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7.4 Checklist for cross border learning

• Are European Works Councils monitoring and anticipating organisational change at European level and bringing their expertise to restructuring issues at the national level?

• Have the employer and employee federations been utilised to facilitate the dissemination of good practices undertaken in organisational changes in other companies?

• Have the possibilities of cross border learning been explored at the organisational level, either within HR or trade union functions?

Appendix 1

 In-depth case study of restructuring
at Vattenfall

Introduction

Vattenfall was originally established by the Swedish government in the early 20th century as a civil service department charged with the development of hydropower. It used to be the dominant employer in many communities across Sweden, especially in less populated areas. This position led to Vattenfall adopting a socially responsible approach to its employees and their communities, and the company had become renowned for providing `jobs for life`. However, in preparation for deregulation, the company was transformed from a civil service department into the state-owned company Vattenfall AB, a change that inevitably impacted upon the company’s employment and human resources policies.

Deregulation

Although deregulation of the electricity sector in Sweden occurred in 1996, anticipatory changes began in 1992 followed by the establishment of the common trading exchange Nord Pool in 1993. The early market opening of the sector was driven by the government’s belief that it would reduce business and domestic prices, and the wish to be at the forefront of the expected European directives regarding deregulation in the sector. Deregulation has unsurprisingly affected market structure. In terms of production, the number of companies has decreased by 15-20% since deregulation, due to takeovers by the three largest companies, Fortum, Sydkraft (now E.ON Sweden) and Vattenfall AB, who accounted for 86% of Sweden’s total production in 2004. Similarly, most regional transmission networks are owned by these three companies, and they also are now the main players in trading and the end-user market.

The impact of deregulation on employment

Since 1996 there has been a net decrease of some 30% in jobs in the sector, mainly due to the impact of deregulation and the related desire of companies wishing to operate at a higher risk level. Vattenfall has reported that the most negative impact of restructuring has effected those in the elementary occupations, maintenance staff, mechanics, administrators, supervisors and middle managers whilst new jobs have been created in sales, business development, product development, IT, trading, project management and some technical areas. Reflecting these occupational changes in the deregulated market, there has been an overall increase in the education and skill levels of employees. However, the sector is facing skills shortages in some technical occupations, such as electricians, due to previous job losses and older age profiles. In addition, the trade union SEKO has noted that company-based training has also decreased as the larger companies have closed their in-house training facilities. Again reflecting recent changes, there has been an overall increase in the proportion of female workers in the sector, especially in the trading, legal and customer service areas. In terms of the age profile of the sector, there has been a relative increase in employees who are over 45, with a smaller increase in those under 25, with the former in mainly technical areas and the latter in mainly sales and customer service areas. 

Responses to restructuring at Vattenfall

With the creation of Vattenfall AB, the management felt that there needed to be a reduction in the workforce of 1,200 workers (out of some 10,000) for the company to be competitive in the opening market. Prior to 1992, job losses were virtually unheard of at Vattenfall, and where there were losses, associated with the end of power station construction in the 1980s, they were managed through freezing recruitment and not replacing retiring employees.

To manage these changes, the company established an `expert group`, who in close consultation with the trade unions, designed approaches for the reorganisation. At the core of these were the socially responsible principles of the avoidance of redundancies at all costs and workforce reduction decisions made in close cooperation with the trade unions. The approaches included support programs for those affected by redundancies, compensation for employment outside of Vattenfall, subsidies for starting up businesses, relocation expenses and regulations, early retirement and training support. In addition, an incentive campaign was started that rewarded employees who helped those facing redundancy find work outside the company. These approaches were `packaged` in to a program format to emphasis their positive nature.

After introducing the program to senior managers an extensive information campaign began that informed union representatives and employees about its content. This in turn was followed by the introduction of a training program for HM managers, middle managers and unions representatives focussing upon how to manage change in a positive way.

