bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Healthcare workers’ perceptions of organisational culture and the impact on the delivery of compassionate quality care
Authors: Beardsmore Elizabeth , McSherry Robert
Published: March 2017

This paper explores the qualitative outcomes as part of a larger feasibility study which was developed to test a Cultural Health Check toolkit designed to assist healthcare workers and organisations in the provision of safe, dignified and compassionate quality care for older people. For the qualitative part of this project, 11 healthcare workers agreed to participate in a one-to-one semi-structured interview. The primary aim of the research was to identify the experiences of staff in relation to the different factors they feel contribute to the culture of the organisation. These data were analysed using Attride-Stirling thematic analysis. The data were coded and four global themes were evident: professional practice, support, workforce and service delivery. Professional practice included organisational themes of quality, communication and collaboration and how these impact on a health worker’s ability to carry out their role and the impact on the delivery of compassionate quality care. Support included organisation themes of personal and professional development, and facilitation by leaders and managers to access the available support. Workforce centred on the importance of having adequate levels of all staffing groups to be able to deliver safe, quality person-centred care and services. Service delivery identified the organisational themes of care, person-centred care and communication where staff have the desire, determination and enthusiasm to deliver safe, high quality compassionate person-centred care and services. These themes are key in the impact analysis relating to the delivery of compassionate quality care.
Supraspinatus detachment causes musculotendinous degeneration and a reduction in bone mineral density at the enthesis in a rat model of chronic rotator cuff degeneration
Authors: Thangarajah Tanujan , Henshaw Frederick , Sanghani-Kerai Anita , Lambert Simon M. , Pendegrass Catherine J. , Blunn Gordon W.
Published: March 2017

Background

To evaluate biological strategies that enhance tendon–bone healing in humans, it is imperative that suitable animal models accurately reproduce the pathological changes observed in the clinical setting following a tear. The purpose of the present study was to investigate rotator cuff degeneration in a rat, as well as assess the development of osteopenia at the enthesis following tendon detachment.

Methods

Eighteen female Wistar rats underwent unilateral detachment of the supraspinatus tendon. Specimens were retrieved at 4 weeks ( n = 6), 6 weeks ( n = 6) and 9 weeks ( n = 6) postoperatively for histological analysis and peripheral quantitative computer tomography.

Results

Three weeks following tendon detachment, there was a significant increase in the modified Movin score, characterized by a loss of muscle mass, fatty infiltration, an increase in musculotendinous cellularity, loss of normal collagen fibre structure/arrangement, rounded tenocyte nuclei and an increase in the number of vascular bundles. This was accompanied by a reduction in bone mineral density at the tendon insertion site. After 3 weeks however, these changes were less prominent.

Conclusions

The rotator cuff tendon-muscle-bone unit in a rat model 3 weeks after detachment of supraspinatus represents a valid model for investigating rotator cuff degeneration.
Antipsychotic prescription patterns in the management of delirium symptoms in hospitalized elderly patients
Authors: Nguyen Patrick Viet-Quoc , Malachane Alice , Minh Thien Tuong Vu
Published: March 2017

Objective:

The objective of this study was to study the pharmacological management of delirium in elderly hospitalized patients in acute geriatric medical wards.

Method:

We conducted a one-year retrospective cross-sectional study in patients 65 years of age or older who were admitted to an acute geriatric unit care at a teaching hospital with a delirium diagnosis.

Results:

A total of 133 subjects were included in the study. Delirium was prevalent in 78% of patients. The average length of delirium was 13 days. Antipsychotics were prescribed to 74% of patients with delirium. Patients with hyperactive, mixed and hypoactive delirium received antipsychotics regularly in a proportion of 68%, 54%, and 34% respectively. The length of antipsychotic prescription was of 11 days. Risperidone was the most commonly prescribed agent given on a regular basis while haloperidol was chosen for the as required prescriptions. Fifty-five percent of demented patients received a daily prescription of antipsychotics compared to 46% in the non-demented population. A shorter length of delirium episodes in subjects with acetylcholinesterase inhibitors was also observed. A higher mortality rate was observed in the group of subjects receiving benzodiazepine during the delirium episode.

