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.
Article 4, 137 (1, 2, 3, 12)
In the event of a business transfer, all employment contracts affected by the transfer as well as the employer's obligations resulting from those employment contracts are transferred to the new employer. The transfer shall not have a negative impact on the rights employees have obtained up to the point of the transfer. In this way, the employment contract cannot be terminated on the basis of the business transfer itself (article 137 (2)).
According to the law, an employee whose employment contract has been transferred retains all the rights arising from the employment relationship and acquired until the transfer date. The new employer assumes all the rights and obligations arising from the transferred employment contracts in unaltered form and scope, as of the transfer date. The previous employer is obliged to inform the new employer in writing, fully and accurately, about the rights of employees whose employment contracts are being transferred. Failure of the previous employer to comply shall not impact the entitlements of the employees whose employment contracts are being transferred to the new employer. The previous employer shall be obliged to notify in writing, in good time and prior to the date of transfer, the works council and all affected employees about the transfer to a new employer.
In order to transfer employment contracts to a new employer, the conditions prescribed by the law must be fulfilled and in that case the business transfer is not a justified reason for termination of employment contracts and the admissibility of the dismissal can be challenged before the court.
The purpose of this provision is to preserve the continuity of employment so that employees retain all acquired rights. An employment contract of an employee who does not work in the economic activity affected by the business transfer cannot be transferred to a new employer. The law does not provide a definition of business transfer and it does not differentiate between fixed-term and permanent employees. No issues with the implementation of the above provisions have been reported.
Eurofound (2016), Croatia: Employment protection in relation to business transfers, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/employment-protection-in-relation-to-business-transfers/croatia
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.
