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.
- Law 4738/2020, Article 39, para 5, point b: 'Content of the rehabilitation agreement' -Law 4601/2019: Articles 1-5, 140-147; Law 4472 / 2017: Article 17; PD 178/2002 : Articles 2, 8 and 9 of PD 178/2002; 1 and 4 of PD 240/2006; 3 and 4 of Law 1387/1983; 74 of Law 3863/2010.
-With regard to restructuring proceedings, art. 39, of Law No. 4738/27.10.2020, “Debt Settlement and Facilitation of a Second Chance” as amended by Law 4818/18.07.2021 provides that the rehabilitation agreement (that is, the pre-insolvency procedure, aiming to the preservation, utilization, restructuring and recovery of the business to financial health, with the ratification of an agreement), cannot affect the right to informing and consulting with employees in accordance with Directive 2002/14/EC (Information and Consultation of Employees) and Directive 2009/38/EC (European Works Council).
-The general principles laid down in the existing legislative framework are entirely based on Directive 2002/14/EC which foresees that information and consultation shall cover the undertaking's or the establishment's activities and economic situation; data on employment within the undertaking or establishment and on any anticipatory measures envisaged, in particular where there is a threat to employment; and decisions likely to lead to substantial changes in work organisation or in contractual relations. Information shall be given at such time, in such fashion and with such content as are appropriate to enable employee representatives to conduct an adequate study and prepare for consultation.
Consultation shall take place while ensuring that the timing, method and content thereof are appropriate; at the relevant level of management and representation; on the basis of adequate information supplied by the employer and of the opinion which the employee representatives are entitled to formulate; in such a way as to enable employee representatives to meet the employer and obtain a response, and the reasons for that response, to any opinion they might formulate; and with a view to reaching an agreement.
Specific provisions are made for an information and consultation process in the case of the transfer or merger of businesses (see protection of employment in business transfers), and in the case of collective dismissals. In the case of collective dismissals, the following is foreseen: before proceeding with collective dismissals, the employer must enter into consultations with the employee representatives in order to investigate the possibility of avoiding or reducing dismissals and their adverse effects. Collective dismissals are those affecting more than six employees in companies with 20 to 150 employees or those affecting 5% of the workforce (and up to a maximum of 30 redundancies) for companies with more than 150 employees.
The employer is also obliged to submit all supporting documentation not only to the employee representatives but also to the Supreme Labour Council (SLC), a special committee within the Ministry of Labour that consists of an equal number of representatives from the state, the employee associations and the employer associations; upon completion of the consultations, the employer must submit the consultation minutes to the Supreme Labour Council: in the event of an agreement, collective redundancies shall be made within 10 days from the date consultation documents were submitted to the SCL; in the absence of an agreement, the SCL, within a 10-day period from the day on which the practices were presented, concludes with a reasoned decision 'whether the employer's obligations to inform and consult the employee representatives and the obligation to notify documents have been respected'. If the decision of the council finds that the employer has complied with its information and consultation obligations, the redundancies can be implemented after a lapse of 20 days from the SCL's decision; if not , the council can either extend consultations or set a deadline for compliance; if the council then finds that the employer has met its obligations, the redundancies can be effected after a lapse of 20 days from the council's new decision. In any case redundancies become effective 60 days after the submission of the consultation minutes to the council.
-Under the Law (4738/2020) the restructuring process is now the only collective pre-bankruptcy process and, unlike the out-of-court debt settlement mechanism, it can proceed without the debtor's consent. It concerns all persons who carry out business activity, even when there is no present or threatened inability to fulfill, but only the possibility of insolvency, The procedure, without the debtor's consent, can only proceed if there is a suspension of payments. Interesting deviation from the previous regime is the consent of public entities which is presumed as long as, the debtor's confirmed debts do not exceed €15 million, the public entity will not be put in a worse position with the reorganization agreement than it would have been in the event of bankruptcy, and the total of the claims of the public bodies does not exceed the total of the private creditors. As such, the problem of non-consent of the State (mainly due to obstructionism), is dealt with.
-No information available.
Eurofound (2015), Greece: Staff information and consultation on restructuring plans, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/staff-information-and-consultation-on-restructuring-plans/greece
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.