Although the program was relatively well received, the possibility of redundancies were not, especially in the north of the country. It was criticised in terms of those who were making decisions upon redundancies were uninformed about the locations and business units where they would apply. Even so, negotiations with the unions at the national level resulted in the agreed redundancies of 1,200, with some 1,060 local positions being identified.

The initial actions taken by Vattenfall AB was to sell or outsource non-core activities whilst reorganising the management structure of the company so that individual business units became more responsive to the dynamics of an open market. Whilst two thirds of the employees who were affected by restructuring were taken through the program, some 340 workers were dismissed involuntarily, following current employment legislation and the principal of `last in, first out`. To assist this latter group 17 `developmental centres` were established to provide training and to help with finding new employment. The centres were seen as successful in so far as only a few former employees were unemployed at the end of their participation in them. 

The initial loss of over a thousand posts produced an unbalanced age structure in the company, which responded by offering early retirement packages to those over 55 who had worked for the company for more than twenty years. However, more serious was the effect of the involuntary redundancies on internal employee mobility, with workers unwilling to risk transferring to other positions within the `last in, first out` culture. In response, the company established a Competence Centre that acted both a source for internal vacancies and a training provider to facilitate internal movement. However, this was not considered to particularly successful in addressing the issues involved.

With formal deregulation in 1996, Vattenfall AB announced the need for a further decrease in 1000 posts as well as the creation of 100 new posts in new business units. These changes led the company to introduce the Skill Swop project. At an investment cost of SKR 830 million, and modelled on a similar project introduced by the Swedish telecoms company Telia, its aim was to enable the transfer of 1000 workers to other areas of the company. Skill Swop included individual support for competence and personal development, CV writing, apprenticeship programs in different business units, training in new areas resulting from market opening (project management, language skills, IT skills) and full time support in finding work outside the company. Managers were also provided with cash incentives to recruit workers form within. In all, 797 workers were assisted in finding new employment between 1997 and 2001, and Skill Swop was determined to have been a success.

From 1997, two further programs were introduced: Steget and Stödet. Steget (the step) was an internal intermediate support organisation whose founding was negotiated through the unions and whose purpose was to facilitate redundant staff in finding employment inside or outside the company. The beneficiaries were removed form their normal business unit and placed in Steget were they `worked` full time to find alternative work, supported by careers and other advisors. The target of Steget was to handle the redundancies of 370 workers at an investment cost of SKR 350 million. Steget differed from previous programs in that it introduced an incentive scheme for voluntary redundancies (being offered the same benefits as those who had faced involuntary redundancy) as well as incentives to successfully leave the program by actually finding other work. Steget centres, which were established in 5 different regions in Sweden, initially assessed the individual’s skill, qualities, goals and aspirations. With the assistance of a tutor, the individual mapped out a personal development plan that could include training for a new profession or trade, entering higher education or training for self-employment or outplacements. In addition, assistance was given in securing work within Vattenfall AB, including a bi-monthly intranet-based job journal and the posting of all new jobs in the company in a `redundancy pool` that potentially matched Steget participants with such posts. Steget also temporarily paid any differences in the salaries of those finding work outside the company. Between 1998 and 2001, Steget managed 445 individuals at a cost of SKR 205 million, and achieved a resolution rate of 87%, with most finding work outside Vattenfall AB. At the core of Steget was the principal that participant would act as exemplars of the good HR practices of the company.

Following the end of the Steget and its evaluation, a further program of managed change was introduced. Stödet (back-up) was in essence a mainstreamed and permanent version of Steget units, albeit on a smaller scale. Stödet as such was also seen as a response to the realities of continuous restructuring. The main difference to previous support measures was that Stödet relied upon an external organisation, Trygghetsrädet (TTR). TTR was founded by social partners form different sectors in 1974 to manage change and to supplement the various education and training schemes of the Swedish government. With 32,000 affiliated companies, managing some 700,000 workers, TTR is financed through individual company contributions. For companies and union representatives, TTR offers help to organisations preparing for change, especially in terms of redundancies, as well as advice on the recruitment of new staff. For individual workers, TTR offers a named personal advisor who assists in job searches and techniques, training, preparation for self-employment, and accessing financial support for development programs. TTR also acts as a recruitment service and assists in finding new employment. Some 70 individuals who were affected by the ongoing restructuring process at Vattenfall were sent through Stödet to TTR and managed through this outsourced organisation at a much lower cost per worker than Steget.

