Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'European Union – Officials and employees'

Work design and content is changing. Accompanying this change has been an increasing demand by workers for policy makers to factor the issue of managing workers’ work and life. Work–life balance as a concept has attracted attention for several years as a result of individuals attempting to juggle multiple demands from both work and outside the workplace. The number of multiple demands on individuals usually vary from one person to the other and can increase or decrease at different stages of the person’s life. Essentially, this study reviewed work–life balance literature as espoused from the UK and US schools of thought. The purpose of this research is to explore the extent to which work–life balance policies and practices are a reality for employees and managers in the Nigerian banking sector; to investigate the adoption and use of policies/practices in Nigerian banks and finally to examine the barriers to and reasons for their muted adoption and utilisation of work–life balance policies and practices in Nigerian banks. This research is exploratory in nature and it adopted a mixed-method research technique which allowed for in-depth information from the respondents. The methodological approach used in this study is a qualitative dominant mixed method. A mixed-method approach was used in this study following the traditions of McCarthy, Darcy and Grady (2010); Kalliath and Brough (2008); Halford, (2006) and Beauregard and Henry (2009) to ensure the validity and reliability of the study and also to offer different insights in order to make the final result of the research more robust. A questionnaire and semi structured interview technique was utilised. The study was based on 20 of the 24 banks in the Nigerian banking sector. The total sample size was three hundred and sixty nine (369), of which two hundred and fifteen (215) questionnaires were completed and one hundred and thirty four (134) semi-structured interviews conducted for the bankers while (20) semi structured interviews were conducted for the trade union officials. In order to ensure that the cross-section of relevant respondents was as representative as possible, interviewees were divided into three categories: employees, managers and trade union officials. SPSS was used to analysis the quantitative data, while qualitative data was analysed using NVivo software through the coding of the large quantity of data collected. The themes that emerged from the analysis were used to discuss the research issues in the light of prior research findings from various empirical researches. The quantitative contribution of the study revealed that age was not significant to the bankers as regards issues relating to work life balance. The qualitative findings on the other hand revealed that there is diversity in terms of how both managerial and non-managerial employees understood and experienced WLB initiatives in the Nigerian banking sector. In addition, the study showed that cultural sensitivity affects how WLB is appreciated and utilised. The research also contributes to the spill-over theory by adding age, gender, implementation and benefits of work–life balance. This research has contributed to the body of knowledge on work–life balance issues in the Nigerian banking industry. This study also contributes to the existing literature on connotations of work–life balance by utilising a mixed method approach to explore and explain the different notions of work–life balance and usage of work–life balance initiatives.

Magistriniame darbe, naudojant mokslinės literatūros, aprašomąjį analitinį, teisės aktų ir dokumentų analizės metodus, analizuojamas ES Laisvo darbo jėgos judėjimo principo įgyvendinimas, apibrėžiama laisvo darbo jėgos judėjimo sąvoka, jos taikymo sritis, išskiriami pagrindiniai trukdžiai laisvam asmenų judėjimui ir įsteigimo laisvės įgyvendinimui. Siekiant atsakyti į iškeltus uždavinius pirmoje darbo dalyje pristatomos Europos integracijos teorijos: neofunkcionalizmas, liberalusis ir realistinis tarpvyriausybiškumas, taip pat paaiškinamos viršvalstybiškumo ir tarpvyriausybiškumo sąvokos. Antroje darbo dalyje supažindinama su sąvokos “darbuotojas” taikymo sritimi, jos apibrėžimu ir apžvelgiama kaip laisvas darbo jėgos principas apibrėžtas Europos Sąjungos teisės aktuose. Šioje darbo dalyje taip pat plačiau pristatoma Bosmano byla, kuri panaikino visas kliūtis profesionalių sportininkų iš Europos Sąjungos narių valstybių judėjimui bei taip pakeitė profesionalų sportą. Trečioje darbo dalyje apžvelgiami Europos Teisingumo Teismo sprendimai bylose, kuriose buvo įvardinamos pagrindines laisvės veikimo sritį pažeidžiančios, diskriminuojamosios priemonės, neutralios priemonės, apskritai trukdančios patekti į rinką, pristatomos problemos, kylančios iš valstybių teisės skirtybių. Ketvirtoje darbo dalyje apžvelgiamos socialinės apsaugos nuostatos, jų taikymas ir veikimo sritys. Pristatomi pereinamieji laikotarpiai naujoms Europos Sąjungos valstybėms narėms, jų taikymo sąlygos, taip... [toliau žr. visą tekstą]
The master thesis, using the scientific literature, descriptive analytical and document analysis methods analyses the implementation of the principle of free movement of workers in the EU, describes „free movement“ notion, its fields of action, excepts the most important disturbances for its implementation. Seeking to fulfill the set tasks, in the first part of the theoretical part are presented theories of European integration: neofunctionalism, liberal and realistic intergovernmental theories. In the second part is discribed „employee“ notion and its use, also is presented legislation of the EU, which controls the implementation of the principle of free movement of workers. In this part also is presented Bosman case. This case changed football transfer markets, because football players from the EU members are allowed play where they want without any limitation. In the third part are presented verdicts of the European Court of Justice which related with discrimination of workers from others members of the EU. In the fourth part are discribed social policy of the EU, its use and fields of action. In this part also are presented the National measures to new members of the EU, its fields of action and mechanism how contries can instal the National measures, its terms. Regulation of free movement of workers in the EU is very specific, because are important verdicts of the European Court of Justice, Treaty of Rome and other legislation of the EU.

