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.
14-2
An employee who has been dismissed owing to circumstances relating to the undertaking (both in cases of individual and collective dismissals) shall have a one year preferential right to a new appointment at the same undertaking, unless the vacant post is one for which the employee is not qualified. Following an amendment in force 1 January 2024, the right is expanded. If the undertaking is part of a group of companies ("konsern") the preferential right will now also apply to vacancies in other undertakings in the same group.
If an offer of appointment is not accepted within 14 days after receiving it, the right lapses.
The preferential right shall also apply to an employee who is on a fixed-term contract (except if the employee is filling in for somebody who is absent) and who, owing to circumstances relating to the undertaking, is not offered continued employment. The preferential right shall also apply to employees who have accepted an offer of reduced employment instead of dismissal.
The preferential right applies to employees who have been employed by the undertaking for a total of at least 12 months during the previous two years. The provisions regarding preferential rights to a new appointment shall apply correspondingly to employees who have been dismissed in connection with the bankruptcy of an undertaking. However, this shall only apply if the undertaking is continued or resumed and, in view of its location, nature, extent and the like, is regarded as a continuation of the original undertaking.
The regulation aims to avoid a situation where the employer downsize for a short time in order to let employees that otherwise could not have been dismissed, go.
The preferential right is only evoked if the employer hires a new employee, and not if existing employees are replaced within the company.
Eurofound (2015), Norway: Reemployment obligation after restructuring, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/reemployment-obligation-after-restructuring/norway
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.