Whilst Vattenfall has developed and used various processes to manage employment changes, these have not been suitable for every individual. In these cases such individuals are managed through the Vattenfall Nordic Instruction VNI 20, which is the latest instruction for this purpose. Over the years Vattenfall have had a very close and positive cooperation with the local trade-unions, trough negotiations and discussions, designing appropriate means in order to find acceptable solutions.  VNI 20 sets out the conditions for redeployment, educational support, outplacements, new business creation, supplementary salary levels, early retirement incentives, voluntary redundancy payments and relocation costs.

With regard to the effects of early retirement options, these have proved to be both expensive for the company and a source of concern about the potential loss of skills and experience. To address this Vattenfall AB has introduced various schemes to encourage their senior workforce to remain with the company. These include the option for those over 58 to work 80% FTE for 90% of their wages without loosing pension contributions, the Senior Resource Pool that facilitates older workers who are faced with redundancy finding alternative posts in the company, and their retention within a mentoring program to facilitate skills transfer to younger workers.

Overall, the continuous management of change at Vattenfall AB has been helped by the company’s ability and willingness to anticipate changes and react to them quickly. This has been achieved by a systematic and continuous forecasting and identification of skill gaps in each business unit, a close and ongoing social dialogue, and a continuous monitoring of the process by a `restructuring reference group` comprising of HR management and representatives from the four main unions (SEKO, UNIONEN, LEDARNA and AKADENIKERNA). The reference group meets four times a year and acts now as an informal board for Stödet, providing an open space for the discussion of sensitive information outside of the more formal meeting between the employers and the union representative which are regulated by standing collective agreements.

Appendix 2

 In-depth case study of restructuring at EDF SA/Energy

Electricité de France (EDF) became a limited company in 2004, with the French state retaining a 70% holding in the company. It remains the dominant electricity company in France, having a monopoly of transmission and distribution, a 90% share of production, and the largest share in other sub-sectors. It has also been active in acquiring foreign companies, such as London Electricity and SEEBOARD (EDF Energy, see below).

The impact of deregulation on employment

Even before the full deregulation of the French market between 2004 (business) and 2007 (domestic), the EDF workforce has seen a steady decreases from around 116,000 in 1996 to around 108,000 in 2006, with a slight increase seen in 2000 with the adoption of the 35-hour working week. Within this 9% decrease, most losses have been seen the area of distribution. Within the sector in general in between the mid 1990s and 2003-4, the dominant occupations have remained in sales and customer service, and in the professional and technical areas. The elementary occupations, administrative and secretarial occupations have seen a steady decline. In terms of the educational profile of the workforce, there has been a decrease in low and medium level educational attainment with a corresponding increase in worker with a higher educational background. The gender profile of the sector has remained relatively stable with three quarters of workers men and a quarter of worker women, although there is an emerging trend suggesting an increase in male workers. In general, the age of workers in the sector is increasing. The relatively slow changes in the overall employment profile in the sector reflects it’s late entry into the open market and is driven by other forces in addition to deregulation. For example, with the opening of the domestic market in 2007, it is expected that some 8,000 employees at EDF will be redeployed from distribution into sales.

Responses to restructuring at EDF

The overall response of EDF to restructuring has been to manage staff competencies to cover anticipated occupational changes rather than resort to redundancies. This has been helped by the timing of deregulation in France and the high numbers of EDF employees who are approaching retirement age. It is anticipated that EDF will in the future require lower staffing numbers, with those remaining needing higher competencies and qualifications.

