About this Book

"How can society balance social needs with changes in working life?" This is the question at the heart of the 2005 Council of Europe Social Cohesion Forum, held on 17 and 18 November in the Court room in the Human Rights Building (Strasbourg). Entitled "Reconciling labour flexibility with social cohesion" the Forum will bring together leading experts from the International Labour Organisation, the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Health Organisations, governments, social partners, and NGOs. Its aim is to call the Council of Europe's member States to take action against unfair practices. A policy check list will be proposed to encourage policy makers and managers to take social cohesion principles into consideration when changing to flexible working practices. Discussions will centre around the need to integrate new forms of protection into labour flexibility, the importance of human resources policies taking into account family and personal development and the development of new rights to ease the transitions from one job to another. It will include three workshops covering labour law and new expressions of rights to accompany conversions and transitions; security/insecurity of the individual and the organisation of family life, and the economy, human resources and equity.