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Comparative charter
Information and consultation rights at the european union countries* And accession countries**
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Information
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Consultation
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Austria
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Social information:
- Individual hiring, of casualties employees and anticipated promotions;
- Health and safety;
- Introduction of new technologies and work conditions;
- Information on the employees' situation and eventually, after the agreement of the interested ones, of the amount of wages.
Economical information:
- Economical and financial situation;
- Perspectives of development and production volume;
- Investment projects;
According the professional category of the company (minimum 30 employees or 70 employees) the employer has to present to the enterprise's council the annual balance sheet and the comments. In case of a group, a consolidated balance sheet is presented.
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Belgium
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All the information to the company's council is given in advance.
Social information:
- Structure, evolution, previsions and provisions regarding employment;
- Perspectives of the company and consequences on employment;
- Projects susceptible to affect, in a significant way, the employees;
- Recruitment or dismissals not foreseen.
- Among others
Economical information:
- Status and company's diagram;
- The financial and structural situation;
- Company's perspectives;
- Events and decisions that might have important consequences on employment (reorganisation, mergers and closures);
- Researches;
- Personnel costs;
- Public aids.
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Bulgaria
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- It depends on the provisions of the law and the collective agreement
- Collective agreements signed at the highest level (sector, industry) or at national level;
- Economic situation of the company, relevant to the conclusion of the collective agreements;
- Health and safety;
- Reduction of the number of the employees: the need of such measure, criteria, etc
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- Large scale dismissals.
- The new information and consultation Directive has been approved but not transposed. This is already a proposed amendment by the labour code in order to included it in it.
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Internal regulations of the company related to health and safety issues:
- Rules regarding wages and remuneration;
- Allocation of working hours;
- Social affairs programs; exceeding the agreed;
- Collective redundancies: the need of such measure, criteria, etc.
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Czech
Republic
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To all employee representatives:
- Economical and financial situation of the employer;
- Probable development of the employment at the company;
- Intended structural changes, organisational and rationalisation measures leading to the dismissal of the employees;
- Issues of health and safety;
- Transfer of the company;
- Among other issues ....
To the trade union body only:
- Wage development;
- Wage average.
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To all employee representatives:
- Transfer of employer;
- Collective redundancies;
- Health and safety.
To the trade union body only:
- Transfer of the employer;
- Creation of measures to the work conditions of the employees;
- Change in the work organisation;
- Improvement measures on hygiene and work environment;
- Measures susceptible of affecting a large number of employees;
- Notice in advance or the immediate resolution of the work contract by the employer;
- Beginning and ending of the working time;
- Cases where the extra work exceeds the limits fixed by the labour code;
- Health, safety and night work organisation;
- Among other issues
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Cyprus
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- The employer is not obliged to provide information due to the lack of legislation and also due to the small and medium size of the companies (usually family businesses).
- The directive on information and consultation has not been transposed yet into Cypriot law. It is at the technical committee and will send to the House of Representatives. This new law shall be combined with the protection of the representatives of the workers at the workplace.
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- It happens usually when it is in stake dismissals, the company's viability, among other issues.
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Denmark
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The given information by the employer must be understandable.
- Economical and financial situation of the company.
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Staff policy:
- Social information;
- Employment situation;
- Introduction of new technologies;
- Changes in the work organisation.
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Estonia
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- All sort of information needed to the fulfilment of their task;
- Relate to conflicts on work issues.
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Before the collective redundancy, if there is not an employees' recruitment and transference plan they have the right to suspend, temporarily, the collective redundancy (during a month).
- Dismissals on economical grounds;
- Changing in the working conditions;
- Other issues depending on an agreement.
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Finland
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- Employment and production perspectives;
- Financial annual balance sheet;
- Wage policy;
- Professional training review;
- Changes of the economical and financial structure of the company;
- Mergers, concentration and scission cases;
- Dismissal of more than ten employees.
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There is CO-determination in certain subjects.
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France
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Social information:
- Part time work;
- Learning and Training;
- Hygiene and safety;
- Profit sharing;
- Overtime work;
- Work equality;
- Among other subjects
Economical information:
Excepting the companies with less than 300 employees that include the economical information in an annual report, the others must inform the company's council on the following issues:
- Analysis of the employment situation and the evolution of the remuneration;
- Report on the activities, business volume, production, benefits, etc.