Between 2001 and 2006 EDF in France had cut its employees by some 8,000, and this has been achieved though early retirement, end of career extended leave (conge fin carriere) where staff can take up to three years leave on 70% of their salary, and redeployment. Redeployment from low value added areas, such as assistants, and declining departments, such building maintenance, has effected some 6,000 employees, most of whom have moved to higher added value areas, such as sales and technicians in the network and production sub-sectors.

The redeployment programme includes evaluating present and anticipated skills needs, providing relevant training programs for existing employees to meet these needs, the creation of `regional directorates for employment` in EDF throughout France, encouraging mobility through financial incentives, and establishing a `central advisory unit` (Cellule de Conseil) to assist staff who do not whish to be redeployed within EDF to find work outside the company.

All business units in EDF monitor projected staffing needs, both in terms of areas that are in decline and those that are expected to increase in importance. The monitoring process is guided by the age demographic of employees, the changing occupational roles, with many more staff needing to be responsive to client driven situations, and wider the wider technological and management changes that are needed in an evolving sector. These parameters are used to continuously evaluate staffing projections at 3 and 5 years by the HR unit in EDF. In addition to these measures, cost reductions are also evaluated, especially in non-core business areas. The projections suggest that staffing needs in sales and customer relations, finance, generation (especially hydro and nuclear), trading and energy transport and distribution will increase whilst central administrative functions, facility management and HR will decrease. In response to these projections, training programs have been developed that assist existing employees to gain the necessary skills and consists of 10 main courses that cover 80% of redeployment needs.

Whilst attaining the necessary skills for redeployment, there is also the issue of convincing existing staff of the desirability to geographically relocating as the needs of the business dictate. In 2005 EDF established 8 regional directorates, reflecting the major labour markets in France (basins d’emploi) that acted as Observatories that oversaw the HR needs and resources in each area. Each directorate was responsible for organising employment in terms of maximising employee mobility within each region. In support of these mechanisms, EDF offered a graduated financial incentive, ranging from small financial assistance for those who had to travel only a short distance more to a new position to substantial financial assistance for those moving region, especial were the new position was one that was in great demand. In addition, the company also offers assistance in finding accommodation as well as helping to find work for spouses. The range of financial assistance is managed centrally and has been the result of negotiations between the social partners.

The last response to restructuring at EDF was the forming of the Central Advisory Unit. The unit, staffed by three people in Paris, assist employees who do not wish to redeploy through helping them find work elsewhere or staring their own businesses. In the latter case, EDF also offers a degree of seed capital.

Consultation: EDF Energy

With the prospective opening up of the energy markets in Europe, many national utilities such as EDF were looking to establish themselves as multinational players. Starting in 1998, EDF acquired London Electricity, the retail division of SWEB, multi-sited power generation capacity, and lastly, in 2002, SEEBOARD. Most of these acquisitions were purchased from US power companies who had bought these following the privatization of the sector in the UK in 1990. With these changes, and the establishment of the subsidiary company in the UK, EDF Energy, came different approaches to industrial relations with positive outcomes such the introduction of a final salary pension scheme, the adoption of a policy of not off shoring or outsourcing call centres, union recognition in certain call centre sites, and the setting up of national works councils, changes that were facilitated by the growing links between UK and French unions and the influence of the European Work Council (EWC). 

Whilst final pension schemes and off shoring/outsourcing policies reflect the culture of EDF in terms of commitment to staff and the importance of service provision, the other changes noted arose out of EDF’s acceptance of the role of social dialogue in the company.

In 1995 the still independent London Electricity decided to relocate it’s call centre operations from London, and it took the opportunity at this time to end union recognition (UNISON) among it’s call centre staff. Although the union campaigned for re-recognition, even with EDF’s acquisition of the company in 1998 there was no immediate progress. Between 2000 and 2001 the union became involved in discussions concerning the setting up of an EWC whilst at the same time establishing links with the largest French union in EDF (CGT). Through these interventions, union recognition in the call centres was raised at EDF Group level. Indeed, the CGT stressed to EDF that it was unacceptable for the company not to recognise trade unions within the group, and consequently, UNISON was recognised in 2002.

