Documents Hagen, Inger Marie 8 results

"Norway is often praised for its flexible workforce and flexible workers, which contribute to the adaptive capacity and competitiveness of the economy. At national level, the interplay between strong welfare arrangements, active labour market policies and generous protection in the event of lay-offs also contributes to labour mobility: being laid off does not entail personal catastrophe, as unemployment benefits are universal and generous, and access to new employment is likely to come quickly, due to an active employment and labour market policy. At company level, flexible employees are characterised by their ability and willingness to combine different tasks,take on new responsibilities and use their skills in the best interests of the company. At the same time, laws and agreements secure employees against arbitrary and unfair treatment from management and colleagues. What sort of mechanisms provide for this combination of security and flexibility at company level? We argue that this security and flexibility can be attributed to the manner in which representative and individual participation interact at company level in Norway. We call it ‘local flexicurity'."

"European Board-Level Employee Representation examines the role in strategic decision-making of board-level employee representatives in seven European countries. It is often assumed that employee representatives exert power at the company board, but it is rarely made explicit how the power is exercised and to what effect. This book, the first to assess national differences between board-level employee representatives in their exercise of influence and power, analyses coordination among board-level employee representatives, trade unions, representatives from other institutions of labour representation within the company, management and other board members."

"The Nordic countries have experienced major labour immigration since the EU enlargement round in 2004. Recruiting workers from ethnic minorities is a major challenge for all Nordic trade unions. Less attention has been directed towards the need also to integrate these members inside the unions, for example, by having them serve as trade union representatives at different levels in companies, as well as in the unions. A glance at the top positions in the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian trade unions reveals an almost all-white picture. There is considerable imbalance between the number of ethnic minority trade union members and the number of ethnic minority representatives. This article argues that looking into the concept of representation, and especially the features attributed to trade union representatives and how these features are perceived, enables us to investigate the mismatch between trade union density and trade union representatives among employees from different ethnic minorities. "

"European Board-Level Employee Representation examines the role in strategic decision-making of board-level employee representatives in seven European countries. It is often assumed that employee representatives exert power at the company board, but it is rarely made explicit how the power is exercised and to what effect. This book, the first to assess national differences between board-level employee representatives in their exercise of influence and power, analyses coordination among board-level employee representatives, trade unions, representatives from other institutions of labour representation within the company, management and other board members."

"Codetermination through board-level employee representation has a long tradition in Denmark and Norway. Since employee representatives are in a minority on the board, do they have a real say in decisions? Using survey data, we find a relatively large proportion of employee representatives who state that they have little or no influence on the decision-making process. A small minority claim to have significant influence on major strategic issues such as company restructuring. Neither gender nor length of board membership is related to perceived influence, which is also the case for board size. However, the more frequent the board meetings, the higher the level of perceived influence. The findings suggest that the present system does not empower board-level employee representatives."