This report examines trends in employment in low-paid jobs and whether minimum wage policies influenced employment structures across the EU Member States between 2001 and 2024. Using a jobs-based framework and harmonised EU data, the analysis starts with a description of employment trends in selected low-paid jobs and in the whole employment structure, where patterns of upgrading and, to a lesser extent, polarisation emerge across Member States. The analysis then examines the effects of minimum wages on the distribution of employment across sectors and occupations and on the wage distribution. The results of an econometric analysis indicate that increases in real minimum wage levels may be linked to an upgrading of the employment structure. The analysis also finds that increasing the minimum wage reduces inequality at the lower end of the wage distribution, although no robust systematic relationship between minimum wages and wage inequality was identified. 

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.

This study provides information allowing for an assessment of the representativeness of the organisations involved in the European sectoral social dialogue committee for the agriculture sector. Their relative representativeness legitimises their right to be consulted and their capacity to negotiate agreements. The aim of Eurofound’s studies on representativeness is to identify the relevant national and European social partner organisations in the sector. This study identifies the European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism Trade Unions (EFFAT), representing employees, and the Employers’ Group of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union / Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (GEOPA-COPA), representing employers, as the most representative European-level social partner organisations in the agriculture sector.

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 [16], 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.