Today, 15 February 2019 in Brussels, UNI Europa Finance signed two joint declarations with our European insurance social partners, committing to work together to limit the negative impacts of digitalisation and of regulatory requirements and compliance for workers in the sector.
Following from the 2016 joint declaration on the social effects of digitalisation, UNI Europa and our social partners today renewed our commitment to ensuring insurance workers benefit from the growth in new technologies without suffering any negative impact. In particular, we will continue to push at both the European and national sectoral level for more investment in continuous training and up/re-skilling opportunities for workers. We will also be closely monitoring the impact of digitalisation on our work/life balance, encouraging workers to take advantage of new technologies for a more flexible working schedule but without these leading to heightened psychosocial risks. The right to disconnect remains imperative.
Michael Budolfsen, President of UNI Europa Finance, said: “The insurance sector was one of the first to warn against the negative effects of digitalisation in 2016 and I am pleased that safeguarding jobs and the employability of workers in the sector remains a priority for the social partners today.” He added: “We welcome the European employers’ commitment to more investment in training and prevention and will continue to hold them to account on this.”
More than ten years on from the start of the financial crisis, insurance workers still often find themselves under enormous pressure to ensure full compliance with a growing number of European regulatory requirements. Whilst many of these new rules are much needed and well-intended in order to ensure full transparency and customer protection, many have been developed in silos, resulting in numerous duplications, an overload of complex information for both employees and customers, and an increased workload and stress for employees.
UNI Europa Finance therefore welcomes the insurance employers joining our call for the impact of regulatory requirements and compliance on employees’ workload and mental well-being to be assessed in a full and timely manner, ensuring workers are given enough time to understand and assimilate the latest legislative changes and crucially, the necessary training to do so.
Commenting on this new joint declaration, UEF President Michael Budolfsen said: “Employee skills and well-being are central to building and maintaining a responsible and trustworthy European insurance sector. We therefore urge all legislators to put an end to excessive and duplicative regulatory requirements in order to ensure a more sustainable sector for both its workers and its customers.”
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