Eurofound news. Issue 04, April 2016..
Date: 2016-04-25
Institutions: Eurofound
Subjects: Eurofound, information, serial publication

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 Issue 04 – April 2016

Eurofound

News

The tripartite EU agency providing knowledge to assist in the development of social and work-related policies

Preventing trafficking of labour in Europe
New data on the highly topical issue of preventing trafficking of labour will be presented to MEPs 
at a working lunch in Brussels on 27 April, with the launch of a new report from Eurofound. 

The report seeks to contribute to the development of a best practice guide for public authorities 
on regulating labour market intermediaries (LMI) so as to prevent trafficking and exploitation. 
Mobility and migration in the EU contribute to well-functioning labour markets, resulting in 
greater productivity, competitiveness and growth. LMIs greatly facilitate workers’ mobility; 
however, some LMIs mislead workers about the nature of the job, the employer, its location 
or other conditions. Once recruited, such workers run the risk of exploitation. In the report, 
Eurofound looks in detail at how LMIs are regulated and what social partners can do to tackle 
trafficking and ultimately prevent it. 
The report, Regulation of labour market intermediaries and the role of social partners in 
preventing trafficking of labour, will be made available on Eurofound’s website on 27 April, at  
http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/publications

Looking ahead to the next four-year programme
Eurofound’s Programming Document 2017–2020, adopted by the Agency’s Governing Board, 
will set the template for all of its activities over the next four years.

After a decade of economic turmoil, Europe faces the challenge of boosting competitiveness 
and ensuring sustainable, job-rich growth. The Programming Document will guide Eurofound 
in contributing sound, timely and relevant knowledge to support policymakers in meeting this 
challenge. The Programming Document brings together the Agency’s multiannual plan for 2017–
2020 as well as a detailed annual plan for 2017, along with the information previously contained 
in the draft budget and the multiannual staff policy plan. The Agency’s first Programming 
Document follows the guidelines approved in the Common Approach of the EU institutions. 
New developments in its research activities include: the Agency’s fourth European Quality 
of Life Survey; a new area of investigation into the challenges and potential of the increasing 
digitalisation of work; and a number of projects monitoring convergence in terms of such 
dimensions as employment, social protection, and working conditions. 

findings in figures
€1 billion – the funding to 
be made available by the French 
government for training places for 
unemployed people in 2016. The 
initiative will double the number of 
places to one million. 

€12 million – the total sum of 
fines imposed on Greek employers 
identified as employing undeclared 
workers. Nearly 20% of inspected 
businesses were found to have 
undeclared workers.

600 – the number of nurses and 
midwives in Slovakia who handed 
in their notice in February 2016 in 
protest at a new salary system. 

48,038 – the number of public 
sector employees in Cyprus in 
September 2015, a drop of 1.1%; the 
drop represents a fall in the number 
of permanent employees, offsetting a 
rise in the number of non-permanent 
employees. 

Confederal Secretary of ETUC visits Eurofound

Source: Eurofound’s network of European correspondents

Last month, Montserrat Mir (pictured left), 
Confederal Secretary of the European Trade 
Union Congress (ETUC) visited Eurofound. 
On 2 March, she met with Eurofound’s 
Director Juan Menéndez- Valdés (second 
from left) and senior staff to gain insights 
into the cost of the gender employment gap, 
the gender dimension of working conditions, 
and issues around access to social protection. 
Also pictured  are: Agnés Parent-
Thirion, Senior Programme Manager; 
Barbara Gerstenberger, Coordinator 
Directorate; Massimiliano Mascherini, 
Research Manager; and Cristina Arigho, 
Event Coordinator, Eurofound. 
For more, visit http://bit.ly/MMirVisit

