Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
Overview of measures by category
Cases in this category mainly relate to measures which ensure that employment is protected and maintained, at least in the short- to medium term through re-regulating temporary dismissals. It includes employment protection schemes for workers, such as short-time work, partial unemployment or other wage subsidy schemes, changes to dismissal and employment protection legislation, adaptations of working time arrangements, and measures to promote the employability of the workforce in downtimes. It also includes examples of collective agreements which aim at protecting and retaining employment, as well as some selected company examples on how such schemes are applied.
Overall, Eurofound has identified 134 measures in 28 countries for this category.
28 December 2020 Updated |
Support to employers retaining jobs - Measure 3 First aid Plus
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
19 December 2020 |
Employment support at preschools during crisis situation - Measure 6 - First Aid Plus
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 December 2020 Updated |
Support for employers of compulsory closed facilities. Measure 1 First aid Plus
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 December 2020 Updated |
Wage support for sectors - catering and recreation
Hungary, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
02 December 2020 |
Luxottica: Welfare and solidarity in times of COVID-19
Italy, Bipartite collective agreements |
01 December 2020 Updated |
Kurzarbeit: New short working time adopted
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
30 November 2020 Updated |
Agreement on maintenance of employment in Continental Matador Company
Slovakia, Bipartite collective agreements |
30 November 2020 |
COVID-19 recovery agreement for pilots at Aer Lingus
Ireland, Bipartite collective agreements |
20 November 2020 |
Maintenance of employment in KIA Motors Slovakia
Slovakia, Company practices |
04 November 2020 |
Benefits for employees
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 November 2020 |
Technical unemployment benefit in case of epidemiological investigation
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
29 October 2020 |
Joint social partner proposal for measures to face the coronavirus crisis
Spain, Non-binding recommendations or other texts |
29 October 2020 |
Commission issues first emission of EU SURE social bonds
European Union, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
27 October 2020 Updated |
Trade unions’ joint positions on COVID-19 measures
Hungary, Non-binding recommendations or other texts |
14 October 2020 Updated |
Support to temporary reduction of the normal period of working time
Portugal, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
11 October 2021 |
VI Social Agreement in Defense of Employment
Spain, Tripartite agreements |
10 October 2020 |
Reimbursement of the monthly crisis allowance for people with disabilities working in social enterprises
Slovenia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 October 2020 Updated |
New temporary tripartite agreement on work sharing
Denmark, Tripartite agreements |
03 October 2020 Updated |
The new Jobs Support Scheme
United Kingdom, Other initiatives or policies |
02 October 2020 |
Expansion and increase of the job security allowance and wage allowance
Austria, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
24 September 2020 |
Agreement relating to the setting up of a specific partial activity system within the Bosch France group
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
24 September 2020 |
Long-term short-working scheme for the air transport sector
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
18 September 2020 Updated |
New wage subsidy scheme (EWSS) is less generous, but fiscally more sustainable
Ireland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
16 September 2020 Updated |
Anti-crisis shield: Wage subsidies for employees with disabilities
Poland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
15 September 2020 |
Short-time work at Thyssenkrupp Steel
Germany, Company practices |
15 September 2020 Updated |
Extension of temporary unemployment due to force majeure for specific sectors and companies in trouble
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 September 2020 |
Public sector union Unison launches COVID-19 hardship fund for members
United Kingdom, Other initiatives or policies |
05 September 2020 |
Creation of a new instrument for temporary Support to mitigate Unemployment Risks in an Emergency (SURE)
European Union, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
26 August 2020 Updated |
Measures for tourism and hospitality
Croatia, Bipartite collective agreements |
04 August 2020 Updated |
Long term short-working scheme
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
17 July 2020 |
Temporary Wage Subsidy Childcare Scheme (TWSCS)
Ireland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
16 July 2020 |
Measures for maintaining employment in transport and tourism
Bulgaria, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 July 2021 |
Urgent Measures in defense of employment and for economic reactivation - Extension of Temporary Lay-offs
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
11 July 2021 Updated |
Wage related compensation due to force majeure
Slovenia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 July 2020 Updated |
Support measures regarding seasonal employees
Greece, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 July 2020 Updated |
'SYNERGASIA': Income support for employees working fewer hours
Greece, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
05 July 2020 |
Support to employers in keeping the workplaces
