The Transformation of Employment Relations Systems in Central and Eastern Europe*

During the 1990s employment relations systems in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) experienced a complex, multilevel process of transformation. In this article, we discuss the transformation of employment relations systems under the impact of privatization, foreign direct investment, and pressures for the accession to the European Union enlargement at the enterprise, industry-, and national levels. We argue that the pattern of embeddedness of ER in the former planned economic system, the developmental role of the state during the period of transition and the timing of the changes at a moment of intensified international competition resulted into unique configurations of employment relations in the different CEE countries, not necessarily converging toward the incremental adjustments of Western European employment relations.. Key factors bound to further introduce transformations convergent with Western ER models include the growing presence of multinational companies and the perspective of the EU enlargement.