Activites

• 1998/01/19 Final act published in Official Journal
• 1997/12/16 Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
  • T4-0610/1997 summary

    In adopting the report by Mr Jan ANDERSSON (PSE, S) on the Commission Green Paper 'Partnership for a new organization of work' Parliament called on the Commission to continue its activities and to make proposals seeking to modernize the organization of work. It called for the creation of a real partnership for the reorganization of work involving all the parties concerned and in particular the two sides of industry. Special attention should be paid to the organization of work in SMUs based on partnership between the two sides of industry, the public authorities and research institutes. Parliament called on the Commission and the Member States to overhaul aid granted under Objective 4 of the structural funds (Adapt and Leonardo) and aid granted under the fifth framework programme for research and other Community initiatives with a view to promoting development in the organization of work and life-long learning. It called on the Commission to step up its efforts to promote an employment policy allowing employees in training and the unemployed to enter work through a rotation system. A revision of taxes on labour was also necessary. In this connection Parliament proposed an easing of labour charges (in particular for workers undergoing training) and increased taxes on companies involved in environmentally unfriendly activities. Parliament called on the Commission to make proposals setting minimum compulsory standards with regard to the information, consultation and participation of workers at all levels. It should also examine methods of ensuring that workers participated in the profits and results of the undertaking. Initiatives should also be taken with regard to social support infrastructure (child care, transport, etc.) in order to facilitate the adjustment of work organization. It called on the Commission to examine ways of reducing working hours. Parliament considered that it was the responsibility of the two sides of industry to set out the rules to be applied in the context of collective agreements. It considered however that the basic standards governing working time should be governed by national and European legislation. Any discussion of a new organization of work should go hand in hand with a reappraisal of women's and men's roles both on the labour market and in society. The parties concerned should take account of the family responsibilities of both men and women and of care of the sick and elderly. Special attention should also be paid to the situation of immigrant and ethnic minorities on the labour market. The reorganization of work should not produce new forms of discrimination against specific population groups, in particular women or people with disabilities for whom Parliament requested special measures to integrate them into the labour market. Lastly, Parliament warned against the creation of a two-tier society comprising an unskilled, unprotected and largely female workforce and a highly-skilled minority benefiting from continuous training. �

• 1997/12/15 Debate in Parliament
  • Debate in Parliament
• 1997/10/07 Vote in committee, 1st reading/single reading
  • A4-0313/1997
• 1997/05/14 Committee referral announced in Parliament, 1st reading/single reading
• 1997/04/16 Non-legislative basic document published
  • COM(1997)0128 summary

    OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this Green Paper is to stimulate a European debate on new forms of organization of work. It focuses on three questions: - why a new organization of work? - what are the policy challenges of new forms of work organization? - is it possible to establish a new partnership for a more productive, participative and learning organization of work? SUBSTANCE: This Green Paper is about the scope for improving employment and competitiveness through a better organization of work at the workplace, based on high skill, high trust and high quality. It is about the role and ability of management and workers to take initiatives in this area and raises, in particular, three questions which are submitted for wide ranging discussion at European level: - towards a new organization of work - why and how?: the traditional organization of work has been questioned more and more during the last 20 to 30 years. A number of organizational changes have been tried in order to improve productivity, quality and working conditions (quality circles, just-in-time systems, teamwork). However, there is now a more fundamental change, a shift from fixed systems of production to a flexible system. There is no one model of 'flexibility', but an infinite variety of models, which are constantly being adapted to the circumstances of the individual firm and its workers. According to the Commission, the transformation can be explained by three factors: human resources, markets and technology. This new organization of work has unquestionable potential for productivity and prosperity. However, change is only taking place slowly and the great majority of firms and public authorities are still in the traditional form of work organization. - policy changes: the main question is how to reconcile security for workers with the flexibility which firms need. This raises a number of fundamental issues relating to employment, education and social policy: how to organize the necessary training and retraining, how to adapt social legislation to take account of new employment trends, how to adapt wage systems in line with the organizational structures on which they are based, how to adapt working time arrangements, how to take advantage of the new employment trends with regard to equal opportunities, how to develop more flexible organizations in the public service, and how to provide adequate support to firms, in particular small- and medium-sized firms, who wish to change but lack the resources to do so. - building a partnership for a new organization of work: the Green Paper invites all those concerned (social partners and public authorities) to seek to build a partnership for the development of a new framework for the modernization of work. The Commission is seeking primarily to establish a framework, in the broad sense, which includes a common understanding of the problem, and the definition of binding contractual or legal initiatives or joint declarations. The discussion is taking place in the wider framework of the social dialogue with a view to achieving the objective of a productive, learning and participative organization of work. �

Documents

• Non-legislative basic document published: COM(1997)0128
• Committee report tabled for plenary, single reading: A4-0313/1997
• Debate in Parliament: Debate in Parliament
• Decision by Parliament, 1st reading/single reading: T4-0610/1997

History

(these mark the time of scraping, not the official date of the change)