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
02 July 2020 |
Subsidies for older employees in companies that have announced downtime
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
02 July 2020 Updated |
Subsidies for short-time work
Slovenia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
29 June 2020 Updated |
Special support schemes for workers and businesses
Cyprus, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
26 June 2020 Updated |
Co-financing of wages for reduced working hours (SURE implementation)
Croatia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
31 May 2020 Updated |
Support to self-employed - First aid Measure 2
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
31 May 2020 Updated |
Wage support for companies
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 May 2022 |
Pilot basic income for the arts scheme aims to address earnings instability
Ireland, Other initiatives or policies |
14 May 2020 Updated |
Additional support for the service voucher sector
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 May 2020 |
Social and solidarity agreement, protecting the health of the employees and the company of the PSA Group
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
07 May 2020 |
Renault Trucks: Solidarity agreement
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
26 April 2021 |
Support for beauty care industry
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
24 April 2021 |
Social and economic protection measure in Castilla y León
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 April 2020 Updated |
Temporary COVID-19 wage subsidy scheme
Ireland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
21 April 2020 Updated |
Temporary emergency measure for the preservation of jobs
Netherlands, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
21 April 2020 |
Metalworking national agreement on the organisation of work to deal with the COVID-19 epidemic
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
21 April 2020 |
Company-level agreement at Daher group to cope with COVID-19 crisis
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
20 April 2020 Updated |
Extension of short-time work to new categories of workers
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
17 April 2020 Updated |
Collective agreement on short-time working in system catering
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
16 April 2020 |
State pays part of the Easter bonus for employees with suspended employment contracts
Greece, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
15 April 2020 |
Audiovisual sector: First collective agreement on short-time working
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
15 April 2020 |
Agreement on the anticipation by banks of wage subsidies measures ex-COVID-19
Italy, Other initiatives or policies |
15 April 2020 Updated |
Wage support programme for job retention - Kurzarbeit with training obligation
Hungary, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
15 April 2020 Updated |
Tripartite agreement on wage compensation in the private sector
Denmark, Tripartite agreements |
15 April 2020 Updated |
First collective agreement on short-time working for municipal workers
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
14 April 2020 |
Interruption of the calculation of the maximum duration of temporary contracts
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 April 2021 Updated |
Grants for the self-employed
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 April 2020 Updated |
Short-time work allowance
Sweden, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 April 2020 Updated |
Easier access to short-time work
Germany, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 April 2020 Updated |
Anti-crisis shield: Employment protection and wage subsidies
Poland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
12 April 2020 Updated |
Tourism company Valamar sets up the employment retention programme 'Pause, Restart'
Croatia, Company practices |
12 April 2020 Updated |
Government support to assist the sports sector in wage payments
Croatia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
12 April 2020 Updated |
COVID-19: Income support for workers
Bulgaria, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 April 2021 |
Agreement of 29 January 2021 to support employment, activity and prepare the future within the Thales Group
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
10 April 2021 Updated |
Derogatory compensation for work stoppages related to the COVID-19 epidemic
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 April 2020 Updated |
Short-time working
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 April 2020 Updated |
Antivirus employment retention programme
Czechia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 April 2020 Updated |
Temporary layoff scheme and reimbursement of related wage compensation to employers
Slovenia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 April 2020 Updated |
New agreement on partial unemployment establishes minimum social wage for unskilled worker as new compensation floor
Luxembourg, Bipartite collective agreements |
09 April 2020 Updated |
Metal and electrical sector: Social partners settle crisis agreement
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
09 April 2020 Updated |
Ordinary wage guarantees and new regulation of the exceptional wage guarantee fund
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 April 2020 |
Chemical sector: Collective agreement for getting through the COVID-19 pandemic
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
08 April 2020 Updated |
Extension of temporary unemployment due to force majeure
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
