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News update as of 29 January 2016
On the menu this week: ILO conference and global supply chains, a British plan to safeguard jobs in the oil sector, the European Commission adopts a series of measures combatting corporate tax...
29 January 2016
Italy: a ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation on the right for workers to suspend activity when working conditions are unsafe
A ruling by the Supreme Court of Cassation, made public on 19 January 2016 affirms the legitimacy of workers to temporarily suspend their activities if their employer cannot guarantee safety...
28 January 2016
Great Britain: leading unions call for protectionist measures to safeguard jobs
In response to huge jobs losses and the prospect of more to come, a number of leading unions in steel and manufacturing have made calls to protect jobs by urging the government to act upon...
28 January 2016
Unilever: joint declaration in conjunction with the international trade unions UITA and IndustriALL to prevent sexual harassment
Signed on 26 January by the agro-industry union federations, UITA and the industrial federation IndustriALL Global this declaration included commitments to tackle sexual harassment together via...
28 January 2016
EU: the European Commission questions the pertinence of imposing the obligation to inform of essential aspects in employment contracts for certain new forms of employment
On 27 January, the European Commission launched a public consultation on the employer’s obligation to inform workers of conditions that apply in the employment contract, or as regards the...
27 January 2016
EU: the Social Rights Pillar, an instrument for increased social convergence
Work by the European Commission on a European Pillar of Social Rights continues. On 27 January the College of Commissioners held the first debate on the concept launched in September 2015 by...
27 January 2016
Italy: retail store chain Essenlunga concludes an agreement to try out Sunday working
On 22 January, following thirteen months of negotiations, management at Esselunga (22,500 employees and 155 stores) concluded an agreement that intends to trial working on Sundays. The...
27 January 2016
Germany: IG Metall tightens links with Hungary metals union VASAS
Germany’s electronics and metals union IG Metall together with its Hungarian counterpart VASAS announced they were strengthening their already long-term collaboration by opening a common training...
27 January 2016
Italy: Confindustria and the unions transpose the European framework agreement on work related harassment and violence
On 25 January, Italy’s employers’ body Confindustria signed an agreement with the CGIL, Cisl, and the Uil unions that puts in place a framework agreement addressing workplace harassment and...
26 January 2016
Germany: the German Confederation of Trade Unions (DGB) calls for more flexibility in working time to benefit workers
During the annual press conference on 25 January, and following a more or less positive assessment for 2015, Reiner Hoffmann, DGB president, presented the main thrusts for union action in 2016...
26 January 2016
United States: American IT workers replaced by Indian manpower take Walt Disney to court
Two former IT employees at the Walt Disney Park in Orlando, Florida are taking their former employer to court for having replaced them with young Indian workers residing in the United States...
26 January 2016
France: now that the ‘essential principles of the labor law” have been set the government can launch the process to rewrite the Labor Code
With the Badinter report on “the fundamental principles of the labor law” having been delivered on 25 January 2016, the Minister for Labor, Myriam El Khomri now holds the key piece for the Labor...
25 January 2016
Daimler: opens negotiations over the right to mobile working
Whilst the German automaker Daimler already offers a variety of working time models apparently this is still not enough. Results from a large internal survey showed that almost 80% of the 33,000...
25 January 2016
Italy: a boom in the use of ‘vouchers’ exclusively destined for paying casual labor
The latest report by the Observatory for unstable employment carried out for the National Social Security Institute (INPS) has revealed a boom in the use of ‘vouchers’, that were originally...
25 January 2016
Great Britain: the CAC delivers a significant ruling on EWCs
On 19 January the Central Arbitration Committee (CAC), a labour tribunal with responsibility for EWC issues, delivered its decision in a dispute between the employers’ representatives of the newly...
22 January 2016
Poland: the government looks to introduce minimum pay into independent workers’ contracts
On 20 January, Poland’s government published a draft law that looks to introduce, effective July 2016, a minimum level of hourly pay for services provisions contracts of up to 12 PLN before tax...
22 January 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.
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Argentina: government unveils labour reform
Argentina's ultra-liberal president Javier Milei wants to "modernise labour" with a new reform that has been greeted with opposition from trade unions. Submitted to the Senate on 11 December, the...
6 January 2026
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TRENDS IN 2026 — Reducing workplace absence at all costs: a major challenge for Europe
Workplace absence is on the rise across Europe, particularly among women, older employees and, since the Covid-19 pandemic, young people under the age of 30. Faced with this growing problem, some...
14 January 2026
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Spain: government wants 3.1% minimum wage hike
Spain's ministry of labour has informed the social partners of its intention to raise the minimum wage to €1,221 gross per month. This increase is expected to be approved by the Council of...
8 January 2026
4
Poland: reform introduces possibility of working for another employer while on sick leave
On 7 January, the President of Poland promulgated an amendment to the country’s social insurance act. The reform aims to clarify the activities permitted during sick leave, so that...
5
Vincent Lecerf (Orange): “Equality and diversity are competitive advantages for us”
Following the signing of a new agreement on professional equality and diversity in December, the chief HR officer of French multinational telecommunications corporation Orange Group, Vincent...
13 January 2026
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France: Crédit Agricole signs first independent agreement on disability
On 8 December, French banking group Crédit Agricole and three of the four representative trade unions (CFE-CGC, CFDT and FO) in France signed a disability agreement for the period...