The employment law landscape across the EU Member States is
often markedly different from that in the US. Here, we take a look
at five important employment issues to be aware of when a
transaction includes employees in the EU.
1. Employee Representative Organizations. At
the outset of any transaction involving EU employees, it is
important to identify whether there is any organization
representing the interests of such EU employees. Collective labor
law is relatively undeveloped on an EU-wide level, meaning that
each Member State has its own requirements. But, broadly speaking,
it is not uncommon for there to be trade unions, works councils and
collective bargaining agreements to contend with in the EU (either
at an industry, company or workplace level). For example, in
France, a company that has at least 11 employees will have an
employee representative body known as a comité social et
économique, while in Germany, there will be a works council
in place if there are
