Work-life Balance 21 February 2018 Voice of crafts and SMEs in Europe

UEAPME, Voice of Crafts and SMEs 42 National cross- sectoral associations 21 European sectoral organisations 29 countries 12 mio SMEs & 55 mio employees

SMEs in Europe 99% of European companies Micro- and Small Enterprises: 92% out of the 99% Average EU company: 4,5 people

Work-life balance UEAPME’s main objectives: Facilitate participation on and return to the labour market of women (current 65% shows a great potential) Modernisation: need for flexibility by both employers and workers Facilitate a real choice for parents – encourage better sharing entitlements/responsibilities

Work-life balance UEAPME solutions (1): (Child)care infrastructure Smart interaction at national level between different forms of leave Encouraging enough to share entitlements No incentives to stay away from the labour market Enabling the management of work organisation in small businesses

Work-life balance UEAPME solutions (2): Tackling gender-based stereotypes from early education on-wards (VET!), families, society Fiscal incentives

Work-life balance Employer and workers working closely together The scenario for micro- and small companies in Europe Employer and workers working closely together Arrangements at company level is the best approach Every worker counts!

Work-life balance The scenario for micro- and small companies in Europe The general implications of leaves: Necessary flexibility for all HR constraints: Unique skills are difficult to replace – loss of competitive edge Overtime for remaining employees, including the employer (work-life balance?) Financial cost, depending on financing modalities Administrative burden, work organisation/planning

UEAPME and the EC proposal Recital 30: “This Directive should avoid imposing administrative, financial and legal constraints in a way which would hold back the creation and development of small and medium-sized undertakings. Member States are therefore invited to assess the impact of their transposition act on SMEs in order to make sure that SMEs are not disproportionately affected, with specific attention for micro-enterprises and for administrative burden.”

UEAPME and the EC proposal Focus: Parental leave Flexible working arrangements ‘Adequate income’  the importance of ‘workable’ solutions at the workplace

Parental leave Interaction of leaves The implications for micro- and small companies: The payment of the person on leave (depending on system) The difficulty of finding a replacement The cost of replacement The work planning and organisation Processing the requests The inevitable side affect: added workload, payment of overtime Shortages in many sectors

Parental leave (2) The implication for the work organisation The age limit of the child

Adequate income Payment adapted to the national context, taking into account interaction between existing leaves At EU level: proportionate minimum standards Payment: impact on (small businesses) and collective agreements

Flexible Working Arrangements Flexibility is best achieved through voluntary, practical arrangements, based on the interest of employers and workers, and feasible for the work organisation of the business

Flexible Working Arrangements The age limit of the child: 12  8 The implication for the work organisation Allow for a degree of flexibility and predictability Reasonable notice periods No disproportionate burden on the good functioning of the business

Thank you for your attention Arnold de Boer Adviser for Social Affairs a.deboer@ueapme.com | www.ueapme.com