- Documents on the economical perspectives, capital distribution, legal form, company's organisation and documents issued to the shareholders.
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Consultation prior to the decision taken. To these decisions the company's council gives an opinion but for such it must have at its disposal the written and precise information, with enough time and a well grounded answer from the employer.
The company's council is consulted on:
- Internal regulations;
- Projects on personnel reduction and collective redundancies;
- Modification of the economical or legal organisation of the company;
- Research policy;
- Organisation and general management of the company;
- Partial unemployment and precarious employment;
- Professional training and learning;
- Among other subjects
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Germany
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- Economical and financial situation;
- Production and investments program;
- Projects susceptible to affect in an important way the employees' interests
- Production and markets;
- Working methods;
- Among other issues
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Greece
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- Economical situation;
- Production situation;
- Budget and activities' report;
Before the application of the decisions on the themes that are going to be referred next, the Management must inform the Workers' council on:
- Company's legal status modification;
- Transference/extinction or installations' reduction;
- Introduction of new technologies; work and labour organisation;
- Overtime work;
- Investment on hygiene and safety issues.
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In case of not existing trade union' organisations, at the company, the WC is consulted on:
- Collective redundancies;
- Agreements on work time schedule.
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Hungary
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The works council is informed on the following:
- Essential issues regarding the employee's situation at the company;
- Significant changes in the activity and investments;
- Changes on wages and compensations:
- Characteristics marks of the employment;
- Use of the work time;
- Nature of the work conditions;
- Basic issues affecting the employer's business situation;
- Fulfilment of the rules against discrimination.
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The works council shall be consulted in the following matters:
- Projects covering a wide number of employees:
- Reorganisation;
- Transformation;
- Conversion of a unit;
- Privatisation and modernisation.
- Establishment of a personnel files' system, the data to introduce in it, the content of the data files;
- Plans linked to employees' training and the use of state aids aiming to promote employment, the ideas related to pre retirement;
- Measure plans regarding the profitability of the employees;
- Annual leave plans;
- New work methods and new work organisation forms;
- Internal regulations concerning employees' interests;
- Among other subjects
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Ireland
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- Collective redundancies;
- Companies' Scissions;
- Health and safety.
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- Collective redundancies;
- Companies' Scissions;
- Health and safety.
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Italy
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- Company's situation;
- Employment situation;
- Development perspectives;
- Health and safety;
- Among other subjects
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- Introduction of new technologies;
- Health and safety;
- Work organisation;
- Restructuring;
- Gender equality;
- Professional training;
- Collective redundancies.
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Latvia
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The employer gives information based on the law related to the collective agreement:
- Economical situation of the company;
- All the information needed to the elaboration of a collective agreement and to the execution of the obligations in it;
- Regular ad-hoc staff information meetings;
- Communication to the local trade union which distributes information further to the employees.
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Consultation is much rarely common in Latvian companies but when it happens it focus certain issues such as:
- Elaboration of the project of collective agreement;
- Wages and remuneration;
- Work plans;
- Duration of the work time;
- Production's rules;
- Work conditions;
- Activities and qualifications;
- Social guaranties;
- Advantages to the student - employee;
- Redundancies.
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Lithuania
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Information only on the fulfilment of collective bargaining agreement and control of it.
The employer has the information and decides whether such information should be used and where.
The employer must give information on:
- The fulfilment of a collective agreement;
- Changes on the work conditions (some time in advance);
- Economical situation of the company for the purpose of collective bargaining.
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According the new legislation all the consultation must be ruled through collective bargaining.
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Luxembourg
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Before presenting to the General Assembly of stockholders, the employer must provide to the mix committee the annual balance sheet, the report on the gains and losses, the report of the auditors and the documents provided to the shareholders.
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Malta
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If there is not a written labour contract (or if it exists but it does not consecrate the matter's target of information) the employer must give to the employee a document containing the following information:
- Name, registration and work place;
- Date of the beginning of the contract and probation;
- Wage and working time;
- Duration of the labour contract;
- Leaves (vacation, illness
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- Category;
- Collective agreement applied;
- Other relevant information.
