Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The European Company Surveys (ECS) are conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Eurofound), an autonomous agency of the European Union, funded from the general budget of the European Commission. The aims of the ECS are to map, assess and quantify information on workplace policies and practices across Europe in a harmonised way and – to a lesser extent – to monitor developments over time. The ECS has been carried out every four years since 2004. It is a questionnaire-based representative sample survey carried out by telephone in the language(s) of the country. Interviews take place with the manager responsible for human resources in the establishment and when possible with an employee representative. The first ECS (known as the Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance, 2004-2005, held under SN 5655) covered workplace practices with regard to working time arrangements and work-life balance. The second ECS, carried out in 2009 (SN 6568), looked at different forms of flexibility as well as accompanying human resource management practices and the nature and quality of workplace social dialogue. The third ECS (SN 7735), carried out in spring 2013, looked at practices with regard to work organisation, human resources management, employee participation and social dialogue in European workplaces. Further information about the ECS can be found on the Eurofound European Company Surveys webpages.
The first ECS: The Establishment Survey on Working Time and Work-Life Balance, 2004-2005 is the first survey in the series and was conducted in the 15 existing EU member states (EU15) and 6 of the new states who joined the EU in 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Poland and Slovenia. The topics to be covered in detail were agreed between TNS Infratest Sozialforschung, who conducted the first survey on behalf of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (EFILWC), the research team and advisory committee at EFILWC, and a group of experts from various countries. It was agreed to focus on the following working time arrangements which are likely to have an impact on work-life balance:part-time workextended operating hours (night work, week-end work, shift work)flexible working time arrangements (e.g. flexi-time, working time accounts)overtimechildcare leave and other forms of long-term leavephased retirement and early retirementFor these working time arrangements, information about the incidence at establishment level was collected and (where it made sense and was possible within the given restrictions of the length of the questionnaire) information about the reasons for the introduction, the practical experiences and details of the regulations.
Main Topics:
Two questionnaires were fielded as part of the first ESWT survey. The management questionnaire, conducted with the most senior member of staff with responsibility for personnel at each establishment, covered background and demographic information about the organisation, variations of workload and other questions related to work organisation, part-time work, extended operating hours and work at 'unsocial hours', working time accounts and flexible working time arrangements, overtime, childcare leave and long-term leave, phased and early retirement, and measures to facilitate work-life balance. The employee representative questionnaire, conducted with the chairperson of the corresponding employee representative body in the establishment or another suitable employee representative, covered similar topics, from the point of view of employees.
One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
See documentation for details.
Face-to-face interview
