WORKS - Work Organisation and Restructuring in the Knowledge Society - is a pan-European research project which aims at improving our understanding of the major changes in work. Taking account of the global forces and of the regional diversity within Europe, the project will investigate the evolving division of labour within and between organisations and the related changes at the workplace.

updated: 28 February 2007

Contacts

Lead partner: Pamela Meil - ISF
Second: Bert de Vroom - UT

Research activities

Innovating the knowledge on the shaping by institutional arrangements and policies of work organisation and its outcomes in terms of quality of life

The first objective is on the mapping of national and European employment policies and the institutional and social dialogue landscapes that can influence changes in work and its effects on quality of life. The aim is to assess, benchmark and identify best practices in respect of the institutional landscape and the wide variety of policy traditions in the different national settings. In this phase the aim is to identify innovative practices and to develop analytical schemes to better understand similarities and differences in European institutional settings and to map institutional change and adaptation in view of changing forms of work organisation.
Timing: August 2005 - May 2006

Policy conclusions and dissemination of the project findings to different targeted policy audiences

The aim is to construct an explanatory framework of 'regulatory logics' drawing on current theoretical insights in the field of labour market and welfare regulation. This framework will be applied to the findings of the WORKS case study research, in order (a) to enrich the explanation of the variety of observed trends and (b) to discuss the opportunities to 'govern' social developments in a European context. This work will result into a series of policy papers to different target audiences, such as: HR Managers, labour market intermediaries, trade unions, European institutions, regional governments, equal opportunities policies. Some of the key issues to analyse on the basis of the extended case study material are:

	the role of welfare state and labour market regulations on flexibility, time use, contractual relationships, employability issues in particular regarding network organisations and employees' self-organisation;
	social dialogue and new forms of social governance regarding work organisation and quality of working life;
	occupational groups: new forms of interest representation and collective action, collective bargaining structures at different levels;
	social dialogue on working hours, time use and other working conditions issues, with special focus on new forms of work organisation;
	learning environments; certification of skills and training trajectories, etc.;
	particularities and development of national/regional 'gender contract'.

Timing: August 2007 - March 2008

Publications and events