Quality employment, Precarious employment, Work-life balance

Following the article on Iceland, the latest in the series of articles on working time commissioned by EPSU from the Labour Research Department focuses on developments in the other Nordic countries. While several unions in Sweden have put shorter working time on the bargaining agenda (see also article on Sweden in this newsletter), there are only a few cases in social care where a shorter working week has been implemented. In Norway and Denmark the priority has been more to ensure that workers in health and care and other services have the right to full-time working although there are some

Millions of workers across Europe could benefit from new rights, says the ETUC, if the latest version of the platform directive is backed by member state governments. The text is still being negotiated by the European Parliament, Council and Commission but could deliver important improvements, including a reversal of the burden of proof so that platforms would have to prove that there is no employment relationship. It also will require inspections in the workplace following any reclassification of a worker to assess the situation of their co-workers; transparency over the algorithms that set

The Fagforbundet trade union has secured another legal victory against a care company cutting employment costs by misclassifying workers as self-employed. Three of the union's members in the private care company Recoveryakademiet have been awarded NOK 7 million (€600,000) in back pay (salary, overtime and holiday pay). The three, classified as “consultants” by the company, worked for several weeks without a legal working hours scheme being established, and were therefore paid much less than they were entitled to. They were also denied their right to holiday pay and sick pay. This follows a

Alongside action by the CGIL and UIL confederations, the CISL trade union confederation is planning a national protest in Rome on 25 November over the government’s budget for 2024 and its refusal to engage with the trade unions. Together with demands for increased funding for public services, CISL wants to see action on staffing and measures to reduce precarious work. It also wants the government to commit to negotiating new collective agreements in the public sector. The mobilisations by UIL and CGIL continue with regional stoppages planned for 24 and 27 November and 1 December.

The FNV and other trade unions have suspended their industrial action and mobilisations in the youth care sector pending negotiations on the basis of an improved pay offer from the employers. This involves a pay increase of 8% on 1 January 2024 and 1.25% on 1 July 2024 with an additional lump sum of €400. There would then be a 3% increase for 2025 and inflation compensation to a maximum of 2.25%, if inflation is higher than 3%. The minimum wage will rise to €15 per hour and the working-from-home allowance to €3 per day. This compares to the previous offer of a 6.7% increase and additional 2%