European Restructuring Monitor (ERM)
Eurofound's ERM database on restructuring-related legal regulations provides information on regulations in the Member States of the European Union and Norway which are explicitly or implicitly linked to anticipating and managing change.
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An employer falls within the scope of legislation on collective redundancies if the following number of workers will be made redundant within a period of 30 days:
Economic, organisational, technological, structural or similar reasons are considered valid reasons for collective dismissals.
The definition of a collective dismissal refers to a certain number of employees in comparison to all employees including full-time employees with open-ended employment contracts, fixed-term and part-time employees. The definition includes all employees who are going to become redundant within the period of 30 days (Supreme Court decision no. VIII Ips 90/2013). The number of redundant employees covers persons whose employment contract is terminated as well as employees whose present contracts is terminated, but to whom the employer has offered a new employment contract under new conditions. Not included are the employees whose employment contracts are terminated by mutual agreement or who continue working for an employer under new conditions without termination of employment contract (Supreme Court decision no. VIII Ips 178/2012).
Eurofound (2015), Slovenia: Definition of collective dismissal, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/definition-of-collective-dismissal/slovenia
Between the end of 2022 and the first half of 2023, almost 300,000 employees working for ‘big tech’ companies were laid off across the world, making headlines for months in global media. This development has been a shock, considering the high numbers of jobs in well-known tech corporations with a reputation for offering good working conditions and well-paid positions.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions. Many banks in the sector have been undergoing serial restructuring since the global financial crisis, and it is one of the few service sectors with stagnant or declining employment.
Since 2011, the Restructuring support instruments database of the EU PolicyWatch has been collecting information on measures that assist companies and workers to anticipate and manage restructuring. This article looks at measures in the database aimed at supporting employees and employers during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020–2022).
Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor database reveals the impact of the energy crisis on employment in the EU. Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, energy prices have hit record highs. The European Commission imposed sanctions and limitations on the import of oil and gas from Russia, which has reacted by reneging on supply commitments to many Member States.
