1. Work-life Balance 21 February 2018
Voice of crafts and SMEs in Europe

2. UEAPME, Voice of Crafts and SMEs
42 National cross- sectoral associations
21 European sectoral organisations
29 countries
12 mio SMEs & 55 mio employees

3. SMEs in Europe 99% of European companies
Micro- and Small Enterprises: 92% out of the 99%
Average EU company: 4,5 people

4. Work-life balance UEAPME’s main objectives:
Facilitate participation on and return to the labour market of women (current 65% shows a great potential)
Modernisation: need for flexibility by both employers and workers
Facilitate a real choice for parents – encourage better sharing entitlements/responsibilities

5. Work-life balance UEAPME solutions (1): (Child)care infrastructure
Smart interaction at national level between different forms of leave
Encouraging enough to share entitlements
No incentives to stay away from the labour market
Enabling the management of work organisation in small businesses

6. Work-life balance UEAPME solutions (2):
Tackling gender-based stereotypes from early education on-wards (VET!), families, society
Fiscal incentives

7. Work-life balance Employer and workers working closely together
The scenario for micro- and small companies in Europe
Employer and workers working closely together
Arrangements at company level is the best approach
Every worker counts!

8. Work-life balance
The scenario for micro- and small companies in Europe
The general implications of leaves:
Necessary flexibility for all
HR constraints:
Unique skills are difficult to replace – loss of competitive edge
Overtime for remaining employees, including the employer (work-life balance?)
Financial cost, depending on financing modalities
Administrative burden, work organisation/planning

9. UEAPME and the EC proposal
Recital 30:
“This Directive should avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings. Member States are therefore invited to assess the impact of their transposition act on SMEs in order to make sure that SMEs are not disproportionately affected, with specific attention for micro-enterprises and for administrative burden.”

10. UEAPME and the EC proposal
Focus:
Parental leave
Flexible working arrangements
‘Adequate income’
 the importance of ‘workable’ solutions at the workplace

11. Parental leave Interaction of leaves
The implications for micro- and small companies:
The payment of the person on leave (depending on system)
The difficulty of finding a replacement
The cost of replacement
The work planning and organisation
Processing the requests
The inevitable side affect: added workload, payment of overtime
Shortages in many sectors

12. Parental leave (2) The implication for the work organisation
The age limit of the child

13. Adequate income
Payment adapted to the national context, taking into account interaction between existing leaves
At EU level: proportionate minimum standards
Payment: impact on (small businesses) and collective agreements

14. Flexible Working Arrangements
Flexibility is best achieved through voluntary, practical arrangements, based on the interest of employers and workers, and feasible for the work organisation of the business

15. Flexible Working Arrangements
The age limit of the child: 12  8
The implication for the work organisation
Allow for a degree of flexibility and predictability
Reasonable notice periods
No disproportionate burden on the good functioning of the business

16. Thank you for your attention
Arnold de Boer
Adviser for Social Affairs |