The goal of my thesis is an analysis of selection and recruitment procedure for the institutions of the European Union. It will be achieved by description of basic rules and methods that are used during this process. The main part of my thesis represents a questionnaire survey that was conducted among the group of current employees of the European Union institutions. The survey aimed at confirming the two working hypothesis that have been set. In case of finding any weak points of the procedure, I will suggest appropriate measures for improvement.

La négociation collective est au coeur de la production normative en droit du travail. Le droit à la négociation collective proclamé au niveau constitutionnel, européen et international appartient au salarié ; ce dernier ne l’exerce que par ses représentants. Son droit individuel à la négociation se résout donc dans un droit à être représenté qui se déduit de la lecture de l’alinéa 8 du Préambule de la Constitution et des textes internationaux et européens. Il est paré des qualités d’un droit « justiciable ». Droit subjectif, il peut être invoqué par le salarié. Droit-créance, celui-ci peut revendiquer la mise en place d’une représentation légitime. La légitimité, concept sociologique, doit trouver traduction juridique à travers le droit des représentés de choisir librement leur représentants, et le droit de ceux-ci d’être protégés dans leur mission de négociation. Le vecteur de légitimité est trouvé dans l’expression de la volonté des salariés en vue de la désignation de leurs représentants. Cette expression peut prendre la forme d’un mandat ou de l’élection. Au regard des caractéristiques de l’acte conclu à l’issue de la négociation (l’effet erga omnes des conventions et accords) et de l’intérêt défendu (l’intérêt collectif), l’élection doit être privilégiée. Le législateur s’attache à réaliser la condition de légitimité. Preuve en est la promotion de l’audience électorale par la loi du 20 août 2008. Dans le cadre international et européen, la réalisation d’un droit à la représentation n’est encore que partielle
Collective bargaining has a key-role in employment law’s construction. French Constitution, European and International laws acknowledge a right to collective bargaining which belongs to employees : employees exercise this right through their representatives. Actually, employee’s right to collective bargaining is reduced to a right to be represented as state both, paragraph 8 of 1946 French Constitution Preamble and European and International laws. This right may find its efficiency before Courts. As a subjective right, it can be put forward by an employee. This makes the employee creditor of the right to claim for the implementation of legitimate representatives. “Legitimacy” as a sociologic notion, must be legally translated through the right of represented employees to design freely their representatives, and the right for these representatives to be protected as long as they exercise their mission of bargaining. Legitimacy is translated through the expression of employees’ will to design their representatives. This expression may be formalized through a mandate or through an election. With consideration to the significance of collective bargaining (“erga omnes” effect of collective bargaining agreements) and of the interest at stake (collective interest), election shall be favoured. Law works at providing the condition of this legitimacy. For example, August 20, 2008 law promotes election results. At a European and International level, the realization of a right to be represented remains unachieved

Defence date: 18 December 2006
Examining Board: Prof. Brigid Laffan (University College Dublin) ; Prof. Christopher Lord (The University of Reading) ; Prof. Stefano Bartolini (European University Institute)(Supervisor)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017
Despite the European Commission President’s importance as an agent of supranational integration, the presidency has attracted relatively little academic attention. This thesis examines the phenomenon of leader effectiveness in the context of the presidency by asking "how can the President's effectiveness be explained?” Two branches of theory - institutionalism and charisma theory - drive this research. By examining leadership from these contrasting perspectives a broad understanding is attained. Two independent variables - political / institutional context and leader charisma - are proposed as the core determinants of leader effectiveness. Human resource management theory is used to develop a job description for the President and a set of metrics is proposed to measure presidential effectiveness. Seven case studies are undertaken. Each examines the leadership of a Commission President. Firstly, the nature of their political / institutional context is established and the effect it had upon their leadership is estimated. Secondly the President’s character, behaviour and impact upon others are examined. Finally their effectiveness is assessed. Each case is based upon data derived from eighty one interviews with political actors and a questionnaire completed by thirty academics and journalists. The cross-case analysis strongly supports the research hypotheses - presidential effectiveness consistently relates to the nature of the political / institutional context and the leader’s charisma. Furthermore both independent variables relate positively to effectiveness- i.e. when charisma is high and the political / institutional context is empowering, leadership is typically effective, and vice versa. Although both independent variables are important, charisma is found to exert greater influence over effectiveness.

