Managers in European Law

Book excerpt: Business organisations depend on having one or more persons who can legitimately make strategic business decisions. But what are the legal entitlements of such key professionals? This is the first book – with contributions from experts across Europe – to take a broad comparative look at how the delimitation of rights and duties of executive and non-executive managers is done under different areas of EU law and across different jurisdictions (namely, EU and national law). Aspects of the executive role covered include the following: extensive treatment of definitions and methodologies to ascertain the status of managers as ‘workers’ in Europe; comprehensive interdisciplinary and comparative analysis of cross-cutting issues affecting managers in Europe, including complexities arising from national variations in governance structures and roles and functions of managers; comprehensive analysis of cases before the European courts with full awareness of applicable rules; distinction between registered front directors and those who act as de facto managers; how employees (and to some degree other stakeholders) may be involved in management; trends in current EU law that increase the need to protect managers; trends that increase the need to hold managers liable; right to inter alia information and consultation, occupational health and safety, non-discrimination and free movement; and recognition that managers may not necessarily be powerful professionals with strength vis-à-vis the company as employer. According to EU statistics, in 2019, nearly 9.4 million persons held a managerial position across the EU’s Member States, meaning that many managers currently can no longer inherently be considered unworthy of employment protection. The legal status of these individuals thus cannot be sidestepped. This very important volume accordingly will be of value to practitioners, policymakers, and academics in employment and labour law.