How EU Employment Rights are Experienced in Different-Sized Enterprises and Why It Matters

This paper analyses the experiences of employees in different-sized employment units for 10 EU member states in three EU policy areas. Each of the policy areas represents a different EU governance tool: directives (health and safety); education and training (the Open Method of Communication); and the reconciliation between work and family life (soft law). The analysis is based on data provided by the European Labour Force Survey. It finds that while there are few differences between employment experiences in different-sized units in the area of health and safety, employees in micro and small-sized enterprises are less likely to take part in education and training, and have flexible working hours, than those in medium and large employment units. The increase of such employment units, one of the aims of EU policy, therefore has an unintended consequence for EU employment rights.