Defence date: 12 February 2016
Examining Board: Professor Adrienne Héritier, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Alexander H. Trechsel, EUI; Professor Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen, Copenhagen University; Professor Michael Shackleton, Maastricht University.
The project explores, maps and analyzes the coordination that takes place between national governments of the EU member states and Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) in parallel with the legislative processes of the EU. Starting from a descriptive section depicting coordination in a broad selection of member states, France, Germany, the UK, Spain, Denmark, Slovakia, and Poland, and their MEPs, the questions are posed: 1) Why do EU member states' governments coordinate with their MEPs in the EU legislative process? 2) Why does coordination vary between the member state governments? 3) How do MEPs perceive and receive the coordination efforts by the governments? The project assesses the extent to which the efforts by the national governments to coordinate with the MEPs are a direct function of the institutional changes to the EU legislative process that have shifted the balance of power between the Council and the European Parliament. The project then proceeds to seek out the main factors influencing the extent and mode of coordination between the actors, and the reasons member states differ in their approach to coordination. The analysis focuses, in particular, on the sizes and political systems of the member states, as well as on the duration of their EU membership. Finally, MEPs' receptiveness to coordination is investigated, and the effect of national and political affiliation on MEPs' openness to the input they receive from the national governments is analyzed. Through a qualitative analysis of empirical data gathered from semi-structured interviews with government officials, MEPs and MEP assistants from the selected countries, the project finds that while governments have reacted to the increased relative influence of the European Parliament by seeking to influence legislative negotiations via the MEPs, the development, in several countries, has been less than linear. The duration of states' EU membership and the overall amount of resources the governments allocate to influencing EU negotiations are among the main factors found to affect the governments' level of coordination. The political system of the member states is fund to have little influence on the extent or manner of coordination efforts by the governments. In general, MEPs have a positive view of engaging with, and receiving, input of both a political and technical nature from the governments. This positive view largely cuts across the domestic party political divide and, albeit to a lesser extent, across national lines. It is even found that, among some MEPs, an increased effort by the national governments to engage bilaterally with the MEPs, simultaneously with the formal legislative negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament, would be welcomed.

Defence date: 2 February 2009
Examining Board: Prof. Adrienne Héritier (Supervisor, EUI/RSCAS); Prof. Michelle Cini (University of Bristol); Prof. Bruno De Witte (EUI); Prof. Morten Egeberg (University of Oslo)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
After the fall of the Santer Commission in 1999, the new college undertook an in-depth internal administrative reform under the political leadership of Romano Prodi and Neil Kinnock. One big chapter of this reform dealt with senior personnel policy. New procedures were implemented, merit was upgraded as the main criteria for senior appointments, and compulsory redeployment was introduced. Against this background, the research was conducted in order to assess the extent to which these new measures have changed the way senior appointments take place inside the Commission, particularly in terms of influence coming from national governments. By assessing several hundred appointments and redeployments of director generals, deputy director generals and directors - and through interviews with 37 top Commission officials - the thesis revealed what substantive and systemic changes have progressively taken place since the early years of the Prodi Commission, as compared to the pre-reform situation (i.e. Santer Commission). Principal-agent theory was used to frame the research and derive the main hypotheses on the possible development in the relation between EU member states and the Commission. Among the main overall findings of the research, the empirical assessment revealed that 1) the role played by nationality in senior Commission appointments has undoubtedly decreased with the implementation of the reform; 2) the role of member states in senior appointments has changed little from Santer to Prodi, due to the complementary finding that this role was already rather limited prior to the reform (a finding which runs against the mainstream literature on this issue); 3) mobility was a senior management tool that certainly helped the Commission to bring forward change to the administrative culture, but did not come to represent a tool used to resist member states’ pressures; and 4) unfit candidates have no longer a chance to be promoted to the upper echelons of the Commission administration.

