In this episode of the Eurofound Talks podcast Mary McCaughey speaks with Eurofound Deputy Director Maria Jepsen, and Barry Colfer, Director of Research at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA), about European social change over the past 50 years, Eurofound’s role in these changes, how Ireland itself has developed and changed, and the challenges currently on the horizon.
The 22 EU Member States with a national minimum wage have announced their decisions on increases for 2025, except for Spain. Developments bring good news for workers on the minimum wage, who will see their wages increase substantially, beyond current inflation in most countries.
Today, 15 November 2024, marks the deadline for the transposition of the EU Adequate Minimum Wage Directive into national legislation across the EU. The Directive seeks to establish a framework to improve the adequacy of minimum wages and to increase the access of workers to minimum wage protection.
Workplace cyberbullying or ‘digital harassment’ is only explicitly covered in regulatory frameworks in Denmark in the EU, with other Member States either attempting to extend legal definitions to include misconduct occurring through information and communication technologies (ICTs) or outside of the physical workplace; or lacking any definition of workplace bullying or harassment in law.
National minimum wage rates were substantially raised in almost all EU countries in 2024, reversing the loss of purchasing power that minimum wage workers experienced between 2021 and 2023, according to relevant calculations.
Eurofound’s 2023 yearbook, Living and working in Europe, provides a snapshot of the latest developments in the work and lives of Europeans as explored in the Agency’s research activities over the course of the year.
Minimum wages in Romania and the EU were analysed in an information session on Towards adequate minimum wages and strengthening of collective bargaining at Eurofound on 26 April. These exchanges, known as Virtual Visits, take place in the context of Eurofound’s ongoing efforts to reach out to the national level and ensure widespread dissemination and dialogue with respect to its research findings.
While the prospects for minimum wage workers in early 2023 looked gloomy – with rates in many EU Member States struggling to offset rising prices – the new year brings better news. National minimum wages were raised significantly in most countries, both in nominal and real terms, and also when examined in the context of the entire period since 2022, when inflation rates started to surge.
The latest episode of Eurofound Talks, recorded shortly before Eurofound publishes its harmonised analysis of 2024 minimum wage developments, looks at the changes to minimum wages in Europe in 2023.
Workers in Member States that joined the European Union after 2004 have, on average, longer normal annual working time. Workers in these countries also generally have a lower amount of statutory minimum days of leave.
While losses in real minimum wages have occurred in several countries across the European Union, these have not eroded the long-term gains of purchasing power that have occurred across the EU since 2013. In an effort to offset inflation, governments have significantly increased nominal minimum wages across Europe. In 2023, the median nominal increase was almost 11%, compared with just 5% in 2
With inflation expected to persist, a further depreciation of minimum wages in real terms can be expected in most Member States, as only a few foresee additional increases in 2023.
Despite nominal increases in statutory minimum wages reaching an all-time high between January 2022 and January 2023, minimum wage workers in most EU countries are seeing their purchasing power decline or just about compensated, based on preliminary inflation figures.
Stefania Rossi has been elected Chair of Eurofound’s Management Board at the Agency’s annual Management Board meeting in Dublin on 18 November. The annual gathering of representatives from governments, employer organisations and trade unions in all EU 27 Member States, and the European Commission and the European Parliament, also approved Eurofound’s work programme for 2023.
Telework is becoming an established way of working across the EU post-pandemic. Employers and companies need to support hybrid workplaces and this new way of working while adapting to the many challenges in the business environment.
The Directors and senior staff of Eurofound and the Institute of European Affairs (IIEA) met at Eurofound, Dublin this week, following the recent appointment of David O’Sullivan as the Director General of IIEA. It was an opportunity to review ongoing collaboration between the two organisations, as well as discuss latest research; including on the economic, employment and social impacts of the COVI
Eurofound Executive Director Ivailo Kalfin will brief EU Ministers for Work, Employment and Social Affairs (EPSCO) on relevant post-pandemic labour market and social challenges in Europe at the informal ministerial meeting in Bordeaux tomorrow.
The first overview of minimum wage setting for 2022 shows that, while some negotiations are still ongoing, virtually all EU Member States have increased their nominal statutory rates.
Eurofound’s management met with Irish social partners, Patricia King, General Secretary, ICTU and Danny McCoy, Chief Executive Officer, Ibec, at Eurofound in Dublin, on Wednesday, 15 December 2021, to discuss some of the Agency’s most recent research findings on changes in workplace practices, work organisation, hybrid working, gender, labour market dynamics and the role of collective bargaining.
Despite economic restrictions significantly reducing working time in a number of sectors in Europe, overall trends do not fully reflect this due to the polarisation of working time in different sectors; with some workers left with little to do due to restrictions, and others facing burnout due to long working hours and arduous demands.
Eurofound (European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions) is a tripartite EU body, whose mission is to provide knowledge to assist in the development of better social, employment and work-related policies.