Conclusion:

This study shows that antipsychotic treatment is widely, but not systematically prescribed in demented and non-demented patients in all types of delirium including hypoactive. Efforts should be made to increase appropriate antipsychotic prescription in this vulnerable population.
An intriguing case of endometrial tuberculosis presenting as irregular menstrual bleeding
Authors: Esa Nurul Yaqeen Mohd , Shabery Nor Afidah Ahmad , Mohd Zim Mohd Arif , Ismail Ahmad Izuanuddin , Abdul Rani Mohamed Fauzi
Published: March 2017

Endometrial tuberculosis (TB) is a rare form of tuberculosis infection. The diagnosis is not straightforward due to the nature of its presentation. We report a case of endometrial TB in a young, healthy and immunocompetent patient, who presented with irregular menstrual bleed. Her endometrial pipelle sampling revealed features of caseating granulomatous inflammation due to TB. We discuss the diagnostic modalities and treatment in this case.
The Legal Definition of the Employment Relationship
Authors: Waas Bernd
Published: March 2017

The following paper points at the increasing difficulties of determining whether or not an ‘employment relationship’ does exist in an individual case. By referring to the experience in Germany in particular some possible solutions are examined in more detail. Among others light is shed on legally defining a particular sub-group of ‘quasi-salaried workers’ who are not personally but only economically dependant on others.
European Integration and Trans-National Employment Regulation: The Company-Level Experience of EFAs in the Metal Sector in Europe
Authors: Pulignano Valeria
Published: March 2017

The creation of the Single European Market (SEM) and the development of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) has the risk to increase the deregulatory effects of the EU social policy. This is because of the ungoverned competition between national regimes which dangers to strike the ‘social’ dimension of the European supra-national state – what was the original Delors' vision of “l'espace sociale”. The article argues that by covering both by nature the social and economic regulative aspects of employment, collective bargaining plays a central and strategic role in containing the “democratic deficit” effects originated by the process of European integration. Therefore, the developments in coordinating bargaining activities across borders, which have been made by the European union industry federation in the metal sector, as the most pronounced in this regard in Europe, are examined and further assessed. As the conclusion of framework agreements at the EU level in the metal sector illustrates, the perspective for the coordination of collective bargaining in Europe appears advanced but it also presents some institutional and policy coordination weaknesses.
Cross-Border Services, Posting of Workers, and Jurisdictional Alternation
Authors: Evju Stein
Published: March 2017

Posting of workers in the framework of cross-border provision of services involves issues of private international law concerning the choice of applicable law as well as matters of jurisdiction. A lack of harmonization or coordination may lead to competing and conflicting litigations that are ill suited to safeguard workers' rights or protect the interests of businesses or social partners. Drawing on a Danish-Polish case these points are sharply illustrated in the present essay. The case in point did not directly involve the EC Posted Workers Directive as it concerned claims based on collective agreement outside of the scope of the Directive. It is argued, however, that even if the Directive may be considered to imply certain measures and safeguards there still is a need to amend the Directive so as to ensure the protection it is intended to provide.
Social Rights and Market Freedom in the European Constitution: A Re-Appraisal
Authors: Giubboni Stefano
Published: March 2017

Building a common market while preserving the legitimate concerns for different social models at national level has always been one of the main challenges of the European project. The aim of this article is to verify how the normative criteria, which preside over such a delicate balance between constructing a common market and preserving legitimate differences in the national welfare systems, have changed over time.

It is submitted that these criteria have in fact significantly changed, with a progressive shift from the upward harmonization paradigm to regulatory competition between systems. The decline of harmonization, as the main tool for governing the differences between national social systems, has in fact gradually left its place to a mix of new regulatory techniques, which were enriched during the 1990s and lastly rationalized by the Lisbon Treaty. Moreover, in the latest phase that follows the 2004 enlargement, the regulatory competition – conveyed by means of a very liberal interpretation of the freedom to provide services – has come to occupy some of the most protected areas of national labour law. These trends are likely to generate difficult tensions between the legitimate demands of preservation of national social models and the demands of enlarging and deepening European integration.

A reinforced coordination, via hard law, is needed, and possibly a further re-shaping and re-launching of differentiated harmonization techniques, along with a solid framework of fundamental social rights and principles enshrined in the body of the new Treaties. It is submitted that if we want to avoid the risk of crisis of the European integration process this way of coping with the challenges of diversity has to go forward to looking for a virtuous balance between market freedom and social rights in the European Constitution.
The Principle of Proportionality in Viking and Laval: An Appropriate Standard of Judicial Review?
Authors: Hős Nikolett
Published: March 2017

Although the application of the proportionality principle is a well known element of the ECJ's internal market case law, its application can raise very sensitive issues in an industrial action context. The argument of the present paper is that one of the main reasons why the outcome of the Viking and Laval cases was so controversial was because of the way in which the Court applied the proportionality principle. On the basis of some selected case studies from a labour law and industrial action context, the article will point out that with a better structured proportionality analysis the Court could have significantly improved the legitimacy of its decisions.
Anti-Crisis Regulations of Polish Labour Law
Authors: Mitrus Leszek
Published: March 2017

