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.
97
If the employer gives notice of cancellation of the employment contract, the worker shall be entitled to absence from work during the period of notice to search for new employment and to wage compensation for a minimum of two hours per week.
In the event of termination of the employment contract for business reasons, an employer who does not offer the worker a new employment contract for another job and informs the employment service of the cancellation of the employment contract must allow the worker to be absent from work for at least one day per week to integrate into activities in the labour market in accordance with existing labour market regulations.
The employer shall be obliged to pay wage compensation for the time of absence from work for job search in the amount of 70% of the average monthly wage for full-time work during the past three months.
The employer has the right to reimbursement of wage compensation from the employment service for the time the worker is absent from work that enables the worker to participate in active labour market programmes. The worker indirectly carries the costs because the period in which the worker receives unemployment benefits is proportionally shorter for his time off from work.
Recent studies on the deployment of active labour market reforms have omitted data on how much time redundant people spend looking for work during their notice period. They neither provided data on employers who demanded wage compensation for time away from work for job searching. The low take-up rate is primarily due to exceptional circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, companies might keep jobs through temporary layoffs and a short-time support system. On the other hand, there were fewer active labour market activities until March 2022 due to physical distance constraints, and, subsequently, the end of activities sponsored by the European Cohesion Fund (MDDSZ, 2023).
Eurofound (2015), Slovenia: Time off for job search, Restructuring legislation database, Dublin, https://apps.eurofound.europa.eu/legislationdb/time-off-for-job-search/slovenia
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.
