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
This Eurofound research paper explores key trends in restructuring in recent years, highlighting the companies that announced the largest job losses and job gains in the EU. It builds on an analysis of company announcements recorded in Eurofound’s European Restructuring Monitor (ERM), alongside a new classification of restructuring events involving changes in company location.
:quality(80))
Employers increasingly use tools such as email, SMS and messaging apps like WhatsApp or Signal to communicate with employees. While these technologies offer both efficiency and convenience, their use in communicating sensitive information, particularly for notifying employees of dismissal, raises legal concerns. This article explores the legal framework on dismissals across the EU, with a special focus on the use of digital means for communicating employment dismissals. Drawing on examples from various Member States, it examines the legal validity of digital dismissals.
:quality(80))
In 2023, thousands of workers in big tech lost their jobs. Meta, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Salesforce had been considered to offer good and secure jobs up to this point. Giants of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, these companies are among the highest paying, with Eurostat data from 2022 indicating that workers in ICT had the second-highest median gross hourly earnings (surpassed only by earnings in the financial sector).[1] These layoffs were a shock, especially as the biggest companies had hired extensively during the COVID-19 pandemic. What happened in the two years after this redundancy wave – was that the end of the cuts or did the companies start expanding again?
:quality(80))
In 2024, the automotive sector in the EU came to the fore in public and policy discussions. The focus was on the slowdown in electric vehicle (EV) sales, rising global competition, belated investments in new technologies, and the potential closure of production lines in Europe. A number of European car manufacturers and suppliers announced their intention to make large-scale redundancies and change long-standing collective agreements on job security and wages, while workers raised concerns amid demonstrations and industrial action.
:quality(80))