This year’s annual review presents the discussions around minimum wage setting that took place in the EU Member States and Norway during 2025 and led to the new rates for 2026. It includes information on countries with and without a national minimum wage. It provides data on the significant progress on national minimum wages over the past decade; minimum wages have typically outperformed inflation and there have been increases in average wages in most countries. In addition, the report discusses the recent ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the EU Minimum Wage Directive, recent national initiatives linked to the directive’s transposition and the growing relevance of indicative reference values when setting national minimum wages in Member States. Using data from collective agreements and qualitative sources, it also provides evidence on the ways in which the rising levels of national minimum wages influence collective bargaining on wages in low-paid sectors.

The European Commission has launched the second-phase consultation with European social partners on the upcoming Quality Jobs Act. The initiative aims to improve working conditions, health and safety and workers’ rights across the EU.Ευρω

Today, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Skills, Quality Jobs and Preparedness, Roxana Mînzatu received the first conclusions of the European Skills High-Level Board [9], presented by its Chair, Ylva Johansson. 

A new EU survey shows that Europeans view vocational education and training (VET) as a fast track to attractive and well-paid job opportunities.

Over the past year, national minimum wages continued to rise substantially across the EU, especially in central and eastern European countries, continuing the narrowing of regional disparities. The EU Minimum Wage Directive has emerged as a significant driver of minimum wage hikes in many countries, which have exceeded inflation levels and increased faster than collectively agreed wage floors in many low-paid sectors.

This report examines flexible working arrangements and their effects on working time quality, work–life balance and health, and related regulations. Since 2015, the take-up of flexible working arrangements, accelerated by the pandemic and digitalisation, has increased significantly, with one in five EU workers engaged in telework or having working time autonomy in 2024. Overall, flexible working is associated with improved working time quality and a better work–life balance. However, risks persist, notably irregular schedules, high workloads and work-related contact outside working hours, which strongly undermine health and work–life balance. Regulatory responses, including the recording of working time and the implementation of a right to disconnect, have increased, although unevenly across EU Member States. Despite improvements in the quality of working time, flexible arrangements continue to reveal an evolving organisation of working time, highlighting the need to reassess working time and rest time in an increasingly digitalised world of work.

The 2026 European Employment and Social Rights Forum explored how Europe can secure quality jobs, fair opportunities and effective social protection, while adapting to technological change, economic pressures and an increasingly uncertain geopolitical environment. 

Close to one in five jobs in the EU (19%) could be classified as vulnerable – a multidimensional phenomenon encompassing income inadequacy, employment insecurity and lack of workplace rights. Eurofound’s new report, Employment and working conditions of the most vulnerable workers: Addressing an ongoing policy challenge [25] analyses the prevalence of vulnerability from 2009 to 2021.

Introduction to the course

More than half of the world's workers are wage earners, yet many receive incomes that are insufficient to live decently, particularly in low-income countries. In response to this situation, initiatives promoting a living wage are increasing, including within multinational enterprises. In February 2024, the ILO adopted a common definition of the living wage, along with principles for its estimation and implementation, and received a mandate to support its constituents in applying it. Social dialogue plays a key role in integrating the living wage into national wage-setting systems. According to ILO principles, wages should be determined through collective bargaining or through a statutory minimum wage established within a tripartite framework. Strong social dialogue, based on shared access to information and respect for the autonomy of social partners, makes it possible to reconcile workers' needs with economic realities while strengthening the legitimacy and effectiveness of wage policies.

This report examines the relationship between working time reduction (WTR) and productivity by conducting a systematic review of 75 empirical studies. The objective is to assess whether reductions in working hours can sustain or enhance productivity, and under which conditions. Among the studies reviewed, 45 include an explicit or clearly inferred measure of productivity linked to WTR, this group represents the foundation of the main analytical classification. A further 30 studies provide relevant contextual evidence on mediating factors, such as well-being and work organisation. European evidence plays a central role, with 20 studies originating from the EU-27 accounting for around one-third of all classifiable studies worldwide. The review identifies three main forms of WTR: compressed workweeks; reductions in weekly hours; and, reductions in both hours and working days. Although not dealing with structural WTR, a fourth category, including flexitime and voluntary reductions, has been also included in the analysis because it provides additional information and it allows us to give a more complete overview of the phenomenon.