Social dialogue to promote occupational health and safety – Clariane (formerly Korian) and its European Works Council
Founded in 2003, Clariane (formerly Korian) is a French company and Global Deal partner specialising in elder care services and employing more than 55,000 workers. The company has established itself as one of Europe's largest private care providers with operations in seven countries.
Works Councils are bodies that represent employees of a company. Historically part of the social dialogue infrastructure in countries like Austria and Germany, works councils can help to facilitate information sharing and dialogue between workers and management.
In 2019, the Global Deal partner Clariane established a European Works Council. The European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), an affiliate of Global Deal partner Public Services International (PSI), initiated the council’s creation in line with a decision to establish more such councils as tools to support regional trade union activities.
When workers at the company indicated their intention to form a works council, Clariane responded positively. The company had experience engaging in social dialogue with trade unions and worker representatives but the founding of the European Works Council was the first time social dialogue was implemented in a transnational context.
Clariane's European Works Council consists of members from ten trade unions representing workers in the company’s various countries of operation. These trade unions worked together with the company, along with support from EPSU, to establish the agreement setting up the works council.
The European Works Council Agreement notably included a commitment to establishing two joint working groups made up of management and works council representatives: one on social issues and another on health and safety.
By working together, the social partners sought to change the company culture and work habits in an effort to take better care of their employees.
Since its inception, the company has viewed the social dialogue with the Works Council as a success. In light of the company’s move to establish itself as a European company, management and workers signed a new agreement in 2022 to create a European Company Works Council that replaced the current works council. This transition took place in late 2022 and lead to the creation of a 3rd working group dedicated to CSR and training and the negotiation and recent signature of a European charter on social dialogue principles.
In November 2021, the social partners established a Protocol on Health and Safety that was adopted by management representatives and the European Works Council. The content of the protocol builds upon the Health and Safety at Work Charter, signed by Clariane management in 2019, and has been adapted to handle the challenges raised by COVID-19.
The protocol includes 25 measures for improving health and safety and is delivered in broad language to allow it to be accordingly adjusted in each country of operation.
Clariane and the European Works Council work together to establish concrete practices and goals for each of the 25 measures and assess their progress against the overall aim of improving the culture of health and safety at work.
The Protocol on Health and Safety was signed for 3 years and should be extended after negotiations. Clariane is seeing a reduction in workplace accidents and the emphasis on social dialogue has created a more transparent relationship between the company and its workers.
Key Lessons
Social dialogue leads to a better understanding of workplace problems.
Identifying issues of mutual importance through social dialogue builds trust.
Social dialogue makes it possible to adapt commitments to broad principles to times of disruption or unforeseen circumstances. In this case, commitments to health and safety were adjusted to the challenges that emerged with COVID-19.
Regional commitments can be operationalised differently depending on the local context. For Korian, a broad set of commitments to issues of mutual importance were operationalised differently at the country level.
Small changes can make a big difference. The concrete steps outlined in the Protocol on Health and Safety range from extensive to small everyday changes but all have made a positive difference.
Read the full report
Download the Global Deal Flagship Report 2022 for the full version of this case study, plus 12 others examining the work carried out by Global Deal partners and the voluntary commitments made to promote social dialogue in addressing global-labour market challenges.
