Arthur Cox And The Spring European Employment Summit: Europe’s Future Working Trends – Employee Rights/ Labour Relations

The Spring European Employment Summit, hosted by International
Employment Lawyer took place recently in Croke Park. The summit
brought together senior in-house and private practice lawyers to
explore the challenges and opportunities facing multinational
employers and their counsel across the region.

Louise O’Byrne, Partner in our Employment Group moderated
the first session of the day on “Europe’s Future Working
Trends”, looking at a broad range of topics from automation,
AI and flexible working, to ESG, the gig economy and free speech at
work. The session provided an overview of ongoing employment trends
and their implications for Europe’s workforce.

The panellists considered the different approaches to remote
working throughout Europe and within their organisations, ranging
from remote first policies, hybrid working as well as discussing
their successes in implementing a return to offices post-Covid.
Increased flexibility of employers was seen as an important means
of retaining key talent. There was also a recognition that
employers who wish to encourage or even mandate greater office
attendance need to invest in onsite benefits, while remote first
polices also presented challenges for employers with associated
issues such as health and safety, insurance and colleague
connectivity, along with GDPR, confidentiality and mental
health.

The panel also discussed new employment rights and the weight of
regulation, including the right to disconnect, facilitating
flexible working arrangements, entitlements to medical care leave,
the introduction of a 37.5 hour working week and obligations in
relation to pay transparency. While many of these rights are coming
from a European level, it was clear from discussions that the move
towards achieving a work/life balance for all workers has been
gathering momentum and that many organisations are thinking outside
the box in this area. Family-friendly policies continue to be
expanded in most jurisdictions, driven by an objective of promoting
gender equality and responding to the expectations of
employees.

A significant focus of the discussion was on the impact that
technology continues to have on workplace issues, with AI
continuing to feature in the evolving landscape of work in Europe.
The panel considered how some organisations are actively
encouraging employees to embrace “all things technology”
whilst putting in place clear guidelines and ensuring open lines of
communication with employees on their use of AI in the workplace.
In certain jurisdictions, significant co-determination rights means
that many AI initiatives that employers seek to implement will
require Works Council approval. As a result, the implementation
process does not always move at the pace US technology companies
initially envisage.

While the gig economy has been embraced in some jurisdictions,
others are grappling with the balance between achieving the
necessary flexibility for all parties and protecting often
vulnerable workers working in this area. We also heard how
technology and undisclosed “double jobbing” can lead to
heated litigation and novel legal challenges for employers and
their advisors.

Free speech in the workplace was another critical topic, with a
focus on the rising trend of employee activism and the challenges
it poses in distinguishing between work and personal life. The
necessity for clear guidelines on respecting diverse views and
cultural sensitivities, especially online, was emphasised.

Lastly, the panel addressed ESG considerations, stressing the
importance of HR and employment counsel involvement in ESG strategy
development. ESG’s role in attracting and retaining talent was
noted, along with the need for creative, employee-driven approaches
to ESG initiatives. The importance of multidisciplinary
collaboration and the potential of ethnicity report were also
discussed, underscoring ESG’s growing influence in
organisational strategies.

To discuss any of these topics in more depth, please contact
your usual Arthur Cox Employment Group contact.

This article contains a general summary of developments and
is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific
legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.