This article presents the assumptions and the first experiences of the functioning of Polish Law of 1st July 2009 on the relief of the effects of economic crisis for entrepreneurs and workers. This legal act modifies labour law regulations applicable to working time and fixed-term employment, and it also provides for granting financial aid to entrepreneurs affected by the crisis and for financing employee training. The basic aim of the Law is to help employers overcome the effects of the economic crisis and to preserve jobs.
The Implementation of the Directive on Temporary Agency Work in the UK: A Missed Opportunity
Authors: Davies Anne
Published: March 2017

Agency work is more prevalent in the UK than in most other European countries. Agency workers make up around 5% of the total UK workforce, compared to 2.5% in the Netherlands, just over 2% in France, and less than 0.5% in Denmark.1 This may, in part at least, reflect the fact that the UK has not traditionally regulated the use of agency work to any great extent. The Directive on Temporary Agency Work requires the UK to offer a greater degree of protection to agency workers, but as this article will seek to demonstrate, agency workers will remain vulnerable in certain important respects even after the Directive has been implemented.2

This article will give a brief account of the emergence of the Directive and of English law's current position on agency work, before exploring in some detail a selection of key issues arising out of the Agency Workers Regulations 2010, the UK's implementation measure.3
The ILO Maritime Labour Convention 2006: An Example of Innovative Normative Consolidation in a Globalized Sector
Authors: Charbonneau Alexandre , Chaumette Patrick
Published: March 2017

This contribution discusses the ILO Maritime Labour Convention (MLC, 2006), which has been adopted at the occasion of the 94th session of the International Labour Conference. This new and innovative instrument marks an important effort to consolidate earlier standards into a single instrument. This article discusses the MLC and its specific regulatory context and features, such as its relationship with other international maritime instruments; the issue of cohesion and effectiveness of the instruments on seafarer protection; the evolving and flexible nature of the MLC, and the relationship with European Union frameworks and implementation measures.
Effective Enforcement of Occupational Health and Safety Regulation: An Economic Approach
Authors: Faure Michael G. , Tilindyte Laura
Published: March 2017

The expanding body of regulation to address occupational health and safety risks does not inevitably lead to improved health and safety outcomes if regulation is not enforced properly. This paper uses an economic approach to establish what are cost-effective techniques (inspection, education, sanctions) to enforce occupational health and safety regulation. The paper argues that proactive inspections play a crucial role and should be given priority in enforcement work. At the same time, it identifies conditions under which proactive inspections may prove cost-effective as well. The paper addresses the issue of post-detection discretion and holds that there are sound economic reasons for granting labour inspectorates such discretion. It analyses what role criminal law should play in enforcement of occupational health and safety regulation, particularly when compared to the less stringent systems of administrative penalties. It is argued that for most cases administrative penalties are sufficient to ensure deterrence and compliance whereas criminal law may well play an important residual role under certain circumstances, which the paper specifies. The paper briefly considers the role of complementary sanctions such as naming and shaming and addresses the role that third parties could play in enforcement of occupational health and safety regulation.
Blurring Boundaries: From the Danish Welfare State to the European Social Model?
Authors: Neergaard Ulla , Nielsen Ruth
Published: March 2017

This article builds on the results obtained in the so-called Blurring Boundaries project which was undertaken at the Law Department, Copenhagen Business School, in the period from 2007 to 2009. It looks at the sustainability of the Danish welfare state in an EU law context and on the integration of welfare functions into EU law both from an internal market law and a constitutional law perspective. The main problem areas covered by the Blurring Boundaries project were studied in sub-projects on: 1) Internal market law and welfare services; 2) Fundamental rights and non-discrimination law aspects; and 3) Services of general interest. In the Blurring Boundaries project, three aspects of the European Social Model have been particularly highlighted: the constitutionalisation of the European Social Model, its multi-level legal character, and the clash between market access justice at EU level and distributive justice at national level.
Injunctions, Cyanamid, and the Corrosion of the Right to Strike in the UK
Authors: Countouris Nicola , Freedland Mark
Published: March 2017

This paper critically reviews a number of recent English court decisions on the award of interim injunctions against strikes, granted on the grounds of breach of various procedural requirements contained in Part V of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992. It is argued that the jurisprudential approach followed by English courts is at odds with the emerging human rights nature of the right to strike, as developed by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). The paper calls domestic judges to abandon the traditional, American Cyanamid-based, test typically used in awarding interlocutory injunctions in industrial action cases, in favour of a more human rights-attuned ‘proportionality test’.
Collective Redundancies for Economic Motives: Convergences and Controversies
Authors: Gaudu François
Published: March 2017

