Using data from in-depth interviews conducted with chairpersons of works councils, representatives of management and chairpersons of trade unions in 20 Polish organizations, this article explores the importance of different factors influencing the strength of works councils. The findings indicate a decisive role of such factors as management approach and activity of councillors, and a minor role in the case of individual regulations and works council’s age. Moreover, the article identifies three main models of works councils existing in Polish organizations after the amendment of the Act on Informing and Consulting Employees: ‘perfunctory’ councils, ‘constructive’ councils and works councils as a ‘complement to unions’.
AdamG (2003) Thematic feature – works councils and other workplace employee representation and participation structures (Austria). Available at: www.eurofound.europa.eu
2.
AddisonJTBellmaannLSchnabelC, et al. (2003) German works councils old and new: Incidence, coverage and determinants. Schmollers Jahrbuch123(3): 339–358.
3.
AddisonJTSchnabelCWagnerJ (1996) German works councils: Profits, and innovation. Kyklos49(4): 555–582.
4.
AddisonJTSchnabelCWagnerJ (2001) Works councils in Germany: Their effects on establishment performance. Oxford Economic Papers53: 659–694.
5.
AddisonJTSiebertWSWagnerJ, et al. (2000) Worker participation and firm performance: Evidence from Germany and Britain. British Journal of Industrial Relations38(1): 7–48.
6.
BaikovA (2014) Representation of workers in Latvia: Problems of the implementation of the works councils. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 121–138.
7.
BednarskiM (2010) Rady pracowników w polskich przedsiębiorstwach. Wnioski z badań empirycznych. In: WratnyJBednarskiM (eds) Związki zawodowe a niezwiązkowe przedstawicielstwa pracownicze w gospodarce posttransformacyjnej. Warsaw: IPiSS, pp. 194–236.
8.
BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) (2014) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer.
9.
CarleyMBaradelAWelzC (2005) Works Councils: Workplace Representation and Participation Structures. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
10.
CullinaneNDonagheyJDundonT, et al. (2014) Regulating for mutual gains? Non-union employee representation and the Information and Consultation Directive. International Journal of Human Resource Management25(6): 810–828.
11.
DrahokoupliJKahancováM (2017) Workers’ participation in Czechia and Slovakia. CELSI Discussion Paper No. 44.
12.
DundonTCurranDRyanP, et al. (2006) Conceptualising the dynamics of employee voice: Evidence from the Republic of Ireland. Industrial Relations Journal37(5): 492–512.
13.
DundonTDobbinsTCullinaneN, et al. (2014) Employer occupation of regulatory space of the employee Information and Consultation (I&C) Directive in liberal market economies. Work, Employment and Society28(1): 21–39.
14.
FreemanRBMedoffJL (1984) What Do Unions Do?New York: Basic Books.
15.
FregeCM (2002) A critical assessment of the theoretical and empirical research on German works councils. British Journal of Industrial Relations40(2): 221–248.
16.
FrickBMöllerI (2003) Mandated works councils and firm performance: Labour productivity and personnel turnover in German establishments. Journal of Applied Social Science Studies123(3): 423–454.
HallMPurcellJ (2011) Information and Consultation Practice Across Europe Five Years After the EU Directive. Dublin: European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions.
19.
HallMHutchinsonSPurcellJ, et al. (2013) Promoting effective consultation? Assessing the impact of ICE regulations. British Journal of Industrial Relations51(2): 355–381.
20.
Hauser-DitzAHertwingMPriesL (2013) Collective employee representation in German companies: Coverage and contextual conditions. Employee Relations35(5): 509–526.
21.
HüblerOJirjahnU (2003) Works councils and collective bargaining in Germany: The impact on productivity and wages. Scottish Journal of Political Economy50(4): 471–491.
22.
HůrkaPVrajíkM (2014) Past, present and future of non-trade union employees’ representation in the Czech Republic. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 53–70.
23.
HymanR (1997) The future of employee representation. British Journal of Industrial Relations35(3): 309–336.
24.