Defence date: 12 November 1999
Examining board: Prof. Colin Crouch (EUI - Supervisor); Prof. Jolanta Kulpińska (Uniwersytet Łódzki); Prof. Marino Regini (Università di Milano); Prof. Michel Wieviorka (EHESS Paris - co-supervisor)
First made available online 18 September 2017

The aim of this diploma thesis is to provide synoptic comparison of economic conditions of the selected labour markets together with the information for workers about the possibility of reachable financial remuneration of their work performance within selected EU countries. The theoretical part includes theoretical background about the national economic factors and its current situation within the selected countries. The practical part analyzes how national economic factors, education or gender can influence the remuneration. The last chapter summarizes the obtained results and describes the differences on labour markets in selected countries.

Defence date: 10 June 2016
Examining Board: Professor Claire Kilpatrick (EUI Supervisor); Professor Bruno de Witte, EUI; Professor Judy Fudge, University of Kent; Professor Mark Bell, Trinity College Dublin.
Awarded the Mauro Cappelletti Prize for the 'Best Thesis in Comparative Law' at the European University Institute conferring ceremony on 9 June 2017
Due to the interplay of factors such as population ageing, women's entry into paid employment and the decline of the welfare state, EU Member State face increasing needs for domestic work services – primarily care but also cleaning and other housekeeping services. The majority of domestic workers in Europe today are migrants, both EU and third-country nationals. They tend to work under precarious conditions that make them vulnerable to day-to-day exploitation. Migrant domestic workers face low wages, long and unregulated working hours, workplace harassment, lack of protection if they become pregnant, and unlawful dismissals. Such vulnerabilities are to some extent attributed to intersections of race, class and gender-based prejudices. Yet law, in particular migration and labour law, has an important role in constructing and sustaining vulnerabilities. My aim in this thesis is twofold: to examine the role of law in structuring vulnerability and to identify legal sources that can challenge and reduce certain aspects of this vulnerability. In the first part of the thesis I identify the key dimensions of migration law that make domestic workers vulnerable to then build a typology of the different migration law regimes of EU Member States. To examine the role of labour law, I compare the labour law regulation of domestic work in four Member States: Spain, Sweden, Cyprus and the UK. The analysis sheds light to labour law's very different ways in structuring and, in certain instances, reducing vulnerability. In the second part of the thesis I examine the treatment of migrant domestic workers under EU law. I first give an overview of EU migration law sources to locate and evaluate norms relevant to domestic workers. Then I revisit a debate on the personal scope of EU employment law and challenge the flawed assumption that it does not apply to domestic work. I finally argue that EU employment law is a useful but largely misunderstood resource for domestic workers.

碩士
玄奘大學
法律學系碩士班
96
A Transfer of undertaking is more likely to occur as modern enterprises have to adjust their internal structures and business activities continuously as a means of pursuing prosperity in the long term and improving their running efficiency. The impact of an undertaking or business transfer can be very extensive, and the centre theme of this thesis is to discuss the protection of the rights and interests of employees in the event of transfer of undertakings. During the process of transferring business ownership or managerial powers, employees will be affected in various degree. Their employment contracts might be terminated. Their terms and conditions of employment or relevant rights and obligations might be varied. Therefore, it has long been the focus of attention by policy-makers, trade unions, and individual employees on how to provide affected employees with proper safeguards during the transferring process. In theory, employment contracts are not only mutual, reciprocal contracts, they are also very personal. A transferring employer (transferor) cannot transfer his rights and obligations arising out of employment contracts to the recipient of his undertaking (transferee) without his employees’ consent. In this country, this matter is governed by the Labour Standards Act, the Financial Institutions Merger Act, Business Mergers and Acquisitions Law, and The Protective Act for Mass Redundancy of Employees. Even thought each Act regulates different types of business transfer, they all allow employers (transferors) to terminate employment contracts during the transferring process. Only those workers who are retained through agreements between transferors and transferees, can they claim to be re-employed by the transferees. This strategy reflects the attitude that unlike properties, employment relations are too personal to be transferred to the other party. However, in allowing employers to dismiss employees or to retain workers unilaterally as a means of adjusting human resource requirement, the law is more inclining to protect employers’ interests than protecting the employees’ right to work. In contrast, the statutory provisions of the European Union and United Kingdom attempt to depart from the personal aspect of employment relations and adopt an approach that in the event of a transfer of undertaking or business, the position of the transferor as an employer is substituted by the transferee. Thus, all the transferor’s rights, powers, duties and liabilities in connection with employment contracts as well as collective agreements are transferred to the transferee. Some procedure safeguards are imposed upon the transferor and the transferee at the same time. However, not all employees hired by the transferor are the subjects of transfer. To qualify as an object for transfer (organised grouping of resource), it must maintain its economy entity or for the purpose of implementing a contract for service. A relevant transfer must also result in a change of employer. Only those who are assigned to the object of transfer can workers claim those statutory rights. There are some exceptions to the general rules. When a transferor has economic, technical or organization reason entailing changes in the workforce or is subject to an insolvency proceeding, relevant employees are stripped of all statutory protections, thus they can be fairly dismissed or have their employment contracts varied. All these provisions are discussed in detail in each chapter and proper comparisons between the relevant provisions of European Union and the United Kingdom on the one hand and those of Taiwan on the other are made in due course. It is hoped that by making a comparative approach the different attitudes towards the protection of employees’ rights will become vivid. The Labour Standards Act’s emphasis on the personal aspect of employment contracts makes it possible for an employer to justify the dismissal of his employees in the transfer of his undertaking or business. Successive legislations are not focus on employment protection but rather on the satisfaction of an enterprise’s needs to takeover and merger. As a result, the position and interests of employees do not attract the attention they deserve. It is the purpose of this thesis that through an introduction on the provisions of the European Union and the United Kingdom on this topic will bring forward new outlook on the protection of employees in the event of the transfer of undertaking, and legislators in this country might make references from the experiences abroad to improve the quality of employment protection legislation.

