No equal access to democracy at work The collective representation of employees is a corner stone of democracy at work. Where workers’ voice is expressed collectively, the range of their interests can be more effectively aggregated, balanced, and defended. Furthermore, collective forms of... Find out more

A gender-inclusive democracy ahead Persistent gender inequality in corporate decision-making and society at large (ETUC and ETUI 2018: 77) is also reflected in women’s limited access to leadership and representative positions in democratic workplace institutions. Despite unions’ efforts to secure... Find out more

Squaring a circle? In many countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), democracy at work involves mandatory employee representation in company boards, with a right for worker representatives to vote about top-level strategic matters. The democratic potential of board-level employee representation... Find out more

One step forward, two steps back for democracy at work in the Company Law Package Research conducted at the University of Maastricht for theETUI indicates that cross-border corporate reorganisationsare becoming increasingly widespread, despite the lackof an EU legal framework for cross-border... Find out more

Democracy at work ensures occupational health and safety protection For the past three decades, workers in the EU have held wide ranging rights to information and consultation on health and safety issues; indeed, since the adoption of the Community Charter of Fundamental Social Rights for Workers in... Find out more

Who knocked Principle 8 out of the Pillar? The announcement of the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR) seemed to herald a way out of the impasse which had stalled European social policy for the past decade (see Chapter 2). It has been more than a year since the EPSR was proclaimed, and many new... Find out more

Democracy at work, pay and working life Quality jobs have been identified as a policy priority for the European Union on several occasions. The goal is not only about getting people into employment; these jobs should also be feasible and safe, they should increase the competences of the employee... Find out more

Democracy at work: moreproductive employees, a higherlabour force participation rate andmore innovative companies A typical criticism of democracy at work is that, according to economic theory, it is by definition inefficient. According to this line of thinking, workers will use any power they have... Find out more

Democracy at work makes companies more sustainable When workers are represented on a company’s board, their company is generally more sustainable vis-à-vis workers, the environment, and society as a whole (Vitols and Kluge 2011). Companies with board-level employee representation (BLER) score better... Find out more

Greater worker involvement at the workplace means more equal societies The 2018 World Inequality Report found that in ‘recent decades, income inequality has increased in nearly all countries, but at different speeds, suggesting that institutions and policies matter in shaping inequality’ (Alvaredo... Find out more