This contribution has been made in light of the annual seminar organized by the European Labour Law Network (ELLN) in The Hague, November 2010. The theme of the seminar was “Protection, Involvement and Adaptation – European Labour Law in Time of Crisis, Restructuring and Transition”. For reasons of preparation and background information a number of keynote papers were drafted. Two of them have been finalized after the seminar in the form of academic contributions. This contribution concerns the paper drafted by professor François Gaudu and discusses the subject of redundancies for economic motives. The second paper, drafted by professor Niklas Bruun and discussing employee participation rights and business restructuring, can be found elsewhere in this Journal.
Collective Action in Labour Conflicts under the Rome II Regulation (Part I)
Authors: Dorssemont Filip , van Hoek Aukje
Published: March 2017

In this first part of our two-part study (the second part will be published in the next issue of the ELLJ), the authors discuss the background and the scope of application of Article 9 of the Rome II Regulation. This Article contains a special rule for the law applying to non-contractual obligations arising out of cross-border collective action. With this, the Regulation – at first sight – seems to recognize the special status of industrial relations within the system of private international law. Upon closer scrutiny, however, the provision is still very much based on private law concepts. This leads to uncertainty as to the exact scope of application of the provision and this in turn reduces its effectiveness in protecting the right to collective action in cross-border cases.
Labour Law, Social Security Law and Social Policy after the Entering into Force of the Treaty of Lisbon
Authors: Jacobs Antoine
Published: March 2017

This contribution deals with the impact of the Lisbon Treaty on social law and social policy, at the European level and at the national level of European member states. This is discussed with reference to the social powers of the EU, the procedures for decision-making, the social dialogue, the citizens' initiative, the fundamental rights, the laws of the market and social rights, the services of general interest and enhanced cooperation.
The Right to Collective Action under the European Social Charter
Authors: Evju Stein
Published: March 2017

This article gives an overview of the European Social Charter's protection of the right to collective action, including the case law of the European Social Charter (ESC) supervisory body, the European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR). Considering the position of the European Social Charter in relation both to the ECHR and to EU law, the topic certainly merits attention. From the first Conclusions of the ECSR in 1969, there has been a long line of development, and a comprehensive body of case law has been generated, focusing in particular on the right to strike. There has also been both evolution and variation in how the ESC standards have been construed over time, which may be seen as a reflection of the different legal cultures, along with the complexity of the issues involved.
Open Norms and the Psychological Dimension of Employment Relationships
Authors: Van Bever Aline
Published: March 2017

Taking into account the incomplete and relational nature of employment contracts, this article examines to what extent so-called “open norms”, such as good faith or abuse of power, bear the potential to legally validate the legitimate expectations and psychological perceptions of the employee or the employer respectively in comparison to the formal a priori drafted rules that traditionally regulate the employment relationship. It assumes that, despite the possible criticism against the use of open-texture norms, these norms are better able to give effect to the dynamic reality of the employment relationship and its concealed interests in comparison to labour law's current concepts. A consideration of the grounds and extent of the employer's power to modify the terms of the contract of employment supports this assumption.
The Financial and Economic Crisis and Migration Policy in European Countries: A Revival of Labour Issues?
Authors: Kuptsch Christiane
Published: March 2017

This paper looks at changes in migration policies as a response to the 2008 financial and economic crisis and at governance issues. Countries in Europe opted to make new immigration more difficult, protect labour markets for native-born workers, clamp down on migrants in irregular situations and encourage the return of migrant workers. Clear patterns or reasons for variation in policy responses are not discernible, but it is safe to say that only countries with a significant recent influx of migrants have taken high profile measures at all. The crisis has highlighted labour market issues, and migrants are now increasingly portrayed as economic agents instead of security threats. This offers room for the State to assert its protective role vis-à-vis of migrant workers. The analysis has an International Relations/Political Economy perspective and is largely based on (official) news releases and secondary sources.
On Labour Market Intermediation in France
Authors: Auvergnon Philippe
Published: March 2017

This contribution makes an analysis of labour market intermediation services in France. In doing so, attention is paid to the developments and influences that made the labour market intermediation function evolve over time. The liberalisation and restructuring of the intermediation market in France is taken into account, seen the adoption of ILO Convention No. 181. While the public function remains unchallenged in the recruitment of unemployed people with rather low qualification levels, private employment agencies today focus on qualified employees who are already in work, or individuals seeking outplacement. Nevertheless, the practical effects of free-market principles should not overestimated.
The Proposal for a (So-Called) ‘Monti II’ Regulation on the Exercise of the Right to Take Collective Action within the Context of the Freedom of Establishment and the Freedom to Provide Services: Changing without Reversing, Regulating without Affecting
Authors: Rocca Marco
Published: March 2017