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(The)
Netherlands
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- Everything that is, reasonably, needed to the fulfilment of the job;
- The legal and organisational way of the company;
- The structure within the group;
- The relations that are not with the group with other companies or public institutions;
- Semi-annual reports, retrospective and prospective ones, on the company's matters and its results;
- The annual account reports;
- Environmental reports.
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- The control transference of the company or parts of the company;
- The establishment, taking or transferring the control of other company;
- The beginning, changing, suspension of the co-operation or financial participation to/or em behalf of another company;
- The cessation of the company's activities or a big company's unit;
- The substantial reduction, expansion or change of the company's activities;
- The substantial changes within the organisation or in the responsibility taken within the company;
- Major technological changes;
- Among other subjects ....
If there is not an agreement between Management and the works council, the employer shall suspend the application of such decision during a month.
Possibility of the WC to present a complaint if the management does not respect the consultation rules or if the decision is not sufficiently justifiable.
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Poland
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At trade union's request the employer has to give the necessary information to the development of the trade union activity and, in particular, the information on the work conditions the wage system. The employer has to inform the trade union representatives, that negotiate, of the economical situation having in mind the negotiation.
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The employer has to carry through consultation in all the decisions related to the end of the labour contract, with or without notice in advance, as soon as there is administrative penalty committed by the employee.
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Romania
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- Information needed to bargaining:
- Economical and financial situation of the unit;
- Classification of the matters and profession;
- Wages;
- Duration of the work time;
- Work organisation;
- Fund of health and safety;
- Measure to be taken on situations of unit reorganisation;
- Access to documents on the decisions affecting the employees.
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- Programs of reorganisation, privatisation, closure, merger and transference;
- Improvement of the working conditions;
- Output standards;
- Changes in the unit organisation;
- New working methods; technologies modification;
- The personnel needs;
- Annual program of labour protection, inspection on the work places;
- Internal regulations.
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Slovak
Republic
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- Economical performance of the company;
- New work contracts;
- Termination of work contracts;
- Major issues related to the company's development;
- Other issues related to collective agreement's provisions.
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- Employees' working conditions;
- Hygiene, safety and work environment;
- Measure related to the increasing number of employees;
- Collective redundancies;
- Schedule of the timetable and the weekly work;
- Schedule of the rest periods;
- Overtime;
- Measures related to the economical, social and cultural interest of employees;
- Ways and extension of the compensations of the employee to the damage caused by work accidents;
- Among other issues
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Slovenia
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The works council must be informed on:
- Economical situation of the company;
- Objectives to develop the company;
- The production and sales situation;
- Economical situation of the sector;
- Changes in the activity;
- Reduction in the economical activity;
- Changes operated in the production organisation;
- Changes at the economic and technological level;
- Among other subjects
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- Before the decision taken the employer must inform the workers' council and request a join consultation in what concerns the issues regarding the statute and the personnel of the company.
The issues regarding the statute include:
- Changes in the legal status;
- Sale or the closure of the company or an important part of it;
- Fundamental changes concerning the ownership.
The issues related to the personnel include:
- New criteria on the personnel recruitment issues;
- The work classification;
- Transference of a large number of employees;
- Personnel reduction;
- Among other subjects
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Spain
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Social information:
- The exam of the types of employment contracts used by the company;
- Communication of all the labour contracts;
- Absenteeism, work accidents and professional illnesses;
- Sanctions applied in situation of serious offences;
- Operational and geographical mobility;
- Production, sales and employment evolution situation;
- Budget/documents issued to the shareholders;
- Legal statute of the company;
- Sale of the company's assets;
- Collective redundancies;
- Among other subjects
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- Merges, take over or changes to the legal status of the company;
- Staff restructuring;
- Work organisation;
- Collective redundancies;
- Partial or total transfers of the plant;
- Vocational training programme.
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Sweden
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Regular information on:
- Company's activities;
- Production;
- Financial situation;
- Personnel management;
- Shopstweards can analyse, if necessary, the accounting documents to defend the wages;
- Individual dismissals and interruption of the labour contract;
- Changes in the work organisation and the working conditions.
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Turkey
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United Kingdom
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Health and safety;
Collective redundancies;
Company's transference.
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Health and safety;
Collective redundancies;
Company's transference.
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