Project PESSIS: Promoting employers social services organisations in social dialogue AGREEMENT REF. NO. VS/2011/0428

Transcription

1 Project PESSIS: Promoting employers social services organisations in social dialogue AGREEMENT REF. NO. VS/2011/0428 Guidelines for the tendering of National Researchers 1. GUIDELINES FOR THE CALL FOR TENDERS: Vereniging Gehandicaptenzorg Nederland is currently hiring for a researcher for a short-term assignment (7 months) to work on a European project funded by the European Commission, DG Employment, under the Call For Proposals Social Affairs and Inclusion; Industrial Relations And Social Dialogue. Short description of the project: The project PESSIS: Promoting employers social services organisations in social dialogue is a project which aims to redress the lack of qualitative and quantitative data on labour and social dialogue issues in the sector of social services from the perspective of employers. The key action will be the mapping exercise, which aims at a better understanding of how social dialogue is organised and structured (or not) in the social sector in Europe. It will also increase the understanding of barriers to enhanced cooperation among employers in the sector. The project is managed by EASPD, in partnership with eight other European Organisations representing social service providers (Caritas Europa, CEDAG, EPR, Epsu, Eurodiaconia, Feantsa, Solidar, Workability Europe) and ten partners representing NGOs from different European countries that will manage the mapping exercise at a national level. At a national level the outcome of the mapping exercise will be the national reports on the situation of social dialogue in the social services sector in 11 European countries. The reports will be drafted in the mother tongue of the different countries and will answer to 4 key research questions: 1. What is the size of the social services sector, both in terms of workforce and of employers in aggregated value? 2. How well represented is the sector in terms of number of employers and workers covered by collective agreements? 3. How many employers of the sector are involved in social dialogue and at what level? 4. What are the key labour issues dealt with and at what level? The methodological guidelines for the research have been developed by a European Coordinating Researcher that will oversee the mapping exercises providing support when needed. In a second phase the 11 reports will be collected and translated in English, and compiled by the European Coordinating Researcher in a European Summary Report. The European Summary Report will be presented during The Final Conference. After that during the Final Coordination Meeting the Coordinating Researcher together with the National Researchers and Project partners will reflect on the results, the conclusions and the recommendations of the event and discuss how to incorporate the feedback and relevant additional information received during the final conference into the Final European Report.

2 Reasons for contracting out implementation work: It has been decided to subcontract this part of the work to ensure the highest possible quality of research and the mapping exercise, to obtaining cross social-sector information thus reaching beyond the field of action of the project partners at National level. Job description: 1. The National Researchers will collect data with regards to social dialogue in their country, supported by the project partners. They will be tasked with drafting national reports of approximately 25 pages, describing the situation on social dialogue in the social services sector in the country, in answer to 4 key research questions. 2. The National Researchers will have the responsibility of involving the highest possible number of stakeholders, organising, together with the National Project Partners, a national meeting as one of the tools to collect information on structures and actual practice and relevance of social dialogue and collective bargaining and on the key actors involved at different levels (national, sectoral, regional, local/enterprise) in the social services sector. 3. The national researchers will contribute to the drafting of the Final European Report, giving inputs during the Final Conference and Final Coordination Meeting. They will be supported in their efforts by the Project Partners and will follow the methodology agreed with the Coordinating researcher. Task involved: The successful candidate will perform the following tasks: - Draft a National Report of approximately 25 pages, describing the situation on social dialogue in the social services sector in the country, in answer to 4 key research questions - Participate to a skype conference call with the European Coordinating Researcher about the research methodology on 10 February 2012 at or on 13 February at (Brussels time) - Organise, together with the Partner coordinator, a National Coordination Meeting, to collect information on structures and actual practice and relevance of social dialogue and collective bargaining and on the key actors involved at different levels (national, sectoral, regional, local/enterprise) in the social services sector; - Draft an outline of the National Report and send it to the European Coordinating Researcher by 10 April Participate to the First coordination meeting in Brussels on 17 April Collaborate with the European Coordinating Researcher, to the draft of the European Summary Report and of the Final European Report. The candidate might also be asked to: - Participate to the Final Conference and to the Third Coordination Meeting in Brussels on June 2012; Working days estimation: 20 to 30 Maximum quote: (amount specified for subcontracting in PESSIS budget) gross euro incl BTW. Starting date: 6 February 2012