On the 21 March 2012 the European Commission adopted its proposal for a Regulation on the exercise of the right to take collective action within the context of the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services. Conceived as both a response and a clarification of the case law of the Court of Justice, the new Regulation should address the widely debated problem of the relationship between fundamental freedoms and fundamental social rights. The present contribution seeks to identify the objectives of the proposal, through a critical reading of its text and of the explanatory memorandum, to assess its potential effect. The analysis is developed around two main themes: the relationship of the proposal with the recent case law of the European Court of Human Rights regarding the right to strike, and its consistency with the doctrine developed by the CJEU in Viking and Laval.
EU Limits for the Personal Scope of Employment Law
Authors: Van Peijpe Taco
Published: March 2017

EU Member States are obliged to protect all labourers who fall within the scope of EU labour law. The Member States are free, in principle, to extend the scope of protection by applying a worker concept which includes the economically dependent self-employed.

EU free movement principles restrict this freedom of the Member States to apply their own worker concepts. The ECJ makes this freedom almost illusory through a strict application of the subordination criterion for the definition of the concept of ‘worker’, as laid down in its Lawrie-Blum case law. If the ECJ would develop a positive and narrow definition of the concept of self-employed persons, then the Member States would retain the freedom which is necessary to extend adequate protection to the economically dependent self-employed, and to combat bogus self-employment. A few judgments of the ECJ contain materials for the development of such a definition of self-employed persons.
The Italian Reform of the Labour Market in a Growth Perspective
Authors: Ales Edoardo
Published: March 2017

At the beginning of April 2012, the Monti Government presented to the Italian Parliament a draft act concerning the “Reform of the labour market in a growth perspective” (hereafter the Reform). This is part of a comprehensive strategy, launched already in 2011 when the Government took office, to adapt Italian labour and social security law system to the challenges of the economic and debt crisis. At present, the Reform has been approved by the Senate, following a vote of confidence asked by the Government to speed up the procedure. The Reform is likely to approved as it is by the Lower Chamber following the same procedure. Therefore, waiting for the final approval of the act, it is already possible to draw a general and synthetic picture of the main axes of the Reform.
Viking and Laval: An Italian Perspective
Authors: Perinetto Patrick Actis
Published: March 2017

The decisions of the Court of Justice in Viking, Laval and their progenies have been harshly criticised by scholars and other international institutions, but above all, they have been received as a hard blow by trade unions and social actors. Indeed, the Court has been accused of supporting (or even encouraging) social dumping, by increasing the already uneven power of economic actors at the expense of the workers and of their longstanding protectors, the trade unions. While these decisions sparked extensive doctrinal debate, legislative action, even radical changes to the constitutional architecture in some countries, they seem to have gone completely unnoticed in Italy. This is rather surprising, given the fact that workers' protection and the activity of trade unions are at the very core of the Italian Republic. This paper aims first to bring into full light the blatant incompatibility of the dictum of the Court of Justice in the abovementioned decisions with different cornerstones of the Italian legal and social system. Second, it seeks to provide some possible reasons why, in Italy, the potentially devastating effects of the Viking quartet have still to be seen, also considering the opinion of the main Italian trade unions.
A Comprehensive Social Progress Protocol is Needed More Than Ever
Authors: Bücker Andreas
Published: March 2017

A social progress protocol has been suggested and demanded as a way of strengthening the protection of fundamental social rights in the EU Treaties. The jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in the Viking and Laval cases provided the impetus for this suggestion. The financial and economic crisis has increased the need for discussion, clarification and development of fundamental values, principles and rules of EU social policy. In light of the crisis, a social protocol should be designed in a comprehensive way. It should reinforce the position of human rights and it should define the model of the European social market economy. A high level of social protection should be stipulated. The draft of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is an adequate starting point, however, in light of the recent economic and social development a more comprehensive protocol is necessary. Given the different national traditions of social policy, a social protocol needs broad legal and political discussion in order to build the necessary consensus.
‘Young versus Old’ or Intergenerational Solidarity
Authors: Laborde Jean-Pierre
Published: March 2017

This contribution enters into the ageing debate through the perspective of intergenerational solidarity. Far away from the age struggle and the age discrimination issue, contemporary French Labour Law is in favour of age cooperation and is perhaps developing a trend of going beyond the consideration of age. In light of this, it is examined, in this contribution, what overcoming the age issue can or cannot mean.
Emergency Exit?
Authors: Doherty Michael
Published: March 2017