French industrial relations have long provided for the setting up of works councils at both local and national levels that have a clear set of rights concerning negotiation and consultation. Whilst new European regulations in the UK concerning such councils require them to be established, EDF went ahead and established a national work council for EDF Energy as part of its industrial relations strategy. The council, which convenes three times a year, gives union representatives the opportunity to address a wide range of issues including company performance, finances and organisation. EDF Energy went further than this by establishing a further combined body that meets once a month and offers mutual updates on progress within the company.      

During the acquisition of SEEBOARD by EDF the EWC held a special meeting to discuss not only how the merger would be handled and the 1,000 jobs that would be affected, but also what the effect would be on the EDF Groups as a whole, especially in terms of threats to jobs in the rest of the company. Whilst the EWC provided a forum for information exchange, which in itself assisted the negotiating teams in establishing the conditions of the takeover, it also proved to be beneficial in terms of moderating the UK management positions and practices on staffing and restructuring. In short, through the involvement of the EWC, a non-compulsory redundancy agreement was reached whereby 1,000 job cuts were achieved through relocation, redeployment and voluntary severances, and perhaps more importantly for EDF Energy, there was a shift towards more positive social dialogue practices as the UK subsidiary management practices became more aligned with it’s French parent company’s practices.   

Appendix 3

 Glossary

Atypical employment

Usually referring to employment arrangements that are either casual, temporary or agency work based. 

Business Europe

Confederation of European Business

CEEP

The European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and Enterprises of General Economic Interest

CGT

General Confederation of Labour (France)

Deregulation

The undertaking of governments to remove, reduce or simplify restrictions on businesses leading to an increase in market efficiency.

European Directive

European Union legislation that requires member state to achieve an specified outcome in a way that is appropriate to each member state, often requiring member states to change their national laws within an agreed time frame so that they comply with the directives.

Elementary occupation

Occupations that traditionally are low or semi skilled and low paid

EMCEF

European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation

EPSU

European Federation of Public Service Unions

ETUC

European Trade Union Confederation

EURELECTRIC

The Union of the Electricity Industry: The professional association that represents the common interests of the electricity industry across Europe, such as market liberalisation, sectoral integration and sustainable development within the sector

EWC

European Works Councils: Works Councils that operate at the European level, consulting and informing employees and representing them in transnational companies.

Liberalisation

See deregulation.

Labour pool

An arrangement, often between SMEs, for sharing labour between their business operations.

Lifelong learning

The idea that workers are equipped with the skills and knowledge that will maintain their employability through their lives.

Low Carbon Economy

An economy that is maintained and driven by the production of energy and materials that minimises the emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide. This has direct implications for the electricity sector in terms of fossil fuel use, nuclear power and renewable energy, carbon capture and storage etc.

Merger and acquisition

The buying, selling and/or combining of different companies that promoted the growth of a company without having to create new business units.

MIRE

Monitoring Innovative Restructuring in Europe: European Union project designed to understand and resolve problems arising form restructuring in several different sectors.

Off shoring

The relocation of certain service and production business operations to an overseas country driven by the benefits of reducing the costs incurred by such operations in the original country in a globalised labour market.

Outsourcing

The transfer of management and/or labour of a business unit to an external service provider that entails a reductions of costs for the parent business.

Permanent restructuring

The notion that restructuring of business operations are ongoing processes and normal to every business activity, rather than a response to specific shifts in the market within which the business works.

Privatisation

The transfer of ownership of a business operation and/or function from the public sector (i.e. government) to the private sector (i.e. business).

Psychosocial

The interaction between an individual’s psychological state and the social environment within which they positioned

Redeployment

The relocation of staff and/or services to other existing business units within a company

Restructuring

The reorganisation of business operations driven by mergers and acquisitions, deregulation and privatisation, regulatory frameworks, outsourcing and off shoring, technological change and/or market structure change, often resulting in a reduction in employee numbers

Silent Restructuring

The local and often less well publicised effects on small and medium sized enterprises of restructuring within major players in the sector.

