22.10.2021
MORE PAID LEAVE AFTER A COLLECTIVE AGREEMENT
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to important changes in the regulation of working time in the EU with the emergence of greater flexibility in short-term working time schemes; the adaptation of working hours to teleworking; and temporary derogations from the working time regulations, in particular to ensure the continuity of basic services. These are the findings of the new Eurofound report.
Despite economic constraints, which significantly reduce working time in a number of sectors, general trends do not fully reflect this due to the polarization of working time in different sectors; as some workers are left with little work due to constraints, while others face burnout due to long working hours and difficult requirements.
The report shows that in 2020, the average collectively agreed working week in the EU was 37.8 hours - the longest in Malta, Greece and Croatia (40 hours) and the shortest in France and Germany (35.6 hours). At the sectoral level, the collectively agreed normal working week was the shortest in public administration (38 hours) and the longest in transport (39.2 hours).
Despite the fundamental changes that COVID-19 has brought to the labor market and the associated pressures on individual sectors, data on the total normal weekly working hours of full-time employees continue to decline at almost consistent rates in most Member States, varying from a decrease of 0.1 hours in Slovenia to 0.3 hours in Austria, Ireland, Portugal and Spain.
In Denmark, Estonia, France, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands, the usual weekly hours in 2020 remain the same as in 2019. Data also show that the difference between Member States that joined before 2004 (EU-14) and those that joined after 2004 (EU-13) remain stable by about 1 hour less than in 2011.
However, collective agreements lead to changes in the annual working time between Member States. Full-time workers in the EU-27, but with a collective agreement, had to work an average of 1,703 hours in 2020, with fewer hours (1,665 hours) in the EU-14 and more in the EU-13 (1,809 hours).
Hungary and Poland, where collective bargaining does not have a relevant role in regulating working time, have the longest annual working hours, which is almost seven weeks more than their counterparts in Germany, which have the shortest collectively agreed annual working hours.
Collective bargaining leads to longer paid annual leave for employees, the report also shows. In Bulgaria, collective agreements may provide for a longer annual leave than the minimum 20 days set by law. According to the National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration (NIPA), in 2019 collective agreements provided workers with 24 days of paid annual leave on an arithmetic average.
In Cyprus, in most sectors and companies, collective agreements provide for additional paid leave in proportion to years of employment. In Romania, collective agreements usually provide for a longer annual paid leave than the 20 statutory days.
Depending on the length of service of the employee, the leave can be up to 30 days. In Greece, the length of annual paid leave also depends on length of service. In the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy and Slovakia, the available data show that, on average, collective agreements provide for about 5 additional days of leave per year in excess of the 20 days set by law.
In the Netherlands, workers who are also covered by collective agreements have a longer paid annual leave than the 20 days provided by law. In Sweden, the agreed annual paid leave for workers averaged 27.4 days in 2019.
Denmark and Germany, with an average of 30 days, have the longest collectively agreed allowances for paid leave - well above the statutory minimum leave.