This article analyses a recent complaint pronounced upon by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) relating to collective bargaining rights under Irish law. The article analyses the manner in which the ILO dealt with the complaint and the response of the Irish State. However, the article argues that there are lessons to be drawn from this case of wider significance. In particular, the article considers the role of collective bargaining in the ‘Anglo’ model of industrial relations; the influence of the judiciary in interpreting and protecting collective labour rights; the influence of global multinational corporations on labour law and practice; and the effect of the EU institutions on labour rights in the context of the current crisis.
Meeting the Challenges of Active Ageing in the Workplace: Is the Abolition of Retirement the Answer?
Authors: Manfredi Simonetta , Vickers Lucy
Published: March 2017

This article considers how policy makers across Europe can meet the challenges of extending working lives, is a key element of the ‘Active Ageing’ agenda, whilst at the same time striking a balance between the interests of older workers, those of younger generations to access jobs and career opportunities, and the interests of employers in workforce planning. It examines the experience of the UK which removed mandatory retirement in October 2011 and argues that, viewed from a Marxist perspective, the developments in the UK have failed to strike the correct balance between the different interests at stake, and has instead taken a neo-liberal approach to the regulation of retirement. It then moves to consider retirement from an equalities perspective and suggests that retaining some form of regulation of the end of working lives can still meet the demands of equality. The final section discusses some proposals for reform.
International Trade Union Solidarity in the Automobile Sector: The Case of Fiat-Chrysler
Authors: Rymkevich Olga
Published: March 2017

This article aims to analyse the effects of globalization on international trade union solidarity taking as an example the automobile sector with a particular focus on the Fiat/Chrysler merger. The first part will provide a general overview of trade union global strategies at the international level demonstrated so far, while the second part will be more strictly focused on the automotive sector. In order to evaluate the present scenario and obstacles to the consolidation of transnational trade union solidarity, the article will consider the role of transnational actors such as Multinational Corporations, European Works Councils, World Works Councils, and Global Union Federations as well as practical instruments such as European Framework Agreements and International Framework Agreements in relation to the automotive sector and highlighting the recent case of the Fiat/Chrysler merger. This multinational enterprise was chosen due to its strategic importance for the national economy in both Italy and the United States, and the standardization of production that facilitates comparison, and because of the well-established system of industrial relations and trade union representation. In connection with this merger the potential of the above-mentioned international instruments will be evaluated as well as the evolution of the trade union solidarity till now.
The Changing Legal Context of Employment Policy Coordination
Authors: Bekker Sonja , Klosse Saskia
Published: March 2017

Looking at the 2013 country-specific Recommendations, this article explores which legal instruments are used to coordinate employment and social policy items after the crisis. This includes instruments belonging to employment and social policy coordination, as well as to budgetary and economic governance cycles. The article answers the question whether the joint use of these instruments affect the Union's employment and social policy goals. The analysis reveals that employment and social policy items frequently feature in budgetary and economic governance cycles, such as the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) and the Macro-economic Imbalances Procedure. Examples of such topics are health care, pension schemes and wage development. Yet, the impact on the Union's social goals shows a mixed picture, with certain Recommendations supporting social policies, while other Recommendations tending to address social issues from an economic perspective.
Can the Patient Survive the Cure? Irish Labour Law in the Austerity Era
Authors: Doherty Michael
Published: March 2017

This article analyses the effects of the current socio-economic crisis on, and recent measures in the field of, labour law in Ireland. As one of the ‘programme’ countries, which has sought and received financial support from the Troika of the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission, Ireland has been required to follow a wide-ranging programme of measures designed to restore the economic health of the country. This article looks at specific measures taken in the sphere of labour law and policy, in the private and public sectors, placing these in the context of the wider EU picture.
Evaluating the New Rules of EU Economic Governance in Times of Crisis
Authors: Balamoti Eleni
Published: March 2017

The article seeks to form a political evaluation of the new rules of EU Economic Governance that have entered into force in the current economic crisis, pointing out at the same time their social impact, through the case study of Greece. The article concludes that although there have been significant steps towards tighter Economic Governance in the EU, and the eurozone in particular, actions should be taken in order to enhance the social dimension of the EMU institutional framework, so that austerity measures are accompanied by growth and coherence policies. In addition, a political debate regarding the institutional reorganisation of the Economic Governance framework should be launched, in order to enhance democracy, legitimacy and accountability in the European Union.
Public Policy Approaches towards the Undeclared Economy in European Countries: A Critical Overview
Authors: Williams Colin C.
Published: March 2017

