EIROnlineThe European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO) is a monitoring instrument offering news and analysis on European industrial relations. Its aim is to collect, analyse and disseminate high-quality and up-to-date information on key developments in industrial relations in Europe. It aims primarily to serve the needs of national and European level organisations of the social partners, governmental organisations and EU institutions.Debate on employee participation schemes highlights risks to employees- January 22, 2007 The Christian Democratic Party and its coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, are currently debating useful reform steps that could be taken with regard to employee participation schemes. Against this background, the IW Kln has recently published a paper, highlighting that, in Germany, only 7% of employees held shares in their company in 2005. The social partners emphasise that employees should not be obliged to invest part of their wages in the company they work for, nor should...http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/12/articles/de0612049i.html Employees face pension cuts following rise in legal retirement age- January 11, 2007 On 29 November 2006, the federal government decided to raise the statutory retirement age from the current age of 65 years to 67 years. This increase will be gradually implemented between 2012 and 2029. People with as many as 45 insurance years will still be allowed to retire without any cuts in their pensions at the age of 65 years. Under certain conditions, people will be able to retire after 2029 from the age of 63 years onwards but will then have to face pension cuts. At the same time, the..http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/12/articles/de0612039i.html Extension of shop opening hours sparks intense debate- January 11, 2007 In November 2006, following the example of the city state of Berlin, parliaments in the majority of German federal states (Lnder) passed legislation which effectively repeals most of the restrictions of the federal Shop Closing Hours Act. As a result, it is now possible for shops in many German states to open 24 hours a day from Monday to Saturday. Shop opening on Sundays remains restricted, although some states allow shops to open for up to 10 Sundays a year. While the deregulation of shop...http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/12/articles/de0612019i.html Union calls for more training opportunities for immigrants- January 11, 2007 In November 2006, the Institute for Employment Research published a study on the employment prospects of trainees with an immigrant background. The study stated that the percentage of such trainees as a proportion of all apprentices slowly declined from 12.1% in 1996 to only 7.7% in 2004. In order to reverse this trend, the Confederation of German Trade Unions calls for a common strategy among the social partners to improve the prospects of immigrant youths to enter the labour market.http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/12/articles/de0612059i.html Social partners divided over issue of co-determination at company level- January 4, 2007 On 8 November 2006, the Cologne Institute for Economic Research published its findings on the effectiveness of co-determination at company board level. While the Confederation of German Employers Associations contends that the legal regulations surrounding co-determination should be liberalised, the Confederation of German Trade Unions argues that co-determination is a cornerstone of the German model of the social market economy.http://www.eiro.eurofound.eu.int/2006/11/articles/de0611039i.html |