3 Person Specification: Essential: Desirable: Excellent writing skills: the candidate must be able to produce a high quality report, suitable for publishing; Good understanding of research methodologies; Good understanding of Social Dialogue; Ability to work independently; Eligibility to work in the EU; Computer literacy, with a high level of competence in Microsoft Office applications. Able to travel to Brussels (1-2 meetings should be foreseen for the period of assignment). To apply: Please send a full CV, covering letter and a writing sample (ideally a published article) to Vereniging Gehandicaptenzorg Nederland, T.a.v. G. van der Lei, Postbus 413, 3500 AK Utrecht gvanderlei@vgn.nl Your cover letter should include: A description of past research, with specific reference to ethics, PCT or disability An outline of how you plan to carry out the research, including a timetable Two references Deadline for applications: 31 January 2012 Selection procedure: The selection procedures will be based on the principles of equal treatment, fairness and transparency. The contract will granted to the best proposal and on consideration of the best cost-benefit ratio. Responses to this offer will be evaluated on the following criteria: Knowledge of social sector and social dialogue; Congruence of applicant s profile with job description; Quality and relevance of the researcher s experience. Selection procedure: The Project Coordinator will draw up terms of reference as well as person specifications and contract requirements with the active support of the other project partners; who will be able to feedback on these documents and review them. The selection procedures will be based on the principles of equal treatment, fairness and transparency. The contract will granted to the best proposal and on consideration of the best costbenefit ratio. Candidatures have to be sent the following address:

4 2. RESEARCH BRIEFING PAPER RESEARCH QUESTIONS The aim of this research project is to redress the lack of qualitative and quantitative data on labour and social dialogue issues in the sector of social services, from the perspective of employers. The key action will be the mapping exercise, which aims at a better understanding of how social dialogue is organised and structured (or not) in the social sector in Europe. It will also increase the understanding of barriers to enhanced cooperation among employers in the sector. There are four research questions that have been defined for the Project PESSIS. They are 1. What is the size of the social services sector, both in terms of workforce and of employers in aggregated value? 2. How well represented is the sector in terms of number of employers and workers covered by collective agreements? 3. How many employers of the sector are involved in social dialogue and at what level? 4. What are the key labour issues dealt with and at what level? There there any other research questions that should be included? DEFINITIONS Social services Social services is a term that can be interpreted in different ways across Europe but for the PESSIS project, the key groups included are: Long-term care for older people; Care and rehabilitation for people with disabilities; Child care. Social services may also cover: Services for homeless people, people without employment and other support services for disadvantaged groups. Social dialogue For the purposes of the Project PESSIS, the term social dialogue will be defined as A dialogue between management and labour. It is important to recognise that in some countries, civil society organisations are also part of a social dialogue process. For Project PESSIS, the focus will be on social dialogue between management/ employers and labour/ trade unions.

5 DATA COLLECTION This research project is exploratory research, which will gather data on a sector that is underresearched in terms of social dialogue. It will involve gathering several types of data at national, regional and local levels. There will be four types of data gathering, which will have to be managed simultaneously. Stage 1 To start the research process, it will be important to gather as much relevant research that had been done on the social services sector, in each country. This will vary from country to country. Four main sources will be employer organisations, trade unions and government departments and academic research. Reports may cover social dialogue, collective bargaining arrangements, other negotiating systems or wider perspectives on employment relations in the social services sector. Stage 2 The mapping of social services by country at national, regional and local level will be the second part of the research. Depending on the materials gathered in Stage 1, there may already be data on the size of the social services sector, including number of employers, workers, volunteers. Sources for this mapping data will be: Government departments; Workforce surveys Social services organisations working at national level Not for profit organisations Trade unions Academic research for social services/ social care policies Stage 3 As this is an under-researched topic, the main form of data collection will take place through a series of interviews with key stakeholders. These interviews will aim to gather information on how employers are involved in social dialogue, collective bargaining agreements and how labour issues are dealt with at local, regional and national levels. Suggested stakeholders are: Employer organisations Government departments Trade Unions Not for profit organisations Private sector There will be some differences from country to country in terms of the structure of social services sector and the contribution by different sectors. This will mean that the source of key informants will vary from country to country but national level partners will be able to contribute to the process of identifying key stakeholders.