The aim of this paper is to evaluate critically the extent to which the conventional eradication approach towards undeclared work has been transcended and replaced by an approach which seeks to shift undeclared work into the declared economy. Reporting the results of a 2010 survey of 104 senior stakeholders from government departments, trade unions and employer organisations in 31 European countries, and 24 follow-up in-depth interviews, the finding is that although there is a move towards adopting policy measures that shift undeclared work into the declared economy, a deterrence approach that simply seeks to eliminate undeclared work remains the principal approach in most nations and the approach viewed as the most effective way of tackling undeclared work. Given this intransigence on the part of European national governments, the paper concludes by setting out a future research agenda to bridge this gap.
Undeclared Work: An Activity-Based Legal Typology
Authors: Ales Edoardo
Published: March 2017

Undeclared work has been convincingly defined as ‘any paid activity that is lawful as regards its nature (i.e. is not criminal) but not declared to public authorities, taking into account differences in the regulatory system of Member States' (COM(1998) 219 final, 4). Such an activity-based definition has been chosen because ‘it allows for the inclusion of forms of undeclared work that are popular in Europe and which are excluded in enterprise and/or jobs-based definitions. Prominent examples include: the under-reporting of income by self-employed people and formal businesses, which are excluded in an enterprise-based definition; and “envelope wages”, whereby a formal employee receives part of their wage on a declared basis and the remainder on an undeclared basis. Both jobs and enterprise-based definitions omit these forms of undeclared work, since the worker is in a formal job and the work takes place in a registered enterprise’ (Williams, Renooy 2008, 5). Starting from this definition, the paper aims to: 1. conceptualise ‘paid activity‘; 2. identify active and passive registration and declaration duties, their object, their general and specific purposes and the public authorities involved; and 3. typify the breaches of legal duties of registration and/or declaration referring them to the juridical or physical person performing each activity.
Undeclared Work: An Activity-Based Legal Typology
Authors: Končar Polonca
Published: March 2017

The paper argues that the consensus on the typology and the definition of the phenomenon is needed if we want to step up the fight against undeclared work either on national or international level. Bearing in mind the situation in Slovenia the paper points out that the reduction of undeclared work is not predominantly intended to solve the problems of national public finances. Appropriate and balanced measures should in the first place contribute to the realisation of the objectives of the accepted employment strategy. The attention is drawn to the possible trap of the ‘activity based’ definition of undeclared work. The paper briefly addresses the ILO's approach to undeclared work.
Contingent Crises, Permanent Reforms: Rationalising Labour Market Reforms in the European Union
Authors: Prassl Jeremias
Published: March 2017

Labour market reforms across Europe over the past years have near-universally been justified as responses to the financial crisis. Drawing on the results of INLACRIS' comparative study of a range of EU Member States, this article suggests that any such links are, however, deeply misguided: a contingent crisis in financial markets cannot be solved through permanent structural reforms in employment law. Excessive regulation did not cause the financial crisis, and the ensuing reforms can only be linked tentatively, if at all, to the problems facing national budgets. As a result, the reforms discussed may even have a counterintuitive impact, as they lead to a further deterioration of states' ability adequately to control and distribute employment risk.
Dismissal Law under Challenge: New Risks for Workers
Authors: Laulom Sylvaine
Published: March 2017

Dismissal law protects those who are sometimes referred to as ‘insiders’, that is, workers whose employment is well protected. As a rule, there are four aspects to this protection. First, the law requires that there has to be good reason for any termination of the employment contract by the employer. Second, the termination is subject to procedural constraints ensuring that the reason for the dismissal is stated and that worker representatives, as provided for under the national system, are involved. Third, if the employer's action leads, in fact, to loss of employment, financial compensation must be paid. Finally, in the event of dismissal, workers must have access to a judicial body (or some other independent authority) which will scrutinise the employer's reason for the dismissal and, if the dismissal is found to be unfair, sanction the employer. To differing degrees, it is these four elements which are now under challenge.
Some Observations on Public Employment in Europe
Authors: Boto José María Míranda
Published: March 2017

Within a general European trend, the legal regime governing public employees is changing dramatically both in Spain and Portugal. In both countries, restrictions have been placed on the role of collective bargaining. All the advantages achieved through this mechanism have disappeared and its importance within public employment has been reduced to a minimum. The second major point in common is the reduction in wages, more heavily contested in Portugal than in Spain. The trend in both countries is the assimilation of the previously privileged regime of public employees to that of private sector workers.
Legal Acknowledgement of the Category of Economically Dependent Workers
Authors: Rosioru Felicia
Published: March 2017

