Fifty-five examples of good practices were collected during the project. These can be searched by theme, sector or by country below.
EUROPEAN CROSS-SECTORAL / TRANSPORT / EDUCATION / TELECOMS / HEALTH / CENTRAL GOVERNMENT / GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE AND HARASSMENT (GBVH) / SECURITY / OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH (OSH) / RISK ASSESSMENT / SECURITY / DIGITALISATION / DOMESTIC VIOLENCE / PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKS / STAFFING LEVELS / SECURITY / REMEDIES AND COMPENSATION / SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS-SURVIVORS
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - GBVH / SECURITY
The “Get me home safely” campaign in the transport sector recognises that travel to and from work is a significant risk for workers travelling late at night or during unsocial times, for example, as faced by shift workers in hospitals and urban public transport. An ETF Congress Resolution in 2017, called on the ETF and affiliated unions to actively support and promote the campaign, putting a responsibility on employers to ensure shift workers have safe travel home at night. Assaults during the pandemic increased significantly and ETF has called for more trained staff and stronger enforcement of laws against sexual assault and harassment on public transport, and to explicitly extend employers’ duty of care to include safe transport home policies for all workers.
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - GBVH / OSH / RISK ASSESSMENT
ETF Guidance (2020) for transport unions on violence and harassment against women, include guidance on drawing up comprehensive workplace policy and a step-by-step guide to carrying out gender-responsive risk assessment. The guidance is aimed at supporting union negotiations on violence and harassment. The ETF guidance, which was also tailored to specific challenges arising from the pandemic, drew on many years of campaigning, advocacy and negotiations by transport unions nationally, at the European level and globally.
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - GBVH / SECURITY
ETF Guidance (2020) for transport unions on violence and harassment against women, include guidance on drawing up comprehensive workplace policy and a step-by-step guide to carrying out gender-responsive risk assessment. The guidance is aimed at supporting union negotiations on violence and harassment. The ETF guidance, which was also tailored to specific challenges arising from the pandemic, drew on many years of campaigning, advocacy and negotiations by transport unions nationally, at the European level and globally.
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - GBVH / SECURITY
The CER & ETF Women in Rail Agreement was signed by the European social partners, the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the ETF on 5 November 2021. The agreement recommends a range of measures to improve women’s employment in the rail sector, including that measures to improve safety in the working environment, employers’ responsibility to conduct health and safety risk assessments from a gender perspective. Specific measures to ensure the safety of onboard and driving staff are identified: mixed teams in night shifts or in geographical areas that are particularly risky; install reserved parking lots for women and pregnant women working night shifts; map workplaces and verify the risks regarding TPV; make a survey among women on the risks occurred; adopt measures to grant well-lit parking areas, near to the workplace; provide security training for the employees, particularly women; and take actions to raise awareness among employees and also the general public to the topic of safety of railway employees on trains and stations. An EU project on TPVH in the rail sector collected evidence, data and examples of good practices from rail sector unions and employers, resulting in a specific joint agreement on “Promoting security and the feeling of security vis-à-vis third-party violence in the European railway sector.
Sector - CROSS-SECTORAL
Theme - DIGITALISATION
A cross-sectoral European social partner framework agreement on Digitalisation (ETUC, Business Europe, SME United and CEEP) agreed in 2020, includes a pillar on respect, human dignity and surveillance. As well as recognising the importance of the effective integration of digital technologies at the workplace, the agreement provides a framework for employers and unions to introduce digital transformation strategies in partnership in a human oriented approach at national, sectoral, company and workplace levels. This also covers measures to ensure safety such as when connecting and disconnecting and respect of working time rules and appropriate measures to ensure compliance. Specifically the agreement refers to relations with clients and other third parties and takes into account the “quality of the relations (collaboration, integration, contact moments and possibilities, communication, work atmosphere), the management style, the occurrence of violence or harassment, conflict management, support procedures and mechanisms.” The ETUC has made digitalisation and cyber-harassment a priority area for action under the ETUC work programme (2022-2024).