Skills flight

The idea that through generational change, redundancies effecting experienced workers and or redeployments that their skills and knowledge are lost to the business where they are most appropriate. 

SMEs

Small and Medium sized Enterprises that within the European Union have less than 50 (Small) or less than 250 (Medium) employees. 

Social dialogue

The process of communication between the social partners that is directed towards the cooperative development of agreed work related issues.

Socially Responsible Restructuring

Whilst restructuring may be seen in terms of short-term shareholder gain, socially responsible restructuring focuses on the long-term stakeholder gain. This involves anticipating and evaluating change, seeking alternatives to involuntary redundancies and the involvement of the social partners in the restructuring process.

Social partners

Trade unions and employers, and/or their respective federations that are involved in social dialogue

Supply chain

The organisation of business activities that enables a product or service to be transported from a supplier to a customer, e.g. electricity in fossil fuel extraction to energy production, to distribution to sales to domestic customer.

TRACE

Trade Unions Anticipating Change: Trade Union sponsored project to address economic change in Europe and the effects of restructuring on workers

TUPE

The Transfer of Undertakings (protection of employment) Regulations were introduced in the UK, in line with European Union Directives concerning the protection of workers pay and conditions if they were transferred to another employee, e.g. during the outsourcing or work.

UEAPME

European Association of Craft, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises

UNISON

Public service trade union (UK). 

Works councils

Company-level organisations representing workers that complement trade unions

Appendix 4

Contacts and sources of further information

Organisations with an interest in the European electricity industry and others named within the report are named below with contact details for further information.

TRADE UNION FEDERATIONS

ETUC European Unions Federations / Fédérations Syndicales Européennes (www.etuc.org)

EAEA Alliance européenne des médias et du spectaclewww.union-network.org

EUROCOP Confédération européenne de la policewww.eurocop-police.org

EFBWW/FETBB Fédération européenne des travailleurs

du bois et du bâtimentwww.efbww.org

EFFAT Fédération européenne des syndicats de

l’alimentation, de l’agriculture et du tourismewww.effat.org

EFJ/FEJ Fédération européenne des journalisteswww.ifj.org

EMCEF Fédération européenne des syndicats des

mines, de la chimie et de l’énergiewww.emcef.org

EMF/FEM Fédération européenne des métallurgisteswww.emf-fem.org

EPSU Fédération européenne des services publicswww.epsu.org

ETF Fédération européenne des travailleurs des

Transportswww.itfglobal.org

ETUCE/CSEE Comité syndical européen de l’éducationwww.csee-etuce.org

ETUF-TCL/FSE-THC fédération européenne du

Textile, de l’habillement et du cuirwww.etuf-tcl.org

UNI-EUROPA Fédération des services et des

Communicationswww.uni-europa.org       

EMPLOYER FEDERATIONS

Employers

CEZ (Czech Republic)www.cez.cz

ESB (Estonia)www.energiaaudit.ee

Total (France)www.total.com

Suez (France)www.suez.com

EDF (France)www.edf.com

Rhodia (France)www.rhodia.com

E.on (Germany)www.eonenergy.com

RWE (Germany)www.rwe.com

Enel (Italy)www.enel.com

Elektrownia Laziska (Poland)www.ellaz.pl

Electrica (Romania)www.electrica.ro

Vattenfall (Sweden)www.vattenfall.com

BT (UK)www.btplc.com

British Gas (UK)www.britishgas.com

Centrica (UK)www.centrica.co.uk

National Grid (UK)www.nationalgrid.com

European Observatories

Industrial Relationswww.eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/

Working Conditionswww.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/

EU Employment Observatorywww.eu-employment-observatory.net

French Public Service Observatorywww.fonction-publique.gouv.fr

Others

European Social Fundwww.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/esf

