Implementation and enforcement of labour clauses
Implementation and enforcement are crucial if labour clauses are to ensure proper pay and working conditions among public service providers. But how are labour clauses implemented and integrated into existing collective agreements? Jens Arnholtz and colleagues examines this in a new article in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, where they describe the challenges that can arise when labour clauses are implemented in public procurement.
Labour clauses that require certain pay and working conditions in public procurement and tendering have received increased political and scientific attention in recent years. A large part of the discussion has revolved around legal provisions, while there has been less focus on how the clauses are implemented and integrated into existing collective agreements. This article focuses on the implementation and enforcement of labour clauses and their interaction with collective bargaining systems in two countries, Denmark and Germany, which heavily use collective agreements to regulate wages and working conditions. However, the interaction between labour clauses and collective agreements can pose challenges. Based on four case studies, the authors highlight the challenges that arise in connection with the implementation of labour clauses, such as tensions between economic and social policy objectives and between state regulation and collective agreements. The four cases show that learning processes among public authorities and the social partners are crucial if tensions are to be managed and decent working conditions are to be ensured in publicly offered work.
Read the full article ’Tensions and experimentation in setting, extending and enforcing working conditions: case studies of labour clauses in public procurement’ by Jens Arnholtz, Karen Jaehrling, Trine Pernille Larsen and Bjarke Refslund. Published in Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, June 2025.