Sector - EDUCATION
Theme - DIGITALISATION
The launch of a sectoral social dialogue project on digitalisation in education, adopted on 15 December 2021, included a joint statement by ETUCE and EFEE on TPVH and digitalisation. Paragraph 7 sets out the aim to: "Support education institutions, school leaders, teachers and other education personnel in addressing the health and safety issues stemming from digital education (e.g. work-related stress, screen fatigue, cyber harassment, social exclusion, data privacy, increasing workload, internet addiction, and right to disconnect)…and enhance social partner cooperation to embed the digitalisation dimension in the assessment tools (e.g. OiRA), while promoting a continuous monitoring of their efficacy." It highlights the importance of risk assessment tools that take account of rapidly changing digital technologies. In addition, the right to disconnect for teachers is increasingly important in the light of 24-hour contact between students and teachers.
Sector - TELECOMS
Theme - DIGITALISATION / OSH
European social partners in the telecoms sector addressed the consequences of COVID-19 in the telecoms sector in a Joint Statement of UNI-Europa and employers in the ICTS and the Telecom Industry (ETNO and GSMA) “Attacks Against Telecom Employees.” It was issued as a response to the escalation of misinformation related to 5G and mobile technology across social media platforms, including an increase in harassment linked to false claims that telecom antennas are dangerous for health and that 5G is linked to the spread of coronavirus. The statement makes it clear that every worker has the right to a safe working environment and calls on the EU and governments to protect the safety of telecom workers across Europe. In 2022, UNI-Europa and ETNO began a programme of exchanges in support of the ratification and implementation of C190 and in promoting the right of everyone to a world of work free from violence and harassment, including TPVH. A Joint agreement on prevention of violence and harassment, including GBVH will be issued at the end of 2022.
Sector - CENTRAL GOVERNMENT
Theme - DIGITALISATION / DOMESTIC VIOLENCE / RISK ASSESSMENT / PSYCHOSOCIAL RISKS / STAFFING LEVELS
In the government sector, a binding sectoral social dialogue Framework Agreement on Digitalisation was agreed in 2022 by the Social Dialogue Committee for Central Government Administrations made up of the Trade Unions’ National and European Administration Delegation (TUNED) for the trade unions and the European Public Administration Employers (EUPAE) for the employers. Cyber harassment and domestic violence are identified as risks associated with digitalisation in the world of work and the increase in telework across the state sector during the Covid-19 pandemic. The agreement calls for measures on the prevention and consequences of domestic violence. The agreement reaffirms the duty of employers to provide a safe working environment, and that the social partners address prevention, risk assessment and psychosocial risks such as inadequate staffing levels to provide safe services. It also reaffirms the duty of the employers to conduct health risk assessments on a regular basis in consultation with trade unions, taking into account staffing levels and risks of harassment and violence amongst others. If the European Commission agrees to a legislative implementation, it will provide some 8 million workers and civil servants with stronger protections on telework, the right to disconnect, training, health and safety, personal data, outsourcing and human-in command artificial intelligence.
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - OSH / SECURITY
Joint Recommendations of the European Social Partners in urban public transport (UITP and ETF) on Combatting Violence and Insecurity in Urban Public Transport were signed on 29 January 2020, updating a previous agreement dating back to 2003. The Recommendations are aligned with the joint global agreement on ending violence and harassment in urban transport in the transport sector agreed between ITF and UITP in 2015. The 2020 agreement was issued in response to the increase in aggression and threats from TPV in urban public transport. The social partners note that there has been a worsening climate of non-respect for the public good, including violence, aggression and anti-social behaviour directed at transport workers by passengers or the general public, includes acts of sexist or racially targeted aggression, harassment and violence: “This adversely affects their working conditions and at the same time creates and atmosphere of insecurity for customers. This in turn decreases the attractiveness of employment within the sector, preventing new workers from joining in, most particularly women, who are already underrepresented.” The Recommendations take into account additional risks of violence and harassment in relation to Covid-19 and makes reference to ILO C190, noting the definitions of violence and harassment and its application to TPVH. Emphasis is given to employers’ responsibility to protect the safety and health of workers, including the risk of violence and harassment. It is recommended that transport employers and unions sign CBAs that establish reporting procedures that are simple, efficient, acceptable and trusted.
