UNI-Europa Hair and Beauty and the European Association of Hairdressers' Employers (CIC Europe)

In the Communication, the Commission "welcomes the social partners' wish to pursue a more autonomous dialogue and to contribute to achieving the Lisbon objectives". That autonomous dialogue follows the process of social dialogue but the resulting 'new generation agreements or autonomous agreements' are not transposed into legal acts and therefore do not fall in the remit of traditional social dialogue. Autonomous agreements or new generation agreements are implemented by the procedures and practices specific to management, labour and the Member States. Code of conduct - "How to get along" - was signed by UNI-Europa Hair and Beauty and the European Association of Hairdressers' Employers (CIC Europe) on 26 June 2001. The guidelines emerged from the framework of social dialogue between unions and employers in the industry with the support of the European Commission. The recommended guidelines cover 400,000 hairdressing salons with a million workers in Europe and about 350 million potential customers. They are based on producing good working relations between employers and employees to produce well trained and motivated staff who will win and keep the confidence of customers. As a labour intensive industry unions and employers are also pressing national governments to help by keeping value added tax on hairdressing low. The code calls for a good working environment based on: profitability, fair wages and conditions, lifelong learning. A good working environment also depends on creativity and self-expression, says the Code, and wherever possible on job rotation and job enrichment. The guidelines also include general principles which cover child labour, reconciling family and professional life and the rights to join unions and collective bargaining.