All articles

Spain: latest government statistics on collective bargaining show that the agreements negotiated confirm pay freeze or cut
The Ministry of Labor released statistics about the collective agreements signed after the 2012 labor market reform.  They point out that lower labor costs have been achieved as one third of...
18 November 2013
Austria: trade social partners sign first collective agreement over 2 years
The social partners in the Austrian trade industry, the DPA-djp union and the Trade Department of the Austrian Economic Chambers (WKÖ), presented, for the first time in the sector’s history, a...
15 November 2013
Canada: H&M strikes first unionization agreement in Quebec
On November 2, the UFCW union announced that workers at H&M in Joliette, Québec had signed their first collective agreement, which expires in 2016 and improves pay conditions and personal...
15 November 2013
United States: IAM rejects Boeing’s new collective contract
The International Union of Machinists (IAM) at Bowing rejected the 8-year contract guaranteeing employment in exchange for major concessions in terms of retirement and health Boeing offered to...
15 November 2013
Germany: Verdi unions agrees to the 2.3 percent wage increase negotiated at the end of October at IBM Deutschland
On Monday, November 11, Verdi’s Federal Committee on information technologies and data processing accepted the collective agreement negotiated by the company social partners at the end of October...
14 November 2013
Great Britain: Unite launches credit union network to save its members from contracting payday loans
The Unite union has launched a new credit union service, in a bid it says ‘to take on payday lenders, encourage saving and offer members finance without fear’. The service has been expressly...
14 November 2013
EU: report on draft directives on seasonal workers and intragroup posting for extra-Community workers
Extra-Community seasonal workers may now enjoy decent working and living conditions, such as minimum wage and adequate housing, by virtue of the compromise adopted by the Parliament and the...
14 November 2013
Japan: the long working hours culture is hard to oust
In Japan, even if the official workweek is 40 hours, unpaid overtime remains an old tradition.  In spite of some changes to labor law and the effort made by some businesses to avoid abuses...
14 November 2013
Italy: after leaving Eni, Snam is defining its own industrial relations model
Snam Group, the biggest company in Italy for transportation, regasification, supply and storage of natural gas, signed an agreement on October 17 for a new industrial relations system with the...
13 November 2013
Estonia: first finance union created
So far, Estonia didn’t have a trade union in the finance industry.  Since September 11, 2013, the sector’s workers can join a sectoral union.  Officially called the “Estonian Association of...
13 November 2013
Austria: collective bargaining in the metal industry end with a 2.8 percent unitary increase
After bargaining for 7 weeks, the social partners in the metal industry signed, on Thursday, November 8, the 6th and last collective agreement for the 7,000 foundry workers.  For the six sub metal...
13 November 2013
Great Britain: e-cigarettes are HR managers’ new nightmare
The growing success of electronic cigarettes is forcing businesses to come up with new regulations.  But how to consider this atypical product, which some present as a weapon against tobacco but...
13 November 2013
Germany: employees blame Microsoft for trying to close 3 sites to part with critical personnel representatives
Is the “trust-based working time” system a good thing for employees, allowing for greater work-life balance, or is it a bad thing, leading to unchecked work overload, or both at the same time?  An...
12 November 2013
EU: new European summit to show mobilization in favor of youth employment
On November 12, French President François Hollande welcomed his European counterparts for a 2nd summit dedicated to the fight against youth unemployment in Europe.  Nothing new after what has...
12 November 2013
Great Britain: government wants to set up retirement system somewhere between defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension scheme
One year after introducing the automatic enrolment of employees to a pension fund, the Cameron administration announced a new reform.  It notably aims for greater flexibility in order to appeal to...
12 November 2013
Switzerland: vivid debate over the referendum to reduce the gap between the highest and lowest wages in companies
On November 24, Swiss citizens will have to vote for or against the popular initiative launched by the Young Socialists.  They want to impose, via a constitutional amendment, a maximum 1-12...
12 November 2013
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
France: Decathlon introduces a ‘duty to respect others’ right to disconnect’
A right-to-disconnect agreement was signed in late September for the French arm of the Decathlon sports retail group. It sets out a "duty to respect others’ right to disconnect" and provides...
14 November 2025
2
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
3
France: construction sector turns to long-term partial activity scheme
Amid the ongoing economic crisis hitting France’s construction sector, social partners in the public works industry (350,000 employees) signed an agreement at the end of October enabling companies...
21 November 2025
4
United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
5
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
6
Italy: new collective agreement for managers in tertiary sector
On 5 November, the ManagerItalia union and the employers’ association Confcommercio renewed the collective agreement for managers in Italy’s tertiary, distribution and services...