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EUROPEAN REVIEW
ISSUE 39 - Page 3
Work harassment agreement is
third success for EU social partners
NEGOTIATORS
REPRESENTING THE
MAIN European employer and trade union organisations have concluded an
agreement on violence and harassment at work. After ten months of
talking the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) and
BusinessEurope (formerly UNICE), together with representatives from the
public sector and small businesses, fulfilled the desire of the
European Commission which launched a consultation on the subject in
2005.
In condemning all forms of harassment
and violence the social partners aim
to raise awareness of the problem and to assist employers, workers and
union reps. in combating it. They state that ‘harassment and violence
can potentially affect any workplace and any worker, even if in
practice some groups and sectors can be more at risk’. 
The definition of
harassment is when workers 
or managers ‘are
repeatedly and
deliberately abused, threatened and/or humiliated in circumstances
relating to work’ while violence occurs when they are ‘assaulted in
circumstances relating to work’.
The text of the agreement goes on to
list different forms that the
phenomenon can take including the physical, psychological or sexual,
one-off incidents or systematic patterns of behaviour, occurring
amongst colleagues, between superiors and subordinates or due to
clients, customers, patients, pupils, etc. Incidents can ‘range from
minor cases of disrespect to more serious acts, including criminal
offences, which require the intervention of public authorities’.
In describing a framework for dealing
with these incidents the social
partners say that employers must make a clear statement insisting that
violence and harassment will not be tolerated and specify the
procedures for dealing with it. An informal stage in which a trusted
person gives advice and assistance can be useful. The procedure
to then be followed is outlined in the box below. If it is established
that harassment or violence has occurred measures must be taken,
including disciplinary action up to dismissal. Victims must then
receive support and help with re-integration into the workforce, if
necessary.
The agreement is voluntary in
that the union and employer
organisations must implement it at national level rather than by a
European Directive, in the same way as the previous deals on stress and
telework.
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- Parties should proceed
with the necessary discretion to protect the dignity and privacy of all
- No information should be
disclosed to parties not involved in the case
- Complaints should be
investigated and dealt with without undue delay
- All parties involved
should get an impartial hearing and fair treatment
- Complaints should be
backed up by detailed information
- False accusations should
not be tolerated and may result in disciplinary action
- External assistance may
help
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French temporary contracts no
longer successful
IN
SUMMER 2005 THE FRENCH government changed labour contract law
with the intention of encouraging small businesses to recruit more ‘new
starters’. The CNE contract, which lasts for two years, allows
employers to dismiss workers more easily than the traditional,
open-ended kind known as CDIs. The contracts apply to workers over the
age of eighteen and when it was proposed to extend it to younger people
a wave of opposition forced the government to back down. However it
seems that the existing CNEs are ineffective anyway. A survey of the
first year of its operation has revealed that one third of workers
leave in the first six months with only half of them remaining after a
year. Half of those leaving seem to have had their contacts terminated
while the other half had resigned. In December 2006 between 360,000 and
400,000 workers, 11% of those hired by small firms in this period, were
employed in these posts compared to government predictions of 700,000.
Another aim of the legislation was to
provide permanent jobs through
the conversion of CNEs into CDIs. Although two years have not yet
elapsed since the first new contracts started in October 2005, the
signs are not good as only 3% had been transferred by December 2006.
This compares with a 14% transfer rate from already-existing fixed-term
contracts (CDDs) to permanent ones. The new posts also have a bad
record on pay with 40% on rates at or below the minimum wage. Overall
only 8% of employers questioned in the survey said that they would not
have hired anyone if CNEs had not existed.
More Latin American women in top jobs than in EU
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European posties to face UK problems
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A NEW
REPORT FROM THE International Labour Organisation (ILO) shows that
women have made progress in breaking through the ‘glass ceiling’ to
take on jobs near the top of organisations but that the gains have been
uneven and vary around the world. From 1995 to 2004 the percentage of
female legislators and managers increased from 25.5 to 28.3. South Asia
recorded the biggest proportional increase but remained at the bottom
of the league on 8.6%. There was less hopeful news for the EU which, at
30.6% trails not only North America (41.2%) but also South America and
the Caribbean on 35%. While there is almost universal ‘condemnation of
discrimination in employment and occupation’ by governments and
widespread equality provisions in labour codes, at workplace level
action to combat it has become more necessary. The report says that
this is because people increasingly feel that the world is insecure and
entrenched income inequalities hamper change.
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THE
EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT HAS voted for the full liberalisation of the postal
sector by 2011. Although some Member States, notably Sweden and the UK,
have already allowed unlimited competition for some time EU legislation
still allows national monopolies in distribution of letters weighing
less than 50 grammes. After opposition from France, Italy and Poland
the European Commission’s planned date of 2009 was postponed.
Governments will have to notify the Commission by 2010 of how they
propose to guarantee universal postal services at reasonable cost after
liberalisation. The proposed directive will not directly affect terms
and conditions of employment or the right to strike but experience in
the British Royal Mail whose workers are on national strike at the time
of writing suggests a bumpy road ahead for national operators
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