All articles

Italy: collective agreement reached in metals industry  
After 15 months of negotiations, interspersed with suspensions, the national collective agreement for the metals industry – which expired at the end of 2019 – was renewed on 5 February. A draft...
8 February 2021
Austria: companies to become key testing venues
In line with the general collective agreement on in-company testing, penned by social partners on 15 January (see article n°12313), the Austrian government has set about making companies a venue...
8 February 2021
Belgium: social partners in favour of creating a leave allowance for Covid-19 vaccinations
Following a request by Pierre-Yves Dermagne, Belgium’s economy and employment minister, the country’s National Labour Council – a body made up of representatives from employer...
Germany: Volkswagen’s new car software developer, CSO, signs an ‘iterative’ collective agreement
On 28 January Volkswagen Group management together with the IG Metall union announced the signature of an in-house agreement for the 4,000 employees of the Group’s new software development...
3 February 2021
China: ILO report notes both the working conditions and lack of regulation related to platform work
In January 2021 the International Labour Organization (ILO) published Working Paper 24 entitled: Online digital labour platforms in China - Working conditions, policy issues and prospects. This...
3 February 2021
United States: Google ordered to pay $3.8 million (€3.16 mm) for pay and hiring discrimination
On 01 February, the U.S. Federal Department of Labor issued a press release announcing it had reached a settlement agreement with Google LLC to pay $2.6 million (€2.16 million) in...
3 February 2021
Great Britain: Airbus employees agree a reduction in working hours and salaries in order to avoid layoffs
On 01 February, and following weeks of negotiations with the aircraft manufacturer, the Unite trade union announced that its members working at the Airbus site in Broughton, Wales, had voted in...
Spain: a draft collective agreement concluded for the banking sector that also frames remote working
On 29 January the Asociación Española de Banca (AEB – Spain’s banking employers association), together with representatives of the CCOO, UGT and FINE trade unions concluded the broad outlines of a...
2 February 2021
India: Government seeks to extend social protection to ‘gig economy’ workers
On 01 February, while presenting the national budget for fiscal year 2021-2022, India’s Minister of Finance announced the government's will to extend social protection to those living in the ‘gig...
2 February 2021
Germany: law on parental benefit amended
On Friday 29 January, the German Bundestag adopted several major amendments to the “federal law on the parental benefit and parental leave” (Bundeselterngeld- und Elternzeitgesetz...
1 February 2021
France: Just Eat platform to hire 4,500 staff on open-ended contracts
The food delivery platform Just Eat is to recruit at least 4,500 delivery staff in France by the end of this year, according to newspaper reports in the country. Just Eat confirms that it has...
EU: EU Parliament Committee on Legal Affairs adopted its resolution on multinational enterprise due diligence
On 27 January 2021, the EU Parliament's Committee on Legal Affairs members adopted a draft resolution that intends to serve as a basis from which the European Commission can draw as it works on...
28 January 2021
Belgium: inter-professional collective agreement signed for the implementation of compulsory telework in companies during 2021
On 26 January 2021, Belgium’s National Labor Council (a joint employer-employee representative body that negotiates inter-professional collective agreements), together with trade union...
Great Britain: 1,000 pounds for companies hiring trainees
On 27 January the UK announced it would provide a cash bonus of £1,000 (€1,130) to companies for every trainee they hire up to a maximum of ten trainees per establishment. This...
28 January 2021
Austria: government agrees new rules and incentives for teleworking
On 27 January, Austria’s Council of Ministers promulgated new rules and tax incentives that will now govern the practice of teleworking. While the Ministry of Labor and the social partners...
Spain: short-time working mechanisms extended until 31 May 2021
Following adoption by Spain’s Council of Ministers, the decree-law on the ‘reinforcement and consolidation of social measures to defend employment’ was published in the Official Bulletin on 27...
27 January 2021
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
What readers clicked on the most last month.
What readers clicked on the most last month.
1
Spain: new terms and conditions for in-company training contracts
On 25 November, Spain's Council of Ministers approved a regulation on training contracts. This text defines the terms and conditions for hosting work-study students and interns doing professional...
2
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
3
Germany: apprenticeship openings fall sharply in manufacturing and chemicals
From 1 January 2026, Dutch collective agreements for temporary employment agencies will alter the employment conditions of temp workers. Agencies will be required to pay these workers at least the...