Working conditions surveys : A comparative analysis

The objective of this report is to awaken the interest of the research community in surveys of working conditions, and to illustrate how a variety of working conditions surveys are conducted in different European and other industrialised countries. In this case, priority has been given to a descriptive analysis of the surveys. The background for this study dates back to July 2001, when the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions announced its interest in financing an analysis of the national working conditions surveys being conducted in the European Union. Every five years, the Foundation conducts a working conditions survey in the Member States of the European Union. This survey was conducted in 1990/91, 1995 and 2000. Similar data collection systems exist on a national scale in Europe and other industrialised countries (Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States).