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On Monday, 30 March, a Conference on workplace practices in EU enterprises was held at the Saeima. During the Conference, the results of the 3rd European Company Survey were analysed in order to find workplace practices that are best suited to the needs of both employers and employees.
The Conference was organised jointly by the Social and Employment Matters Committee of the Saeima and Eurofound within the framework of the Latvian Presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Opening remarks at the event were made by Gunārs Kūtris, Deputy Secretary of the Saeima, and Juan Menéndez-Valdés, Director of Eurofound. Introductory remarks were also made by Aija Barča, Chairperson of the Social and Employment Matters Committee of the Saeima; Uldis Augulis, Minister for Welfare of the Republic of Latvia; and Valdis Dombrovskis, Vice-President of the European Commission for the Euro and Social Dialogue.
In the first part of the Conference, Eurofound’s researchers Gijs van Houten and Stavroula Demetriades presented the results of the 3rd European Company Survey.
The second part of the Conference was divided into sessions. Session 1 was devoted to participation and social dialogue as a tool for making a difference to workplace well-being and performance. The speakers at this session were David Foden, Head of the Working Conditions and Industrial Relations Unit of Eurofound; Rie Vejs Kjeldgaard, Deputy Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia of the International Labour Organisation; Patrick Itschert, Deputy General Secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation; and Maxime Cerutti, Director of Social Affairs at BUSINESSEUROPE.
Session 2 focussed on modernising work organisation, enhancing collaboration and knowledge sharing. The main contributors to the discussion were Erika Mezger, Deputy Director of Eurofound; Simon Marsh, Employment and Communications Director of the UK Chemical Industries Association; Steven Dhondt, EUWIN Coordinator at TNO; and Leila Kurki, Senior Adviser at the Finnish Confederation of Professionals.
The last session was devoted to human resource practices in companies and ways of improving performance by investing in people. The main contributors at this session were Einārs Cilinskis, Deputy Chairman of the Social and Employment Matters Committee of the Saeima; Gerwig Kruspel, Vice President for HR Trends and Strategy of BASF; John Budd, Industrial Relations Land Grant Chair at the Centre for Human Resources and Labour Studies of the University of Minnesota; and Aline Hoffmann, Head of Unit at the European Trade Union Institute.
Closing remarks were made by Jordi Curell Gotor, Director of the Social Dialogue Unit of the DG for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission.
The Conference was held in the Red Room of the main building of the Saeima, and it was broadcast live on the Saeima website www.saeima.lv.
Conference materials:
Video recordings:
- Opening
- Session 1
- Session 2
- Session 3
Saeima Press Service