The Origins of FedEE

The Federation of European Employers (FedEE) originated from an employers’ network first formed in 1988.

The founder of the Federation, Robin Chater, became an adviser to DGV of the European Commission in 1982. His early involvement with the Commission centred around the development of equal opportunity action programmes. Robin was a consultant with Philadelphia-based HAY Management Consultants and had studied the use of affirmative (positive) action programmes in the USA. The Commission was interested in exploring the use of such programmes as a way to improve female career paths and asked Robin to carry out a three-country study of attitudes towards such an approach in private sector companies. The study discovered major cultural differences in the attitudes of human resource professionals and general management, whilst underlining the strength of the barriers faced by women in the workplace.

Robin remained an advisor to the Commission until 1992 and during this time he helped to focus policy on the importance of a common EU framework for maternity leave and how parental leave could transform the balance of childbearing responsibilities within the family unit. He also highlighted the shortage of public and corporate childcare facilities in many EU countries and worked with LEGO to establish the first comprehensive directory of such facilities in the UK.

Throughout the 1980s Robin assisted an increasing number of multinational companies to shape their equal opportunity policies. This led the Commission to suggest that participating companies could benefit from sharing their experiences. In May 1988 a meeting of around 40 major employers was held at BP’s head offices in Moor Lane, London. All agreed that it would be useful to hold such meetings on a regular basis and Robin was asked if he could act as convenor for the new network. Thus the EU Employers’ Network was launched and over the next ten years member companies met on a quarterly basis and also acted as a sounding board for new EU initiatives. The brief of the Network also rapidly widened to cover all employment-related issues.

Although initially wholly funded by the European Commission, by 1992 the Network had become largely self-funding. The Commission continued to fund special projects such as a review of the European Works Council Directive and health and safety legislation. But by 1996 the Network was operating its own website and receiving a high level of interest from potential members. For this reason it was decided to open up membership to more companies and relaunch the organisation as an employers’ federation. FedEE was registered in 1998 and a board appointed from amongst the Network’s original membership. Over the next two years the new organisation took shape and in November 2000 FedEE opened itself up to a wider membership base.

Today the Federation’s membership is truly global, with particular concentrations in Canada, France, Germany, India, the Irish Republic, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, the UK and USA. FedEE members employ, on average, around 8,000 people worldwide and there are particular concentrations in sectors such as banking, defence, electronics, engineering, information technology, insurance, medical devices and services, pharmaceuticals, professional services, real estate, search engine operators, social networking providers and telecommunications. The Federation has a board consisting of four corporate members and one personal non-executive director and is currently chaired by Ford Europe.

Current FedEE Board Members

FedEE’s Founder

FedEE was founded by Robin Chater in 1988 with initial financial support from the European Commission.

Robin holds an honours degree from Leeds University and a Masters degree from the University of Lancaster. He also carried out post-graduate research in the Industrial Relations Department of the London School of Economics. He is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a Chartered member of the CIPD.

Robin began his career as a teacher in Oxford. Following his post-graduate education he joined Incomes Data Services to write about labour relations developments for IDS report. During his time with IDS he was regularly quoted in the national and international press concerning pay issues and was the first person to apply Shakespeare’s phrase “Winter of Discontent” to the state of labour relations in Britain during the late 1970s. He subsequently co-edited a book of essays on Incomes Policy (OUP 1981) and was the author of a book on privacy and the law (under his pen name Simon Paine).

Following senior management consultancy positions with HAY Management Consultants, an enterprise company and Arthur D Little Robin moved on to be a Director of a publishing company and a leading policy research unit. He has been an advisor to the UN European Social Welfare Programme and the UK Information Commissioner and continues to speak regularly at international conferences.

He currently divides his time between the UK and the South of France, is a director of business service and media companies and is an expert on (and avid collector of) fine art, early European paper currency and letters from nineteenth century social reformers.

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