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International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations
Number of Followers: 31

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ISSN (Print) 0952-617X
Published by Kluwer Law International

[21 journals]

In Memoriam: Ruth Ben Israel (1931–2020)
- Abstract: Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Fri, 11 Sep 2020 00:01:04 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Special Issue on the Role of the Social Partners in the Welfare State:
Introduction
- Abstract:
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
In Memoriam: Jacques Rojot (1941–2020)
- Abstract: Welfare regimes differ in how they supply social benefits such as pensions, disability allowances, and unemployment funding. In several regimes, the social partners – employee unions and employers’ associations – provide social benefits for workers. These regimes promote occupational welfare. This article aims to study the advantages and limitations of occupational welfare through the case study of Israel – a country in which the social partners promote occupational welfare by means of collective agreements. It examines the ways collective agreements – directly and indirectly – advance occupational welfare in Israel. The research includes a quantitative study of all collective agreements concluded in Israel in the period 1957-2016 and a qualitative study of Israeli collective agreements at the national level. The study shows that although Israel’s social partners lost much of their power during this period, they are still able to promote occupational welfare, and that Israeli social partners promote innovative workplace policies through collective agreements. Several occupational welfare arrangements first introduced in collective agreements were later extended through legislation or extension orders to all Israeli workers. Without collective bargaining, important occupational welfare benefits might have not been introduced. However, state legislation was needed to fix the flaws of these arrangements, including enforcement problems and lack of coverage of the self-employed.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Collective Bargaining and Unpaid Care as Social Security Risk: An EU
Perspective
- Abstract: This article contributes to the debate on how collective agreements can enhance social security from the perspective of unpaid care work. It defines the risk of giving up employment in favour of unpaid care as a social security risk (the care risk). It analyses how collective agreements in the EU can address this risk without compromising gender equality. The analysis is conducted with a focus on analysing the risks emerging from European Union law on a regulatory practice yet to emerge: the inclusion of institutional (child) care provisions in collective agreements. The article concludes that it is disruptive for innovative collective bargaining strategies if interpreted from a standpoint focusing merely on economic integration.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Collective Bargaining for Working Parents in Sweden and Its Interaction
with the Statutory Benefit System
- Abstract: In recent decades, the use of collectively bargained payments to cover parental leave has become increasingly important in Sweden. As part of a general trend, supplementary payments from collectively bargained schemes for risks covered by the social security system have taken on a major role. In the literature, this development has been partly explained by an overall decline in the Swedish welfare state, starting in the early 1990s. This article explores the interaction between collectively bargained provisions on supplements for working parents in Sweden, and their interaction with the statutory system of parental leave benefits. The long-standing emphasis on work-life balance in Swedish public policy is well known, but the significance of collective bargaining and the involvement of the social partners in this area has received less attention. Starting from national legislation and policies on work-family reconciliation, this article explores a number of effects of the collectively bargained supplements: with respect to the interests that come into play, with respect to the finances of working parents, and with respect to gender equality and the division of parental leave between men and women. It is argued that one effect of a development in which collective bargaining provides for an increasing share of income during parental leave is that key public policy ideas on the design of parental leave regulation are tweaked to the benefit of other ideas promoted by the social partners. Moreover, as access to collectively bargained supplements is not the same for all employees, another effect is that the supplements come into conflict with the principle of universality that underpins the social security system. A third effect, however, is that collectively bargained supplements provide an important but not widely recognized incentive for parents to move away from a gendered division of parental leave.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Occupational Pensions and Unemployment Benefits in Sweden
- Abstract: This article focuses on two Swedish benefits: occupational pensions and unemployment benefits. Both have undergone interesting developments recently, partly relating to changes in the public social security system, partly to changes in the labour market. These changes have led the social partners at sectoral level to decide on different priorities when negotiating collective agreements or offering unilateral benefits to their members. The overarching aim of the article is to illustrate and explain the increasing activity at sectoral level regarding occupational pensions and unemployment benefits. However, there are changes in the labour market that the social partners have not managed to address, or that it might not even be their role to address. When a significant proportion of welfare benefits derive from collective agreements and membership of private organizations, this has implications for atypical and self-employed workers, that are further elaborated in the article.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Occupational Welfare in Israel: A Study of Collective Agreements and
Benefits
- Abstract: Welfare regimes differ in how they supply social benefits such as pensions, disability allowances, and unemployment funding. In several regimes, the social partners – employee unions and employers’ associations – provide social benefits for workers. These regimes promote occupational welfare. This article aims to study the advantages and limitations of occupational welfare through the case study of Israel – a country in which the social partners promote occupational welfare by means of collective agreements. It examines the ways collective agreements – directly and indirectly – advance occupational welfare in Israel. The research includes a quantitative study of all collective agreements concluded in Israel in the period 1957-2016 and a qualitative study of Israeli collective agreements at the national level. The study shows that although Israel’s social partners lost much of their power during this period, they are still able to promote occupational welfare, and that Israeli social partners promote innovative workplace policies through collective agreements. Several occupational welfare arrangements first introduced in collective agreements were later extended through legislation or extension orders to all Israeli workers. Without collective bargaining, important occupational welfare benefits might have not been introduced. However, state legislation was needed to fix the flaws of these arrangements, including enforcement problems and lack of coverage of the self-employed.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
Dismantling the Trojan Horse in Singapore: A Critical Evaluation of the
Implied Term of Mutual Trust and Confidence
- Abstract: In the law of employment contracts, an implied term in law that has held sway over various Commonwealth jurisdictions is the implied term of mutual trust and confidence. The term gives rise to hidden but major implications for employment relations around the world. Yet few seemed to question its utility and foundational basis until the High Court of Australia’s unanimous rejection of the term in Commonwealth Bank of Australia v. Barker. In Singapore, it is also often assumed that the implied term is accepted law even though the legal position actually remains wide open. This article seeks to critically examine the genesis of the term and its operation in Singapore. It also argues that despite the Singapore High Court’s repeated endorsement of this term, there are compelling reasons in both policy and principle as to why such a term should be rejected in Singapore.
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)
The Social Partners in the Welfare System in Italy: From Coordination to
Fragmentation
- Abstract:
  Volume 36
  Online ISSN 0952-617X
  PubDate: Tue, 08 Sep 2020 00:01:05 GMT
  Issue No: Vol. 36 (2020)