Tag: flexibility

Gun Johansson, a postgraduate at the Swedish Medical University Karolinska Institute, introduces the illness flexibility model to clarify the causes of sickness absence at work. The model assumes that sickness absence is caused by people’s ability and motivation to work. The study shows that the less adaptable a working place is, the higher the rate of sick leave.

The minimum annual leave of four weeks paid vacations per year cannot be converted into compensation payments, even when it is carried over into the next year, the European Court of Justice ruled. 

At their 19-20 January 2006 informal summit, employment and social affairs ministers debated the benefits of the Nordic model of flexicurity, which brings together flexibility of the labour force with a high degree of social security.

The Danish concept of 'flexicurity'  - a combination of easy hiring and firing, high benefits for the unemployed and a pro-active labour market policy - is the talk of the town when labour market issues are being discussed in Brussels presently. Hans Skov Christensen, Director General of Dansk Industri, the association of Danish Industry, speaks out on the model's benefits from an employer's point of view.