The thesis investigates corruption and the anti-corruption strategies. Focusing on the case study of Ukraine, it is shown how corruption can affect society and what particular measures can be undertaken for tackling this phenomenon. It is illustrated that the current level of corruption in Ukraine is high in all fields of public management: the customs and taxation systems, law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, business, and so on. The analysis of the Ukrainian government's anti-corruption strategies reveals that they are based primarily on deregulation, demonopolization, the creation of a strong institutional environment, and digitalization. In recent years, Ukraine has been able to achieve institutional advancements through the creation of new anti-corruption bodies and has initiated digitalization as a new strategic direction against corruption. However, none of these activities have brought tangible results so far. The thesis analyzes why the government's anti-corruption strategies have been fruitless to date and how the situation might develop in the future. Keywords anti-corruption strategies, bribery, corruption, European Union, institutional reforms, public officials, Ukraine. Abstrakt Práce zkoumá korupci a protikorupční strategie se zaměřením na případovou studii Ukrajiny. Je...

attitudes amongst the members of different races towards the implementation of affirmative action in the Correctional Services Department of South Africa. A literature study on affirmative action was completed and thereafter a questionnaire was developed. An emperical study was done by questionnaire on the determination of perceptions and attitudes of members of the South African Correctional Services Department towards the application of Affirmative Action policies. serious problems if not correctly managed. It was established that the success in any affirmative action strategy rests on the understanding and acceptance of cultural diversity as manifested in perceptions and attitudes. Management information systems needs to be effective and efficient at all times. Changing perceptions and attitudes increased passion and job satisfaction. Recommendations are made for further research on aspects highlighted by the findings.
Penology
M.A. (Penology)

The research focused on constructing a psychological well-being profile for flourishing practices for junior leaders by establishing the relationship between junior leaders' dispositional attributes (emotional affect, career orientations, and organisational commitment) and the flourishing attribute (positive psychological functioning). A nonprobability purposive sampling quantitative method was applied to a sample of South African National Defence Force (SANDF) personnel in Gauteng (N = 458) at junior leadership levels to explore the statistical relationship between their dispositional attributes (emotional affect, career orientations, and organisational commitment) and the flourishing attribute (positive psychological functioning) attribute. Multiple regression analyses indicated the dispositional attributes with the exception of emotional affect as significant predictors of the flourishing variable. The structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated a good fit of the data with the correlation-derived measurement model. Moderated hierarchical regression analyses indicated that age, race, gender and years of service as significant moderators of the relationship between the participants‘ dispositional attributes (emotional affect, career orientations and organisational commitment) and flourishing (positive psychological functioning) attribute. Tests for mean differences discovered that participants differed in terms of their age and race. The study made a significant contribution to the bulk of knowledge in the field of Industrial and Organisational Psychology. On a theoretical level, the study deepened the understanding of the individual and cognitive, affective, conative and relations management dimensions of the hypothesised psychological well-being profile. On an empirical level, the study developed an empirically tested psychological well-being profile that informs flourishing practices for individual junior leaders and organisational levels. On a practical level, dispositional and flourishing practices that inform the dimensions of the psychological well-being profile were recommended.
Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Ph. D. (Industrial and Organisational Psychology)