In the current context of economic and social crisis, our study aims to determine whether labour law protection should be granted only to employees or whether other categories of workers should also be protected. As a part of the research project, ‘Which securities for (which) workers in time of crisis?’, we introduce some clarifications in relation to the second part of the question (‘which workers’?), considering, in particular, the intermediate category of economically dependent workers in different European States. However, there is a certain degree of uncertainty surrounding the definition of economically dependent work and confusion as regards the designation of the phenomenon and its overlap with the problem of false self-employed workers. Some States have legal concepts of an economically dependent worker, while in many others it is a phenomenon that remains under discussion.
Cross-Border Mobility of ‘Bogus’ Self-Employed Workers: A Lack of Legal Framework Coupled with Protection of Economic Rights
Authors: Muller Fabienne
Published: March 2017

If the phenomenon of ‘new self-employed workers’ or ‘bogus self-employed workers’ is nothing new, this phenomenon is growing. The crisis which gripped the EU saw a rise in practices from a bygone age: self-employed people working under very degrading conditions in return for payment considerably below the average applicable in the host State and subject to violations of human dignity. The article shows that the increase in temporary cross-border movements appears to be a reality which collides head-on with national labour and social security law, ill-equipped to counter the abuse of opportunities afforded by European law.
Risk: A New Paradigm to Face Market Challenges
Authors: Loi Piera
Published: March 2017

Over the last two decades the prevailing idea has been that labour market regulation and enterprises' basic need for flexibility can be combined with workers' need for security. The non-conflicting relationship between labour law and market operation implied in the flexicurity agenda has revealed its failure, especially during the economic crisis. We would like to start with some critical theoretical reflections on the flexicurity agenda to suggest a new perspective, offered by the notion of risk, for reconsidering labour law and the EU social agenda. This is based on the observation that many comparative analyses on labour law reforms in Member States following the economic crisis have shown that different categories of workers have been exposed in different ways to the negative effects of the crisis itself, and that the risks produced by the functioning of labour markets, and, indirectly, by the financial market, are borne by some workers and not by others.
Europe's Crisis-Law and the Welfare State
Authors: Giubboni Stefano
Published: March 2017

This article explores the constitutional dimension of the new European crisis-management-law. The author's critical stance is that the new architecture of the European economic governance deepens the well-known asymmetries between supranational market forces and national Welfare State arrangements. A convergent process of de-politicisation and de-legalisation takes place at EU level, with dramatic implications for the viability of the so-called European social model.
‘Protection or Protectionism?’
Authors: Countouris Nicola , Engblom Samuel
Published: March 2017

This article engages critically with an emergent rhetoric suggesting that Member States and trade unions seeking to apply their domestic social standards to foreign service providers, in the context of what EU lawyers refer to as ‘Free movement of Services’, engage in practices amounting to economic protectionism. To countervail this rhetoric, the paper revisits some of the regulatory principles and rationales underpinning the law on ‘Free Movement of Workers’ and draws a number of parallels between them and the principles that regulate, or ought to regulate, other freedoms that de facto involve the free circulation of working persons in Europe, albeit under the guise of ‘Free movement of Services’ or ‘Freedom of Establishment’. It asserts that all market freedoms affecting the free movement rights of working persons in Europe, ought to be regulated by reference to what the paper describes as the ‘Equal treatment Principle’, and should distance themselves from any ‘Country of Origin’ rationale.
Immunity and the Public/Private Boundary in EU Employment Law
Authors: Rodgers Lisa
Published: March 2017

The doctrine of ‘immunity’, whether considered in terms of state immunity (the immunity of the state against claims by embassy employees), or diplomatic immunity (the immunity of diplomatic agents against claims by their own employed staff) acts to block employment law claims and therefore prevent access to justice for certain employment law groups. This article discusses recent developments in the doctrine of immunity in the context of the jurisdictional scope of EU (employment) law. In particular, it considers two recent trends in the development of the immunity doctrine. The first trend is the erosion of the ‘absolute’ nature of state immunity and an increased willingness at both EU and national (UK) levels to consider state immunity as just one factor in the ‘balancing’ exercise associated with human rights. The second trend considered in this article is that associated with diplomatic immunity. Whilst there have been signs of a relaxation of the strict operation of this doctrine in some cases, there is also evidence of a judicial reluctance to erode diplomatic immunity in others. The article discusses the arguments put forward in both (state and diplomatic immunity) cases, and particularly what they reveal about the current understanding of the jurisdictional scope and public/private divide in EU employment law.