6 All interviews should be recorded and if possible, transcribed. A basic question guide will be drawn up for use in the interviews and is set out below. 1. What is your understanding of the social service sector? 2. Which collective bargaining agreements cover parts or the whole of the social services sector? 3. What do you understand by the term social dialogue? 4. Are you involved in any social dialogue arrangements? 5. What do you think are the main labour issues facing the social services sector? 6. At what level(s) are these labour issues occurring? 7. How do you think that they are currently being addressed - by level? 8. How would you like to see them addressed in future? Stage 4 Collective agreements and social dialogue agreements will be collected and subject to document analysis to identify the content of each agreement and which groups are covered. These will probably become available after the stakeholder interviews. These will be important because they will provide information on how social dialogue is understood and the type of issues that are covered in any agreements. ANALYSIS AND WRITING-UP The timescale for the project PESSIS is very short. It will be important to start analysis of each stage as quickly as possible. The questions set out below, will try and support researchers in starting to write up the research findings. Please use this as a basic template for the analysis. 1. Key research reports What are the key issues emerging from published research? Which groups are most active in social services sector? Is there any form of social dialogue taking place in the social services sector? Where are the gaps in research? 2. Mapping of the social services sector How many social services workers by gender, ethnic group, age by type of social service? How many social services organisations in the public, private, not-for-profit (nfp) sectors? What is the size (number of employees) of these organisations? What is the value of services as seen through turnover/ revenues, profits (where relevant) What are the main sources of funding for social services providers, e.g. government, charitable, income from user fees?

7 3. Stakeholder interviews How is the social services sector defined? What is the extent of collective bargaining agreements? Do existing arrangements cover part or the whole of the sector? What are the different definitions of social dialogue? To what extent are employers currently involved in social dialogue? Have there been any attempts to set up social dialogue arrangements in the past? What are the major labour issues facing the social services sector and at national, regional and local level? 4. Social dialogue/ collective bargaining agreements What are the main terms used in the agreements? Which organisations are named in the agreements? What type of issues are covered? Time schedule January September 2012 Activities Jan Feb March April May June July August Sept Review of existing research Collection numerical data/ sectoral mapping Collective agreements Social dialogue Labour issues Analysis Write up of national

8 reports Translation of national reports Write up of European summary report Write up of Final European report Research strategy table Research questions Type of data Sources Analysis Research method(s) Size of sector - data on numbers of workers, employers, aggregated value Numerical data on workers broken down by gender, ethnic group, age Numerical data on organisations (public, private, not-for-profit (nfp) Government departments (health/ social services/ employment, community) National statistical agencies Trade unions Professional associations What are the trends emerging at national, regional and local level? Are there different trends for different types of social services, e.g. care for older people and child care? Use of secondary sources of data. Basic descriptive statistics will be used to illustrate trends by country, level and type of service Value of services turnover/ revenues, profits (where relevant) Sources of funding Extent of Collective Government What is the coverage Document analysis

9 collective agreements agreements explaining public, private and nfp coverage. Interviews. departments Trade unions National voluntary/ nor for profit organisation of different sectors and types of services At what level? Interviewing key informants Existing employer organisations Numbers of employers involved in social dialogue and what level Social dialogue agreements. Employer association reports. Interviews. Government, employer and trade union social dialogue agreements found in 11 countries for social services (or parts of social services) Mapping out social dialogue arrangements at national/ regional and local level by country Stakeholder analysis Interviewing key informants Key labour issues dealt with and at what level Key informant interviews with employers, trade unions and government National trade unions Employer organisations Government departments Identification of major issues through discourse analysis of key informant interviews Unstructured interviews. Analysis of interviews using key words

10 3. RULES FOR REIMBURSEMENT CLAIM - To claim for a reimbursement the National Partners will have to fill in the subcontracting reimbursement claim; - The following document will have to be attached: o Procurement call o Offers received o Justification for the choice of the Researcher (minutes of the meeting where the decision has been taken..) o Contract o Invoice of the payment