slovak Republics. The ILO's report on extension of collective agreements provides evidence on the important role that this process can play in reducing

EPSU has launched a legal case against the European Commission and is now waiting for the first formal response. EPSU has taken the case because the Commission refused to submit to the European Council the information and consultation agreement signed in the Central Government Administrations social dialogue in December 2015. Despite signing the European Pillar of Social Rights and making positive statements about social dialogue, the Commission has failed to act to provide important rights to 9.8 million central government workers that are already enjoyed in the private sector. The complaint

Many prison workers across Europe are facing longstanding problems of understaffing, overcrowding and, as a result, significantly increased risks of violence. These were common to three country case studies carried out for EPSU by researchers at the HIVA research unit at Leuven University. In the UK, Italy and Greece the situation of prison workers had deteriorated in recent years with the prison service in Greece in particular having faced the deep cuts to funding and workers' pay imposed across the whole of the public sector. While Sweden presented a contrasting case study, the evidence was

EPSU is organising a conference on 6-7 June in Brussels that will explore a number of collective bargaining issues. Part of the conference will focus on quality employment and will discuss in particular research on quality employment in two sectors - prisons and childcare. Other sessions will debate new research commissioned by EPSU. This includes an updated analysis comparing pay trends in the public and private sectors; union action to tackle low pay in sectors dominated by women and the impact of digitalisation in home care and public employment services. There will also be a panel debating

On 6-7 June, EPSU is holding a second conference in Brussels in the context of its current project on quality employment and quality public services. Along with special sessions looking at the prisons and childcare sectors there will also be debates on pay trends in the public sector compared to the private sector; low pay in sectors dominated by women; young workers and quality employment; a panel on developments in collective bargaining and some initial research findings on the impact of digitalisation on the home care and public employment services.

The European Commission has informed the social partners in central government administrations that it will not propose their information and consultation agreement to the European Council for implementation as a Directive. This is a major blow to the trade unions and employers in the sector who signed the agreement in December 2015 specifically with a view to having it implemented as a Directive and to fill a gap in existing information and consultation legislation at European level.

The European social partners in central government have worked together to produce the first guide to tackling psycho-social risks in the sector. Budget cuts, restructuring, intensification of work, digitalisation and violence at work have all contributed to increasing the pressures on central government workers. The guide proposes a range of measures and above all timely and effective information and consultation in order to address the problem. The guide, summary, background research and video are available in a range of languages.

A new report from the European Trade Union Institute shows what aspects of work improved or deteriorated over the last decade. It updates the Institute's European Job Quality Index which covers a broad range of work and employment characteristics, including wages, non-wage aspects of employment and work organisation, and collective interest representation. The results indicate a decline in non-wage job quality over the past decade and sluggish real wage growth in the years following the crisis.

A new report from the Eurofound research body has confirmed that the EPSU-led TUNED trade union grouping represents the large majority of unionised workers and civil servants in 27 of the 28 EU Member States. Its counterpart, the EUPAE employers' organisation represents 88% of the total EU workforce of 9.8 million in central government administrations. The conclusions strengthen the arguments of the social partners for the European Commission to put forward their agreement on information and consultation to the European Council for transposition into a directive.

The ETUC has made a number of specific proposals for revision of the Written Statement Directive. The ETUC says that the legislation should cover as many workers as possible, including the growing number of self-employed and gig economy workers. It should provide information before the start of the employment relationship and extend the information requirements, on pay and working time and other issues. The ETUC also wants to see a right to adequate remuneration and guaranteed hours (putting an end to zero-hour type contracts) and ensure online platforms do not avoid or evade their