Germany and Netherlands

Introduction  Germany and Netherlands created European Economic Community in 1957 in Rome  Are influential members of Europe Union  Adopted euro in 2002  Germany billions GDP 4 in the world (2014)  Netherlands 880 billions GDP 17 in the world (2014)

Economics  Both  Industrialized countries  Limited natural resources  importations represent a big part of the economy  Germany  Economy dominated by large industrial organizations  Majority of the workforce are employed by small and medium company  Among the world’s largest industrial producers  Economy growth in the recent years  Netherlands  Producer of agricultural products  Hard hit by the international financial crises of 2008

Politics  Germany  Federal states  Federal president, democratically elected  2 chambers  Netherlands  Constitutional monarchy  12 self-governing provinces  The monarch appoints the leader of the majority party as prime minister

Culture  Germany and Dutch known for  Strong desire for ordering their time  Punctuality  Religions and social tolerance  Emphasis on self-realization  High moral value  Freedom expression  Netherlands  42% population have no religion  Permits: Use of drugs, Same sex-marriage, Euthanasia

Larbour market trends  Germany  Most populated country in west Europe  Most employed in industry 29,7% compare to other European country  Netherlands  17 millions people  Workforce of 7,71 millions  Low rates of unemployment in both country CountryAgricult ure % Industry %Services % Germany2,429,767,8 Netherlands2,023,475,6 Immigrant workers Germany has the third highest number of migrants in the world Nertherlands decided to restricte entry to workers from new members of UE

Equal opportunities and diversity  In both  Discrimination is forbidden by law  Still differences between men and women  Germany  Introduces work-life balance and family-friendly employment policies  Women participation increase from 55,3% in 1995 to 59,6% in 2005  Netherlands  Equal opportunities law  Equal pay checklist at the organizational level  Women participation increase from 63,5 in 2000 to 66,4 in 2005

Older versus younger workers  Both have growing population of older people and at the same time an increase of youth unemployment  20,3% German population over 65 years  15% nertherlands population over 64 years  Introduced legislation to address the problem Country0-14 years years Over 65Median years Life expectanc y Germany13,766,120,344,379,26 Netherlands17,467,714,940,879,4

Strategic management  Flexible working practices privileged and purchased by a lots of company in the both country  Dutch economy has been labelled the « first part-time » economy in the world  That encourages women and wen who needed to work flexibly

Managing Human ressources  Recruitment regulated in both  In Germany by Federal Labour Department  Intern recruitment encouraged by law  Transfer between to department often  In Netherlands by the Privacy Code for Recruitment and Selection  Specifies rights of applicants  Selection  Number test used to select new employs and transfers between two jobs  Germany encourages references  Netherlands prefers application form  Job training are also important

Training and development  Employers expect to have training plans and to give employees the opportunity to be trained to build their carreers  Germany spends 70 millions € each years in education  Employers spend between 3 and 8% of their annual age bills on trainings  Both country are well educated and practice a lot vocational training  MBA not well known by company but most of managers ask to pass them during their career

Rewards and remuneration:  Are influenced by federal and national collectives.  The difference between the highest and lowest salary:  Germany and Netherlands : 2.5%  UK : 3.4 %  France : 3.08%  Wage earners are rewarded with high salaries.  Employees are considered as a valuable asset.

The minimum wage  Germany does not have and doesn’t impose minimum wages.  On the contrary the Netherlands represents a minimum wage of euros per month since 2008, which is variable according to the age of the person.

Allowances and benefits  Companies provide their staff with:  Sick pay  Holiday pay  Travelling allowances  Child-care allowances  Career break schemes  Company doctors  These allowances and benefits have known some internal changes.

Employee relations  They are characterized by social partnership in both countries.  Laws that regulate employee relations in both countries matches the EU directives.

Trade union  Trade unions enhanced the developement and the industrialization in Germany, back in time.  Trade union density (%) Germany and Netherlands: Country Germany Netherlands Source OECD,2009.

Works councils  Co-determination in Germany and self-determination in the Netherlands follow the strategic feature of the Germanic approach to management.  The main characteristics of works councils, according to Fürstenberg are:  They represent all employees  They have the right to information, consultation and co-determination  They cannot take industrial action or call to a strike.  They are involved in a wide range of issues such as :  daily working hours and breaks, the fixing of piece rates, pay systems, works discipline, temporary short-term or overtime work etc.

Collective bargaining  In Germany : the legal framework is provided by the German collective Agreements.  Collective bargaining is conducted at regional and industrial levels.  The collective agreement act ( WCAO) was issued in 1927 an changed The recent developments are :  The extension of collective agreements.  The decentralization of collective bargaining:  Those on issues that are agreed at the central or sector-wide levels.  Those that apply only to specific sub-sectors for specific provisions.  Those that are company-specific agreements  Individual workers agreements have also been applied in what is called « cafeteria » agreements.

 Industrial Action  Strikes are permitted in Germany and in the Netherlands. Settlement of industrial disputes  The dispute can be of interest or of right.  Disputes of interest are referred to a voluntary mediation procedure.  Disputes of right result from interpretation of a collective agreement

Conclusion GermanyNetherlands Federal democracyConstitutional monarchy Minimum salary Minimum age working : 15 yearsMinimum age working : 16 years Full-time umployment : 36 yearsFull-time umployment : 38 years Midian age: 43.8 yearsMidian age : 40 years Conciliate boardMediation panel