Broad-based employee financial participation in the European Union

Abstract

This paper describes developments in broad-based financial participation of employees in their enterprises within the European Union (EU). Broad-based means that all or most employees are eligible for participation in the scheme, in contrast to selective schemes where only certain categories of personnel (in most cases higher staff and management) are eligible. The main objective of this paper is to provide a comparative overview on the nature and extent of financial participation in the EU in the 1990s. It is based on a review of available international research and publications, together with interviews with and reports from national experts. Special attention is given to types of employee share ownership and the relationship with the three other pillars of employee participation: direct participation, representative participation and collective bargaining. For this purpose, the report includes an analysis of the situation in ten countries, based on the findings of the 1996 EPOC (Employee Direct Participation in Organizational Change) survey.

Keywords:

• Industrial relations
• participation
• employee share ownership
• profit sharing
• European Union