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.
Art. 51 modified by Art. 18.3 of Law 3/2012; Art. 41 modified by Royal Decree law 11/2013
To fall within the scope of legislation on collective dismissals, employers must plan to dismiss or make redundant between at least 10 and 30 employees (depending on the company size) within a period of 90 days.
The minimum thresholds for collective dismissals vary: * at least 10 employees in companies with fewer than 100 employees; * 10% of the workforce in companies employing between 100 and 299 employees; * 30 employees in companies employing 300 or more employees.
The dismissal of the entire workforce also falls under the definition of collective dismissal provided that more than five employees are affected and this is due to the shut down of the business.
A collective dismissal must be based on economic, organisational, technical or production grounds. These must be justified by the employer.
The labour legislation reform implemented by means of Law 3/2012 eliminated the requirement of administrative authorisation for collective redundancies while maintaining the obligation of good-faith negotiations with employees' representatives. Royal Decree 11/2013 clarified how the negotiation commission must be established as well as the documentation that the employer has to provide to the legal employees’ representative body (with a written copy submitted to the labour authority). This was made in order to reduce legal uncertainty regarding collective dismissal procedures.
The documentation that must be provided includes: * Justification of the measure according to the concurrence of economic, technical, organisation-related or productive causes; * Number and professional categories of the employees affected; * Number and professional categories of the employees normally employed during the last year; * Period foreseen for the execution of the dismissals; * Full name of employees affected; * Criteria taken into consideration for selection of dismissed workers; * Information about the composition of the negotiation commission; * In companies employing more than 50 employees, an accompanying social plan aiming to mitigate the consequences of the dismissals for the affected workers.
The definition of collective dismissal has not been modified in the last years. Moreover, it has not been debated or discussed at policy or social dialogue level. Most relevant debates promoted by the employer organisations and Spanish government were about the degree of rigidity/flexibility of the causes that allow companies to justify the dismissal and other elements protecting workers’ rights, such as the requirement to be authorised by the labour authority. This requirement was eliminated in 2012. Trade unions opposed these reforms (Eurofound, EurWORK, 2012)
Eurofound (2015), Spain: Definition of collective dismissal, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/definition-of-collective-dismissal/spain
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.
