Quality in work Dimensions and indicators in the EES

Bakground Lisbon and Nice Councils: key priority for EES Stockholm Summit (March 2001): list of criteria for quality in work COM(2001)313: "Employment and social policies: a framework for investing in quality" EMCO indicators list: Laeken (Nov 2001) COM(2003)728:" Improving quality in work: a review of recent progress"

Central issue in employment and social policies Quality in work: guiding principle of Social policy agenda One of the three overarching objectives in the Employment Guidelines

The 10 dimensions and main indicators agreed in Intrinsic job quality Ind.: Transitions between non-employment and within employment 2. 2.Skills, lifelong learning and career development. Ind.: % of working age population participating in education and training 3.Gender equality Ind: Ratio of women's hourly earnings index to men's for paid employees at work 15+ hours

The 10 dimensions : continued 4. Health and safety at work Ind: Evolution of the incident rate (number of accidents at work per persons in employment 5. Flexibility and security Ind: % of employes working part-time and those with fixed-term contracts 6. Inclusion and access to the labour market Ind.: Transitions between employment, unemployment and inactivity

The 10 dimensions : continued 7.Work organisation and work-life balance Ind.: Absolute difference in employment rates without the presence of any children and with the presence of a child aged 0-6, by sex. 8. Social dialogue and worker involvement (no agreed indicator so far)

The 10 dimensions:continued 9. Diversity and non-discrimination Only context indicators: employment and/or unemployments gaps of old, immigrants, disabled people 10. Overal work performance Ind.: Growth in labour productivity, measured as chage in the levels of GDP per capita of the employed population and per hour worked (in %) Ind.: Growth in labour productivity, measured as chage in the levels of GDP per capita of the employed population and per hour worked (in %)

Employment growth ↔ quality in work. Sustainable employment growth needs: better balance between flexibility and security; real opportunities for upwards mobility for low quality jobs; improved upwards quality dynamics for more employment; stability and employability.

Productivity ↔ quality in work. Higher productivity comes from : better work organisation; improved working conditions; better quality investment in human capital; more efficient and effective training.

Major differences between Member States : →Some perform well under most quality indicators: Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Austria. →Some others display consistently less favorable performance: Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. →The rest are mixed: Belgium, France, Germany, Finland, Luxemburg, UK and Ireland.

Best quality performers (DK, NL, SE, AT) : highest employment rates; high share of permanent contracts; high collective agreement coverage; above average GDP per hour worked.

Less favourable performers (IT, EL, ES, PT) : lowest self registered job satisfaction; high share of fixed term contracts; low participation of adults in education/training; least good gender unemployment gaps. But: average (EL and ES) above average (PT) older workers employment rates; good performance unemployed to employed (PT); reasonable accident statistics (EL).

Overall assessment. Progress, if uneven, is evident in : - education and skills - employment gender gaps - transitions from unemployment to employment - flexibility and share of part-time contracts

Overall assestment There is scope for considerable improvement in : - employment rate for older workers - gender pay gaps - reducing segmentation in the labour market - better work-life balance - integration of immigrants and disabled people - health and safety at work

Overall assestment More determined policy action is needed: - in reinforcing prevention and activation policies - in reducing unemployment and poverty Social partners must have strong involvement and commitment.....