HymanRGumbrell-McCormickR (2013) Collective representation at work: Institutions and dynamics. In: FregeCKellyJ (eds) Comparative Employment Relations in the Global Economy. London: Routledge, pp. 49–70.
25.
JirjahnUSmithSC (2017) Nonunion employee representation: Theory and the German experience with mandated works councils. Discussion Paper Series, IZA No. 11066.
26.
JirjahnUMohrenweiserJBackes-GellnerU (2011) Works councils and learning: On the dynamic dimension of codetermination. Kyklos64(3): 427–447.
27.
KnudsenH (1995) Employee Participation in Europe. London: Sage.
28.
KončarP (2014) On dual system of workers’ representation in Slovenia. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 213–228.
29.
KougiannouKRedmanTDietzG (2015) The outcomes of works councils: The role of trust, justice and industrial relations climate. Human Resource Management Journal25(4): 458–477.
30.
KovacsE (2014) Old-new concerns about the Hungarian works councils. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 105–120.
31.
LecherWPlatzerHWRübS, et al. (2001) European Works Councils. Developments, Types and Networking. Aldershot: Gower.
32.
LyutovN (2014) Challenges of the implementation of works councils in Central and Eastern Europe: General overview. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 1–9.
33.
MohrenweiserJMarginsonPBackes-GellnerU (2011) What triggers the establishment of a works council?Economic and Industrial Democracy33(2): 295–316.
34.
Monitoring Ustawy z dnia 7 kwietnia 2006 r. o informowaniu pracowników i przeprowadzaniu z nimi konsultacji (2007) Warsaw: S. Partner.
35.
MüllerSStegmaierJ (2017) The dynamic effects of works councils on labour productivity: First evidence from panel data. British Journal of Industrial Relations55(2): 372–395.
36.
PetrylaitéD (2014) Workers representation in Lithuania: Works councils’ role. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 139–150.
37.
PinderCCHarlosKP (2001) Employee silence: Quiescence and acquiescence as responses to perceived injustice. Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management20: 331–369.
38.
Prezentacja metod i rezultatów projektu. Niezależna ekspertyza ekonomiczna standardem dialogu społecznego w obliczu zmiany gospodarczej (2011) Gdańsk: Solidarność, OPZZ.
39.
RogersJStreeckW (eds) (1995) Works Councils: Consultation, Representation, and Cooperation in Industrial Relations. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
40.
SchankTSchnabelCWagnerJ (2002) Works councils – sand or grease in the operation of German firms. Applied Economic Letter11(3): 159–161.
41.
SkorupińskaK (2018a) The failure of a new form of employee representation: Polish works councils in comparative perspective. European Journal of Industrial Relations24(2): 163–178.
42.
SkorupińskaK (2018b) Towards a Europeanization of indirect employee participation: Polish experiences. Economic and Industrial Democracy39(1): 6–26.
43.
Skorupińska-CieślakK (2018) What determines the presence of works councils in Polish companies?Employee Relations40(5): 787–800.
44.
TeichmannMLõhmusM (2015) Employee representatives in Estonia. How are they perceived and what are the expectations by employers? In: EuwemaMCMunduateLElgoibarP, et al. (eds) Promoting Social Dialogue in European Organizations. Cham: Springer, pp. 53–65.
45.
TraxlerF (1998) Austria – Still the country of corporatism. In: FernerAHymanR (eds) Changing Industrial Relations in Europe. Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 239–261.
46.
WaasB (2014) Non-trade union workers’ representation in Germany. In: BlanpainRLyutovN (eds) Workers’ Representation in Central and Eastern Europe: Challenges and Opportunities for the Works Councils’ System. Alphen on the Rhine: Wolters Kluwer, pp. 85–104.
47.
WhiteRRobinM (2003) Thematic feature – works councils and other workplace employee representation and participation structures (Spain). Available at: www.eurofound.europa.eu
48.
WratnyJBednarskiM (eds) (2010) Związki zawodowe a niezwiązkowe przedstawicielstwa pracownicze w gospodarce posttransformacyjnej. Warsaw: IPiSS.
