On the 23rd October, the Federation of European Social Employers welcomed thirteen new members from Austria, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. On the 24th October, the Social Employers and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) held a Thematic Seminar on “Digitalisation in Social Services: Defining opportunities for social partners, barriers and how to prepare for the future”.
Breaking News
- On the 23rd October, the Federation of European Social Employers held its General Assembly and welcomed thirteen new members from Austria, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. One year since its creation, the Social Employers now have members in twelve EU Member States and Switzerland; and expect to continue to grow in the months to come.
- On the 24th October, the Federation of European Social Employers and the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU) held a Thematic Seminar on “Digitalisation in Social Services: Defining opportunities for social partners, barriers and how to prepare for the future”. Supported by experts from EU bodies, research institutes & practical examples, the Seminar brought together over 50 Employers and Trade Union representatives from across Europe to further define the impact of digitalisation and identify joint work that could be achieved together at European level.
- The Social Employers and EPSU also agreed to co-organise a Thematic Seminar on “Job Creation, Recruitment and Retention in Social Services” in February 2019 (date to be confirmed).
Thirteen New Members for the Social Employers
Earlier this week, the General Assembly of the Federation of European Social Employers welcomed in thirteen new members from Austria, France, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Switzerland. Following only a year of existence the Federation of European Social Employers already has over 20 Members, covering 13 European countries, active as Employers in the field of social care and support for the elderly, persons with disabilities & children; as well as services for other vulnerable or disadvantaged persons.
Welcoming the new members, Mr Thomas Bignal, Director of the Social Employers stated “Our success depends on our members and their commitment to having a strong Employers voice at European level. Having tripled in membership in only a year, national social services’ Employers clearly understand the growing importance of the European Union for shaping economic, social & labour policy. They also understand the importance of setting up a European sectoral social dialogue committee, to enable social partners from the social sector to find joint solutions to some of their challenges. With 13 new members, we are now one step closer to making this happen!”
Progress Made on Digitalisation between the Social Employers and EPSU
On Wednesday 24th October, the Social Employers and the European Federation of Public Service Unions co-organised a Thematic Seminar on “Digitalisation in Social Services: Defining opportunities for social partners, barriers and how to prepare for the future”.
Supported by experts from the European Commission, Eurofound, research institutions and practical examples, the participants engaged in the process of jointly identifying the challenges and opportunities posed by digitalisation, as well as the building blocks for what both organisations could jointly develop together in the future.
Three main challenges emerged throughout the day:
- How to manage concerns linked to data storage, ownership and security;
- How to deal with the additional and changing digital training needs of workers and managers;
- How to ensure that digitalisation improves and does not hinder physical and mental health in the workplace.
Concluding the day for the Social Employers, Mr Gregor Tomschizek, President, said "employers and unions see the potential that digitalisation has to offer the social services sector, such as to improve administrative procedures or supportive technology for home care work. Whilst considering these benefits, we cannot miss sight of the risks too; linked for instance to managing data, dealing with the additional digital training needs of all workers and physical and mental health implications. These could be the first points for future work on digitalisation between the Social Employers and EPSU in the months to come”.
Both the Social Employers and EPSU have already agreed to follow-up bilaterally to develop a joint work-plan on digitalisation. They also agreed to organise a joint Thematic Seminar on “Job Creation, Recruitment and Retention in Social Services” with a date expected to be in February 2019.
Want to learn more about the Social Employers? Visit our website www.socialemployers.eu. Want to get regular updates from the Social Employers? Sign up to our newsletter or follow us on twitter: @SocialEmployers.
Supporting Documents
- Agenda
- Presentations
- Social Employers Position Paper on Digitalisation
- EPSU Scoping Note on Digitalisation
- A PDF of the Press Release is available here.
For more information, please contact:
Thomas Bignal, Director
thomas.bignal(at)socialemployers.eu, +32 2 233 77 23
Alina Pavicevac, Policy & Communications Assistant
alina.pavicevac(at)socialemployers.eu, +32 2 233 77 23
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