A new report by the Expert Group on the transposition of Directive on transparent and predictable working conditions has been published.

The massive and rapid adoption of telework in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 lockdowns exposed gaps in the legislation governing telework arrangements across the EU Member States. In some cases, there was no regulation in place; in others, it was too restrictive. Governments scrambled to put temporary measures in place to cover the emergency situation and the urgent need to enable workers to work from home. Now that the pandemic is receding and wholesale telework seems to be here to stay, governments are faced with the need to properly regulate such arrangements. Member States are following different paths, but the EU might step in to promote some level of standardisation.

This report summarises how minimum wage rates for 2021 were set during 2020 – the year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic. It reviews the difficulties faced by national decision-makers and how they reacted to the challenges of the economic and social fall-out of the pandemic when making decisions regarding the minimum wage. It maps the extent to which minimum wages were referred to in COVID-19-related support measures. It discusses advances made on the EU initiative on adequate minimum wages and maps the reactions of the EU-level social partners and national decision-makers. The report is accompanied by two complementary working papers: one providing an analysis of developments for low-paid employees and minimum wage workers over the past decade; the other summarising the most recent research on minimum wages in EU countries, Norway and the UK.

The Employers' Group in the European Economic and Social Committee massively voted against the EESC opinion on the European Commission's proposal on "adequate minimum wages in the European Union" and tabled a counter-opinion, which will be appended to the EESC opinion as it has collected more than a third of the votes.

21 May 2021 10.00 am CET - EESC Workers' Group Webinar

#EUMinimumWages

The European Commission's proposal for a directive on adequate minimum wages has sparked controversy among member states and social partners alike across Europe.

The proposal develops the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, aiming to improve the working and living conditions of millions of workers in the EU.

Today one in five Europeans are at risk of poverty or social exclusion, while 10% of workers are considered working poor.

Europe needs to make sure that workers benefit from adequate minimum wages, that poverty wages end and that wage setting systems through collective bargaining are strengthened again after years of stagnation and decline.

On 21 May, we will discuss the issue of the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive, with Commissioner Nicolas Schmit, EP rapporteurs on Adequate Minimum Wages Agnes Jongerius & Dennis Radtke, Workers' Group President Oliver Röpke, and EESC member and co-rapporteur of the opinion on the Adequate Minimum Wages Directive Cinzia Del Rio. The webinar will be moderated by journalist Jacki Davis.

Join the conversation online at the EESC Twitter https://twitter.com/EU_EESC [18] and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/EuropeanEconomicAndSocialCommittee [19]

on 21 May at 10.00 am CET to hear from our speakers, and take part! Comment on social media under the video and our moderator will bring the questions to the speakers.

Join the conversation using #EUMinimumWages.

This webinar will be held in English

The COVID-19 crisis had a significant impact on wages and wage setting across Europe in 2020. The uncertain economic scenario, together with the difficulties inherent in online bargaining, led to a general postponement of collective agreements to 2021, especially at company level. Real wages maintained a positive trend during 2020 in most EU countries, with just modest increases, while higher increases were observed in the public sector. Wage support mechanisms introduced by governments also contributed to supporting wages in the private sector for workers whose hours have been reduced or who have been temporarily laid off. The crisis seems to have particularly affected low-wage workers, occupations, and sectors. It is likely that wage support mechanisms and minimum wages have played a key role in reducing the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on growing earning inequalities.

This article is one of a series that explores working life issues in the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on information provided by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and published as a set of individual country reports in ‘Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020’.

• Country reports: Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020 [22]

The enormity of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the lives and work of Europeans is hard to capture, but Eurofound’s priority in 2020 was to record and assess the experience of this societal upheaval across the EU Member States in all its detail, variety and modulation. Living and working in Europe 2020 provides a snapshot of how the COVID-19 confinement measures changed employment, work and quality of life in Europe, as gathered by Eurofound’s research activities in 2020. This yearbook also summarises the Agency’s findings regarding developments in other aspects of social and economic life – including workplace practices, social dialogue, gender equality and access to public services – that will have a significant bearing on how quickly Europe recovers from the pandemic and a successful transition to a green and digital future. The findings on working and living conditions produced by Eurofound in the course of its work provide a bedrock of evidence for input into social policymaking.

The third round of Eurofound's e-survey, fielded in February and March 2021, sheds light on the social and economic situation of people across Europe following nearly a full year of living with COVID-19 restrictions. This report analyses the main findings and tracks ongoing developments and trends across the 27 EU Member States since the survey was first launched in April 2020. It pinpoints issues that have surfaced over the course of the pandemic, such as increased job insecurity due to the threat of job loss, upsurge in mental well-being levels, erosion of recent gains in gender equality, fall in trust levels vis-à-vis institutions, deterioration of work–life balance and growth of vaccine hesitancy. The results of the survey highlight the need for a holistic approach to support all the groups hit hard by the crisis in order to prevent them from falling further behind.

On foot of a request from the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has prepared a Code of Practice to give guidance on best practice to organisations and their employees on the Right to Disconnect.

Despite the economic turmoil that led to large-scale restructuring in many EU Member States and changes in working conditions for many occupational groups, 2020 seems to have been a quiet year in terms of industrial action. At the time of writing this article, national statistics for 2020 are available in only a few countries; however, several correspondents have reported a clear decline in industrial action. The most significant labour disputes related to COVID-19 occurred in the human health and social services sector, the education sector, and the transportation and logistics sector. Social distancing measures, the fear of job losses in a tense economic environment, deferred collective bargaining talks, the lack of organisation in the most impacted sectors, and strike restrictions on essential services are some of the factors that may explain the low level of industrial action.

This article is one of a series that explores working life issues in the 27 EU Member States, Norway and the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on information provided by the Network of Eurofound Correspondents and published as a set of individual country reports in ‘Working life in the COVID-19 pandemic 2020’.