Brussels European Employee Relations Group

As part of HR Policy Global, the Brussels European Employee Relations Group (BEERG) provides expertise in global labor relations and European Works Councils issues.  

Established in 2002, the BEERG provides a forum for labour and employee relations specialists to discuss issues of mutual concern.  Our services have grown out of our 30+ years of experience dealing with European Works Councils (EWCs) and include network meetings, webinars, web meetings, on-line offerings, weekly newsletter, regular briefings and reports, consultancy, and training. 

HR Policy Global members enjoy full membership to the extensive resources provided by BEERG, including access to marquee consulting and training programs.  

BEERG Consulting Program: HR Policy Global members have access to consultancy services in the following areas. These services are available to non-members on a fee basis.  

• All aspects of European Works Council (EWC) management – including negotiating and renegotiating EWC agreements, advising on EWC meetings and planning for, and assisting with, “exceptional” meetings where consultation is required on transnational issues.
• Specific EWC services to assist companies deal with the changes required in EWC agreements resulting from EU Directives and helping them managing the introduction of such changes.
• Planning the employee relations aspects of substantial restructuring programmes including relocations, headcount reductions, closures and outsourcing. This includes planning for, and managing, information and consultation requirements at the national and international levels. We can also offer assistance in liaising with both politicians and government officials, where necessary.
• Understanding major legal and non-legal changes in labor relations practices in key economies including China, Australia, the United States and the member states of the EU.
• Planning for and managing the employee relations implications of mergers and acquisitions.
  Working on global issues, such as responding to trade union campaigns pushing companies to sign International Framework Agreements.

BEERG Training Programs: BEERG provides specialised and expert open and “in-house” training programmes, briefings and workshops, all of which are of a highly practical nature. We prefer to work with smaller groups, this enables our team of trainers to ensure that all individuals attendees benefit from personal attention and can discuss the specific issues that matter to them.

Our work with individual companies ranges from executive briefings to presentations at major conferences. Our executive briefings are designed for individual, senior executives, or for small groups of such executives, and focus on global employee relations issues or on particular issues in specific countries. We can assist, where appropriate, with the training of employees’ representatives on EWCs and/or national-level information and consultation bodies and those managers who work with them.

We also offer our open events large companies on an “in-house” basis – either as set piece programmes or as a shorter contribution to an existing HR conference.