08 April 2020 Updated |
Indemnity for technical unemployment
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 April 2020 Updated |
Support for preservation of jobs in sectors affected by COVID-19
Croatia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 April 2020 Updated |
Special scheme for partial suspension of business
Cyprus, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 April 2020 Updated |
Special scheme for complete suspension of business
Cyprus, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 April 2020 Updated |
Temporary subsidy programme
Estonia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 April 2020 Updated |
Wage subsidies for companies declaring idle time due to quarantine/emergency situation
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 April 2020 Updated |
Idle-time allowance for employees
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 April 2020 Updated |
Exceptional and temporary measure on layoffs to protect jobs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Portugal, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 April 2020 Updated |
Broadening active labour market policy programmes - supporting job retention
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 April 2020 Updated |
COVID-19 wage supplement
Malta, Tripartite agreements |
31 March 2020 Updated |
COVID-19 short-time work scheme
Austria, Tripartite agreements |
31 March 2020 |
Danone guarantees jobs and salaries to all its employees for 3 months
France, Company practices |
31 March 2020 Updated |
Emergency measures relating to short-time working
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
31 March 2020 Updated |
Coronavirus job retention scheme
United Kingdom, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
26 March 2021 |
Employment support at primary art schools - Measure 6 First Aid Plus Plus
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 February 2021 |
Fourth tripartite agreement in defense of employment
Spain, Tripartite agreements |
14 January 2021 Updated |
Wage subsidy for short time employees
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 January 2021 Updated |
Idle-time allowance for self-employed (re-introduced)
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 January 2021 Updated |
Idle-time allowance for employees (re-introduced)
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 January 2022 |
Wage subsidy for self-employed
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 January 2022 |
COVID-19 winter package for hospitals
Denmark, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
08 January 2021 Updated |
Supporting unpaid workers
Bulgaria, Tripartite agreements |
06 January 2021 Updated |
New dispositions on partial unemployment
Luxembourg, Tripartite agreements |
05 January 2022 |
Wage subsidy for employees
Latvia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
05 January 2021 Updated |
Recovery and solidarity fund for businesses
Luxembourg, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
04 January 2022 |
Support for horeca sector to pay end-of-year bonus
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
04 January 2021 Updated |
Compensation of employment costs in Ida-Virumaa and Harjumaa regions
Estonia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
04 November 2020 Updated |
€300 million salary waiver to save Austrian Airlines
Austria, Bipartite collective agreements |
03 November 2020 |
Temporary substantial salary increases for public health staff in the pandemic conditions
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
26 October 2020 Updated |
Flexibility in wages and working hours at Covestro
Germany, Company practices |
16 September 2020 |
Agreed premium but no wage rise for rubber workers
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
15 September 2020 |
Postponement of collectively agreed wage increases in transport sector
Estonia, Bipartite collective agreements |
03 September 2020 Updated |
Annexes to collective agreements for all firms in the INA Group
Croatia, Bipartite collective agreements |
10 August 2020 |
Agreement between Air Malta and Engineers Union
Malta, Bipartite collective agreements |
07 August 2020 |
Collective agreement: Air Malta cabin crew
Malta, Bipartite collective agreements |
24 April 2020 Updated |
Adris group management agreed to cut their salaries to avoid layoffs
Croatia, Company practices |
16 April 2020 Updated |
Payment of Easter bonus may be deferred by companies affected by the pandemic
Greece, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
30 December 2020 Updated |
Social partners address economic challenges: central government
Poland, Non-binding recommendations or other texts |
26 November 2020 |
Airbus: Two agreements to adapt its workforce without forced departures
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
19 May 2022
This publication consists of individual country reports on working life during 2021 for 28 countries (the 27 EU Member States and Norway).
Publication24 June 2020
COVID-19: Policy responses across Europe
This report aims to present an overview of both large-scale government measures and collective agreements that impact on large groups of workers.
16 June 2022
Throughout 2021, the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, specific occupational health and safety rules were reintroduced due to increases in infection rates.
Article16 June 2022
Back to work after COVID-19: Testing, vaccines and green certificates
In the second pandemic year 2021, access to one's place of work was increasingly dependent on providing proof of either having been tested, vaccinated or recovered from COVID-19 in several countries.
Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.