EQUALwww.ec.europa.eu/employment_social/equal/index_en.cfm

Further Information

Link to Joint Texts: http://www.epsu.org/r/317

Links to International Framework Agreements:

EDF: http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/pubdocs/2007/921/en/1/ef07921en.pdf

SUEZ: http://eurofound.europa.eu/eiro/2007/09/articles/EUO0709049I.htm

Suez on Equality and diversity:

http://www.archives-suez.com/document/?f-presse/en/DP_women_SUEZ_en_28092007.pdf

ECOTEC 2001 Report: http://www.ec.europa.en/energy/electricity/publications/doc/ecotecfinalreport.pdf

ECOTEC 2007 Report: http://www.epsu.org/a/2939

Appendix 5

Core Checklist for Restructuring

Core Checklist for Restructuring

This section can act as a quick reference point for readers to generally review their current experiences and procedures.  Readers are reminded that this checklist is a general, abridged list and will only be of real assistance if they have read the more detailed analysis along with the comprehensive checklists at the end of each chapter within this toolkit.

• Are all managers aware of existing legal provisions concerning consultation between employers and employee representatives regarding restructuring and are there provisions and mechanisms for employee representation at all levels of the organisation over restructuring?

• Have managers been trained to put them in a better position to anticipate change?

• Is the process of selection for redeployment, retraining or redundancy selection seen to be consistent, fair and equitable?

• Are the origins of the main drives for organisational change clearly articulated and commonly understood by the social partners, e.g. privatization, liberalisation, technological change, mergers and takeovers etc.?

• Has the process of social dialogue over restructuring been planned and agreed between the partners prior to discussion, including its evaluation?

• Are there established structures for social dialogue at different levels of the organisation, e.g. European Works Councils, national works councils, company economic committee etc and are these appropriate for consultation over restructuring ?

• Are European Works Councils monitoring and anticipating organisational change at European level and bringing their expertise to restructuring issues at the national level?

• Have the employer and employee federations been utilised to facilitate the dissemination of good practices undertaken in organisational changes in other companies?

• Is there dialogue over future skills requirements, retraining and redeployment in the light of these and does the company have a long term skills strategy?

• Have the appropriate employer representatives been trained to deal with the restructuring process and has any joint training between the social partners been undertaken?

• Do the employers and employee representatives have agreed information and/or discussion rights concerning expected or proposed organisational change?

• Are there provisions within these rights concerning the timing of the exchange of information between the social partners and do employee representatives have time for adequate preparation and to consult with their constituencies?

• Have the social partners referred to International Framework Agreements or previously agreed joint texts in their discussions on how to approach organisational change?

• Have the social partners established or referred to Employment Observatories that can provide information on employment trends, demographics and/or HR needs within the sector?

• Are there third parties that could be involved in the process, particularly European, national and/or regional initiatives in place that would assist organisational change in your locality, e.g. European Social Fund, funded regeneration programs or education initiatives?

• Where public authorities have a potential impact on organisational change, are they seeking the same outcomes as the social partners?

• Have the trade unions had the opportunity to suggest alternatives to restructuring or redundancies and have the partners considered how to mitigate the negative impacts of restructuring?

• Is there a long-term redeployment programme which facilitates the movement of employees from jobs which will become obsolete to areas where there will be demand for skills and is there a mechanism in place to monitor and facilitate such possibilities?

• Have the social partners considered the potential issue of retaining older workers including i.e. the benefits of retaining older workers, the implications of European and national age discrimination legislation, promotion of life-long learning?

• Are there mechanisms to monitor and evaluate retraining programs?

• Have the potential effects of organisational change, such as intensification of work, been considered by the social partners in relation to the health of the remaining workforce and the effect of redundancy on those departing?

• Have companies’ occupational health services been involved in the process of organisational change?

• Do the trade unions involved in organisational change provide advice and/or practical support on health-related issues?

• Have the social partners considered mechanisms for employees to monitor their own health status, and if so, is the resulting information available to those who are making strategic decision concerning organisational change?