Employee Representatives in France: Employers' Perceptions
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Industrial Relations & Conflict Management Volume 1 Editors Martin Euwema University of Leuven, Belgium Lourdes Munduate University of Seville, Spain Disseminating cutting edge theories and empirical research in the field of indus- trial relations and conflict management, from an interdisciplinary approach, and firmly based in theories on human behaviour in relation to work and organizations. Formally the series will publish monographs and contributed or edited volumes from leading psychology scholars. Specifically, the series integrates theories and research from industrial relations (sociology, business, law and psychology), with those on conflict management, mediation and more generally well-being and pro- ductive behaviour in the workplace. Volumes in this series respond to the demands of policymakers and the public, remaining relevant and applicable for science, industry and society. Delivering relevant research and conclusions from local, regional, national and international perspectives. The aim of the series is to con- tribute to cooperative and constructive relations in organizations at three levels: organizational level, team level and interpersonal level. The series will contribute to the existing academic research and literature by providing an advanced publication platform for improving the science of understanding industrial relations and conflict management. Publishing volumes which deliver valuable contributions from the range of developing perspectives on this subject. More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13458 Martin Euwema • Lourdes Munduate • Patricia Elgoibar • Erica Pender • Ana Belén García Editors Promoting Social Dialogue in European Organizations Human Resources Management and Constructive Conflict Management Editors Erica Pender Martin Euwema University of Leuven University of Leuven Belgium Belgium Ana Belén García Lourdes Munduate University of Leuven University of Seville Belgium Spain Patricia Elgoibar IESEG School of Management Paris France ISSN 2199-4544 ISSN 2199-4552 (electronic) ISBN 978-3-319-08604-0 ISBN 978-3-319-08605-7 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-08605-7 Springer Cham Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London Library of Congress Control Number: 2014957504 © The Author(s) 2015. 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The Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained herein. v Preface This book is the first volume in a new series by Springer on Industrial Relations & Conflict Management. Traditionally, the field of industrial relations has primarily been a research do- main of sociologists and lawyers. It has mainly focused on macro-economic issues of negotiation between employer organizations, unions, and governments, as well as on structural arrangements and legal frameworks of these industrial relations. Conflict management in organizations has dealt with a wide variety of issues, often focusing on organizational behavior at different levels, based on theories of psy- chology and organizational and management sciences. Worldwide we see a clear trend of de-centralization of industrial relations towards the organizational level. Especially in Europe, more and more framework agree- ments between unions, employer organizations and governments are made. These negotiations take place within the organizations, both at a formal level—between works council and management—and at an informal level—between individual employees and their managers or HR departments. At the same time, conflict man- agement has become one of the core elements of the formal social dialogue in orga- nizations, for example on topics such as how to promote social relations and health in the workplace, how to prevent exclusion, discrimination and bullying, and how to manage labor, interpersonal and group conflicts constructively. So, we see Industrial Relations and Conflict Management in organizations cross- ing and partly overlapping with each other. In the meantime, the academic fields of Industrial Relations (IR) and Conflict Management in organizations (CM) have developed quite independently. As a result, the academic networks of industrial re- lations, conflict management and bullying in the workplace, are quite independent, showing only weak ties. The new series Industrial Relations & Conflict Management intends to build an interdisciplinary bridge between these fields. This will be done through the dis- semination of cutting edge theories and empirical research in the field of industrial relations and conflict management. The series takes an interdisciplinary approach, however it is firmly based on theories about human behavior in relation to work and organizations. vii viii Preface More specifically, the series integrates theories and research from industrial re- lations (sociology, business, law and psychology), with those of conflict manage- ment, mediation and well-being and productive behavior in the workplace. The aim of the series is to contribute to the development and dissemination of knowledge to promote cooperative and constructive relations in organizations at three levels: organizational level, team level and interpersonal level. This first volume illustrates the new series perfectly. The volume presents the results of an interdisciplinary study in 11 European countries on social dialogue in organizations. The study focuses on the experiences and expectations of employers towards the employee representatives in their organizations. The study highlights structural as well interpersonal and group aspects of this social dialogue. The theo- retical framework is based both on structural and on behavioral theories. The core message of this first volume is three fold: 1. Social dialogue is an im- portant instrument for innovative and healthy organizations, however needs a coop- erative climate to blossom; 2. Employers in Europe want to invest in constructive and innovative social relations at the organizational level; 3. Employers have many ideas about how to promote and innovate social dialogue. This innovation of social dialogue is highly needed. Not only in Europe, where the EC promotes such a social dialogue based on the shared values of cooperation between management and employers, however also globally. The quest for sustain- able forms of organizing, with a focus on people, profit and planet, requires a con- structive dialogue between ‘capital’ and ‘human capital’. Martin Euwema & Lourdes Munduate Series Editors Contents 1 Employee Representatives in European Organizations ........................ 1 Martin Euwema, Ana Belén García, Lourdes Munduate, Patricia Elgoibar and Erica Pender 2 Management Perceptions of Social Dialogue at the Company Level in Belgium ..................................................................................... 19 Valeria Pulignano and Nadja Doerflinger 3 Employee Representatives in Denmark. How Employers see them and what they Expect ................................. 39 Søren Viemose and Hans Jørgen Limborg 4 Employee Representatives in Estonia. How are they Perceived and what are the Expectations by Employers? ........................................................................................ 53 Mare Teichmann and Merle Lõhmus 5 Employee Representatives in France: Employers’ Perceptions and Expectations Towards Improved Industrial Relations ................................................................................ 67 Aurélien Colson, Patricia Elgoibar and Francesco Marchi 6 Management’s Perceptions of Social Dialogue at the Company Level in Germany .................................................................. 79 Michael Whittall