New series of courses

In September 2009 the new series of courses called ‘In the European Works Council’ will start. The series is offered in the 2^nd half of 2009 and the first half of 2010 and consists of in total 4 one-day courses each about one subject.

The first course of the series: ‘New to the European Works Council’ is scheduled for 29 September 2009 and is meant especially for new members of the European Works Council. In the course we will examine the backgrounds of the European Works Council, the underlying legislation and regulations, the rights and powers of the European Works Council and the functioning of the European Works Councils in practice. We will discuss factors that often hinder the proper functioning of the European Works Council and look at practical ways to deal with them. We also take a look at the area of tension between the local and the national employee participation on the one hand and the European employee participation on the other hand.

The second meeting with the topic ‘The European Works Council and reorganisation’ is on 8 December 2009. In multinational companies, reorganisations (for example: changes to the organisation, acquisition/sale, downsizing, outsourcing, transfer of production) are usually the order of the day. At present the economic crisis is furthermore acting as a catalyst in many companies for (additional) reorganisation measures. In this course we examine the role that the European Works Council can play in reorganisation. This role will be illustrated using the best practices of European Works Councils.

In the 1^st half of 2010 there will be another two theme days: The European Works Council and European labour relations, about characteristic differences in the culture and labour relations of European countries and the way in which these differences can affect the functioning of the European Works Council; and The European Works Council and financial policy, in which you learn how you can read and discuss the financial information from your multinational company adequately and meaningfully.

Participation in courses of the series
You can participate in one or more of the courses named individually or take the entire series of 4 courses. Participants in the course “New in the European Works Council’ will be given priority for the registration for the following courses. Participants who take the entire series or 3 of the four courses will be given a certificate at the end as proof of their participation.

Registration: via website www.fnvformaat.nl
For more information about the series of courses ‘In the European Works Council’ please contact Shauna Lehmann at FNV Formaat, tel.: 0348-497243.

In addition to the one-day European Works Council courses, in the 2^nd half of 2009 two other interesting meetings are also planned: the theme day ‘Internationalisation for beginners’ on 1 October 2009 and the master class ‘Employee participation in international companies’ on 1 December 2009. Both the theme day and the master class are above all meant for (Central) Works Council members. You can also register for these meetings via the website www.fnvformaat.nl and for more information please contact Shauna Lehmann at FNV Formaat, tel.: 0348-497243.