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 target group – category: Workers
Eurofound has identified 82 measures for this target group. Most of these measures fall into the category Employment protection and retention (27%).
Ensuring business continuity and support for essential services |
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23 June 2022 |
Mini labour exchange
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
20 May 2020 Updated |
Creating incentives for unemployed to work in horticulture and other essential services and flexibilisation of successive fixed-term contracts
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
06 April 2020 Updated |
Jobsharing made more flexible
Denmark, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Supporting businesses to stay afloat |
|
21 October 2020 |
Public aids for the production of feature films
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Employment protection and retention |
|
10 December 2020 |
Replacing the house quarantine period with overtime work
Replacing the house quarantine period with overtime work
Greece, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 November 2020 |
Agreement in the bank LCL on exceptional measures regarding paid leave and working time reduction in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
04 November 2020 |
Benefits for employees
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 October 2021 |
PSA Automobiles SA implementation of the long-term partial activity system
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
16 September 2020 |
Agreed premium but no wage rise for rubber workers
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
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 2022 Updated |
Reduction in compensation for vulnerable employees in short-time scheme
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 Updated |
Collective performance agreement
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Guarantee Fund
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Company employment pacts
Germany, Bipartite collective agreements |
23 June 2022 Updated |
Partial activity
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Temporary suspension of employment and reemployment commitments
Austria, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Employer groups
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Working time account
Slovakia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
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 |
15 April 2020 |
Audiovisual sector: First collective agreement on short-time working
Germany, Bipartite collective 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 2020 Updated |
Easier access to short-time work
Germany, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
31 March 2020 Updated |
Coronavirus job retention scheme
United Kingdom, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
05 January 2023 |
Social Insurance Fund (SIF)
Ireland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Reorientation of business activities |
|
23 June 2022 |
Reconversion cells
Belgium, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Protection of workers, adaptation of workplace |
|
10 December 2020 Updated |
Integrating outsourced workers at Tönnies
Germany, Company practices |
26 November 2020 |
Suez: Agreement on telework
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
26 November 2020 Updated |
Recognition of COVID-19 as an occupational disease
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
25 September 2020 |
Principles and guidelines for the new agile work in the telecommunications supply chain
Italy, Bipartite collective agreements |
21 September 2020 |
Agreement on the protection of employees and social measures as part of the relaunch of activity at EDF SA
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
04 August 2020 |
Adapting Occupational Health Services to Health Emergencies
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 August 2020 Updated |
Adaptation of collective bargaining rules
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 August 2020 |
Postponement of the assessment of trade unions’ representativeness in SMEs and extension of mandates in labour-related bodies
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 August 2020 |
National deconfinement protocol for companies
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
04 July 2023 |
National interprofessional agreement of 11 April 2023 on the ecological transition and social dialogue
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
21 May 2020 |
Stricter regulations for the meat industry
Germany, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
21 February 2023 |
Psycho social impacts of work conditions categorised as occupational diseases
Estonia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 January 2022 Updated |
Regulations on biological risks of employees exposed to COVID-19
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Income protection beyond short-time work |
|
22 September 2020 |
Agreement on social support for the crisis linked to COVID-19 within the Safran group
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
02 September 2020 |
Temporary unemployment premium for employees in the metal sector
Belgium, Bipartite collective agreements |
27 July 2021 |
Allowance for collaborators in the sport sector
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 July 2020 Updated |
Sickness compensation for COVID-19 risk groups can be paid preventively
Sweden, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
03 July 2020 Updated |
Increase of the tax-exempt amount of income for workers earning below the annual minimum wage
Lithuania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
01 July 2020 |
Emergency support allowance for artists
Cyprus, Other initiatives or policies |
23 June 2022 |
Wage guarantee fund
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
18 May 2022 Updated |
In-kind support and financial support for Ukrainian artists
Poland, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
17 April 2020 Updated |
Temporary income assurance scheme for self-employed and freelancers
Norway, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
15 April 2020 |
Exceptional unemployment benefit for employees with temporary contracts
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
15 April 2020 Updated |
Extension of the extraordinary subsidy for lack of activity to domestic workers
Spain, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
12 April 2020 Updated |
Work stoppage to care for a child under 16 years of age
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
12 April 2020 Updated |
COVID-19: Assisting artists and freelancers
Bulgaria, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 April 2020 Updated |
Exceptional support measures for intermittent workers and employees in the cultural sector
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 April 2020 Updated |
COVID-19 indemnity for self-employed, economically dependent workers and employees
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
08 April 2020 Updated |
Allowance for self-employed and non-standard workers
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
07 April 2020 Updated |
Care allowance during emergency period for homeschooling 6 to 13 year-old children
Czechia, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
Measures to prevent social hardship |
|
17 June 2021 |
Post-COVID Cultural Recovery in the
EU: Policy Recommendations
European Union, Non-binding recommendations or other texts |
Promoting the economic, labour market and social recovery |
|
01 December 2020 |
Subsidies for hiring employees on fixed-term contracts
Romania, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
09 November 2020 |
Matmut agreement relating to the management of business recovery
France, Bipartite collective agreements |
07 November 2022 Updated |
Collective transition
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 September 2022 Updated |
Tax reduction of overtime pay
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
27 July 2021 |
Flexibilisation of temporary contracts
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
28 June 2023 |
Ensuring coverage of outsourced workers by collective agreements
Portugal, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Redeployment Leave
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Employment protection plan (PSE)
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
23 June 2022 |
Prospective observatories on jobs and qualifications
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
20 May 2022 Updated |
Aid for hiring people on fixed-term contracts in the entertainment industry
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
11 April 2020 Updated |
Suspension of the trial period in businesses affected by the crisis
Luxembourg, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 January 2022 |
New annual grant for apprenticeship employers
Ireland, Other initiatives or policies |
Responses to inflation |
|
14 September 2022 |
One-time €200 bonus against inflation
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 September 2022 |
Increase in remuneration for public servants
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 September 2022 |
Monetisation of rest days
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
13 September 2022 |
Increased support for employees costs of transport
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
12 September 2022 Updated |
Relaxation of the conditions for the use of meal vouchers
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
11 September 2022 |
Allowing exceptional unlocking of employee savings
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
11 September 2022 Updated |
Facilitating the deployment of profit-sharing
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
10 September 2022 |
Value sharing bonus for employees
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
04 May 2023 |
In-Work benefit for employees with atypical working hours
Malta, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
19 February 2023 |
Reduced social security contributions linked to the provision electric vehicles by employers
France, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
17 February 2023 |
One-time €150 bonus against inflation
Italy, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
14 February 2023 |
Marginal employment earning threshold raised
Germany, Legislations or other statutory regulations |
30 January 2023
Governments across the EU continue to implement policies to support citizens and businesses in the face of rising food and energy prices caused by the COVID-19 crisis and intensified by the war in Ukraine. This article summarises the policy responses as reported in Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch database from January to September 2022.
Article12 September 2022
Although the worldwide pandemic situation had already disrupted supply chains and triggered increases in energy and food prices in 2021, the situation deteriorated in 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Article12 September 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses that governments across the EU have started to implement to support companies affected by the rising prices, and those with commercial ties to Ukraine, Russia or Belarus.
Article5 July 2022
This article summarises the first policy responses of EU Member States, including those of the social partners and other civil society actors, enabling refugees to exercise their rights under the Temporary Protection Directive.
ArticleDisclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.