Sector - EDUCATION
Theme - OSH / RISK ASSESSMENT
A good example of a risk assessment tool is the EU-OSHA online risk assessment tool, OiRA, an anonymous open-source tool developed by the EU social partners for specific sectors who are the owners of the content of their tools. The tools are designed to help employers to fulfil their legal obligation under the EU OSH Directive 89/391The OiRA tools facilitate the risk assessment process and the implementation of preventive measure. To date, 326 OiRA tools are published and a further 75 are in development. In total, more than 157 800 users are registered, and more than 300 risk assessments have been carried out. Two tools have been developed in the education sector and a further OiRA tool development for the higher education sector will start in 2023. The development of the OiRA tools in education, drawn up as part of the European social dialogue in the education sector, is a good example of a joint approach dating back to a 2015 Joint Declaration setting out a commitment by the social partners in education to work together on safety and health. In 2018, ETUCE and EFEE launched a project to develop the OiRA tools for the early childhood education and secondary education. With the support of EU-OSHA, a list of occupational risks was drawn up for the two sectors, including on well-being and TPV. The section on TPVH includes a definition, and as with other sections in the tool, it can generate an action plan with for the implementation of preventive measures, such as consultations with stakeholders, communications and information, organisational and technical issues, and support and counselling measures. The project has been very successful and based on this experience the education social partners aim to extend the tool to other education sectors, including the higher education and vocational training sectors.
Sector - HEALTH
Theme - STAFFING LEVELS
EPSU and HOSPEEM (2022) signed a new and updated framework agreement on hospital recruitment and retention, aimed to further reinforce social partners’ commitment to strengthen the attractiveness of the sector, support a rights-based approach for recruiting migrant workers, promote diversity and gender equality, and address staffing levels and enhance the role of social partners in workforce planning (worker’s needs, skills needs and skills mix). Related to this is the commitment to jointly tackle the growing problem of TPVH, including to support the role of national social partners in adopting and sharing good practices to end TPVH, including the implementing the Multi-Sectoral Guidelines on TPVH, and urging member states to ratify and implement ILO C190. Health care unions across Europe have reported higher levels of TPVH and dissatisfaction with the severe impact of staffing shortages on the quality of services, leading to strike action and negotiations to address burnout, staffing shortages and pay.
Sector - TRANSPORT
Theme - REMEDIES AND COMPENSATION / SUPPORT FOR VICTIMS-SURVIVORS
The Joint Recommendations on Combating Violence and Insecurity on Urban Public Transport (2020) updates the 2003 Recommendations addressing insecurity in urban public transport between the European social partners in transport. With recent increased levels of threats, anti-social behaviour, incivility and aggression associated with TPVH, including a worrying increase of TPVH during the Covid crisis, new action-oriented Recommendations were signed by ETF and UITP in 2020, with a focus on implementation through company OSH policies and measures to protect transport workers and transport users. The Recommendations address both internal and external violence and are aligned with ILO C190. They also adopt the global Recommendations for Combatting Violence and Insecurity on Urban Public Transport. Specific recommendations cover the recovery of victims, include provision of professional counselling, psychological, legal and other support systems, management and union support, phased return to work, and protection of earnings. A comprehensive range of tools are recommended for prevention through awareness raising such as communication campaigns for passengers, training on deescalating skills for workers, collaboration with police and justice institutions to ensure early intervention, and sanctions against offenders. Engagement in civil dialogue with users, NGOs, media and schools aims to help prevent aggressive behaviours. Recommendations are made for strategies and investments in technology and people to combat the problem, complaint procedures, collection of data and information about cases, and reporting procedures that are accessible and simple to use. Recognition is given to ensuring a balance between technological devices such as CCTV and people, and the importance of investment in people, and to ensure the physical presence of people in patrolling public areas.