Evaluating impact on particular professions

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Scope

Does the option have specific negative consequences for particular professions, groups of workers, or self-employed persons?[1]

Definition

The question relates to discrimination on the job (mobbing, exclusion, wage differences), but also to negative impacts stemming from initiatives only supporting particular groups of workers. Some policies adopted to favour specific activities or technologies could threaten workers specialized in other tasks. Some policies may also affect market structure, favour concentration, thus reducing the possibility for self-employed persons to effectively compete. Discrimination could result from involuntary effects due to specific socio-economic trends or policy decisions, but also be related to specific practices adopted by the employer aiming to hamper or impede the satisfactory execution of working tasks by individuals or groups of workers. While these practices may result in higher productivity in the short run, they may significantly worsen working conditions, undermine individual workers' motivation, and eventually deteriorate skills of workers exposed to such practices. Apart from direct economic consequences, social implications can also be significant, ranging from damages to public health (stress and work related illnesses), to exclusion of individuals and groups. Examples of public policies affecting these practices are direct anti-discriminatory provisions, and, more indirectly, policies favouring the establishment of labour unions at the workplace. Wage differentials across regions correspond to diversities in average salaries (for comparable labour categories, i.e. the same tasks to be accomplished, same level of qualification and risk of operations) earned in different EU regions. In the presence of free movement of factors, regional wage differentials should reflect a transitory state of mismatch between labour supply and demand. From this perspective, regional differences in wages should gradually disappear within the EU. Persisting differentials can either signal imperfect factor mobility or local institutional rigidities. This in turn might blur market signals and generate persistent inefficiencies in the allocation of labour factors . Furthermore, wage differentials might hide discriminatory practices against relatively immobile workers. Public policies can reduce regional wage differentials by harmonising rules and institutional factors, in order to increase the efficiency of labour market signals, and by lowering the costs of labour mobility (e.g. measures improving transportation infrastructures and establishing common professional and educational standards).[1]

Result

Indicators:

The following Eurostat Structural Indicators are relevant to address the key question:

There are no Eurostat Sustainable Development Indicators directly related to this key question[1]

See also

IA TOOLS

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 JRC: IA TOOLS. Supporting inpact assessment in the European Commission. [1]

The text is for information only and is not designed to interpret or replace any reference documents. The text is partially adapted from:

European Commission: Employment and Social Affairs