ISSN 2363-3387 CAT. NO. TJ-AI-16-004-EN-N

NEWS IN BRIEF

Publication of the month

Wage boost for low-paid workers in UK and Ireland

A national living wage came into force in the UK on 1 April, meaning that employers are 
now required to pay employees aged 25 and over at least GBP 7.20 (€9.02) an hour. This 
will boost the incomes of roughly 1.7 million low-paid workers. However, the rate is still 
lower than that estimated by the Living Wage Foundation as necessary to cover the basic 
costs of living, which is GBP 8.25 (€10.33). Workers under 25 will continue to receive 
the national minimum wage, which is set at a lower rate. Meanwhile, in Ireland, a rise of 
€0.50 in the national minimum wage came into effect on 1 January this year, raising the 
hourly rate to €9.15 per hour, the first increase since 2007.  
For more details, read the articles in the EurWORK observatory:  
for the UK, visit http://bit.ly/UKLWage; for Ireland, http://bit.ly/IEWageRise  

Annual meeting of Eurofound’s correspondents

A key element of Eurofound’s work is the research conducted at national level by its 
network of European correspondents, operating in all 28 EU Member States and in 
Norway. The work of these correspondents supports Eurofound’s research activities 
– in particular, the work of its observatories: the European Observatory of Working 
Life (EurWORK) and the European Monitoring Centre on Change (EMCC). On 21–22 
April, the correspondents will meet with Eurofound staff at the Agency’s premises in 
Dublin. These annual meetings provide a forum for the exchange of experience, the 
communication of common standards and the setting of priorities for the year ahead. To 
learn more about the work of the correspondents, visit http://bit.ly/AboutEMCC and 
http://bit.ly/AboutEurWork

Evidence-based youth entrepreneurship policies

There is no shortage of start-up support measures for young people in the EU. However, 
a new report from Eurofound warns policymakers that the failure to conduct more 
robust policy impact evaluations carries the risk of delivering ineffective interventions 
and wasting public money. The report, Start-up support for young people in the EU: 
From implementation to evaluation, points to many shortfalls both in policy delivery 
and in the evaluation exercise. This results from the lack of clearly defined objectives 
and quantifiable targets for many start-up support measures, which ultimately hampers 
the evaluation process. In the context of the implementation of the Youth Guarantee and 
the likely increase in public expenditure on start-up support for young people, there is a 
pressing need to design more evidence-based youth entrepreneurship policies. 

Up-to-the-minute picture of restructuring in Europe

http://bit.ly/StartupYouth

Latest from EurWORK 

Bulgaria: Project reports on tools and 
legislative changes to aid settlement of 
labour disputes
http://bit.ly/Bulglabour 

Finland: Changes in legislation lead to 
earlier return to work after prolonged 
sickness absence
http://bit.ly/FinAbs

France: President launches new plan 
to boost employment
http://bit.ly/FranceEmp

Greece: New cooperation agreement 
for the development of human 
resources in technical professions
http://bit.ly/GRHRCoop

Norway: General application of 
collective agreements in the transport 
sector
http://bit.ly/NorTrans

Italy: Streamlining of social safety nets 
in new Jobs Act
http://bit.ly/ITJobsAct

Since 2002, Eurofound’s European Restructuring 
Monitor (ERM) has been monitoring the 
employment impact of large-scale restructuring 
events in Europe; it now covers the 28 EU 
Member States as well as Norway. The ERM 
offers a searchable database of restructuring events 
containing factsheets with data from the principal 
national media in each EU Member State. Updated 
daily, the database has recorded more than 19,700 
restructuring events.

Visit the database at: http://bit.ly/EMCCDB

© 2016 European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, Wyattville Road, Loughlinstown, Dublin D18 KP65, Ireland

Tel: +353-1-204 3100 

fax: +353-1-282 6456 

email: information@eurofound.europa.eu 

web: www.eurofound.europa.eu  

Eurofound News is published 10 times a year and is available free of charge. Any item in this publication may be reproduced without further permission if the source is 
acknowledged. Circulation: 9,000 (print and email).  

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