All articles

China: a rule legalizing Uber-type taxi services comes into force
Legal clarity dawns. From 01 November 2016, Uber-type taxi services are to be legalized and thus supervised. Every town and city will be able to issue relevant conditions. The text is flexible in...
4 November 2016
Consequences of a ‘hard Brexit’ for EWCs
In her speech at the Conservative Party conference the UK prime minister, Theresa May, seemed to clearly indicate that the UK was heading for a “hard Brexit. This would mean that EU law no longer...
3 November 2016
United Kingdom: UCATT and Unite agree to merge and create super construction union
The British construction workers’ union UCATT is to merge with the country’s largest trade union, Unite. The merger, which will be effective as of 1 January 2017, will create a dominant union in...
EU: National Productivity Boards soon to be implemented
On 20 September Europe’s Ministers backed the establishment of national productivity boards. The social partners however remain divided on the issue. On the whole employers are satisfied with the...
3 November 2016
Switzerland: Unia uses its Congress meeting to combat what it sees as social deconstruction
Switzerland’s largest trade union, Unia, gathered in Geneva from 27-29 October for its four-yearly congress meeting. The trade union body with some 200,000 members from various professions...
US: McDonald’s to pay for a franchisee’s labor law violations
For the first time in McDonald’s history, the company has agreed to pay a major $3.75 million (approx. €3.39 million) fine in order to settle a class action by 800 employees in one of its...
2 November 2016
Man and Scania secure an agreement safeguarding jobs at global level until 2026
How does one have two companies in the same business sector and in the same business group collaborate together whilst still securing jobs for both and quieting workers concerns? Volkswagen Truck...
2 November 2016
United Kingdom: potential move to put Uber drivers on salaries threatens the gig economy
On 28 October, a London employment tribunal ruled that drivers which operate via the Uber application should be considered employees. This unprecedented ruling could have significant effects on...
31 October 2016
 United States: New York creates framework for freelancers
On 27 October, elected representatives in New York City approved a new law entitled “Freelance Isn’t Free” which introduces the first basic rights for freelance workers, governing their...
31 October 2016
Spain: Rajoy proposes social pacts to opposition parties
On the inauguration of his second term in office, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy proposed a series of social pacts to other political groups. In particular, the pacts involve strengthening...
31 October 2016
Hungary : a law aimed at reducing the presence of foreign-owned supermarkets brings down a Hungarian company
In Hungary it is apparently better to work for a multinational company than a domestic firm. In the retail sector, foreign companies will have a union presence more often than homegrown companies...
31 October 2016
Brazil: in the forthcoming 2017 wage negotiations the Sao Paolo IT sector union will call for a drop in weekly working hours from 40 to 30
On 19 October, Sindpd, the major IT sector trade union body representing IT workers in Brazil’s high tech region of Sao Paulo, announced it would be calling for a drop in weekly working hours from...
27 October 2016
HR practices: Vincit, a company with just two managers, the CEO and the head of HR
Mikko Kuitunen and Pekka Virtanen set up Vincit (software development and IT outsourcing) in 2007 in the Finnish  town of Tampere. They dreamt of a ‘business where people were happy to go to work...
27 October 2016
India: the government promises measures affording more security to workers in informal employment
On September 18, at the ‘National Labour Day celebrations, the Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya announced a number of schemes that the government is going legislate on to safeguard wage payments...
27 October 2016
Great Britain: the government unveils its plans for funding apprenticeships
Theresa May’s government is set to spend £2.5 billion (€2.8 billion) on achieving her predecessor’s commitment to 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020. The major innovation in the plan is the...
26 October 2016
Italy: Confindustria president puts an ‘Industry Pact’ forward to trade unions
On 22 October, Vincenzo Boccia, president of Italy’s employers’ body, Confindustria put a proposal to unions to launch discussions on the potential for an ‘Industry Pact between factory...
26 October 2016
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
EU: right and far right join forces in parliament to dismantle sustainability due diligence
On 13 November, the European Parliament approved the report by EPP MEP Jörgen Warborn on the proposed omnibus directive, clearing the way for trilogue negotiations. Backed by the far right, the...
13 November 2025
2
mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators
In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...
3
Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
4
EU: Commission proposes loosening of AI regulations
On 19 November, the European Commission published a proposal for an omnibus regulation covering a large corpus of digital legislation. The so-called ‘Digital Omnibus’ follows public...
24 November 2025
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Carrefour and UNI Global Union renew global agreement on promoting social dialogue and diversity
On 17 October, Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retailers, with nearly 500,000 employees worldwide, and global union federation UNI Global Union renewed their global agreement on...