All articles

Luxembourg: two recovery agreements
Index.  Employers, who terminated the agreement signed with unions on this matter, finally gave up the issue of the social index.  Thus, in keeping with the bipartite agreement negotiated with the...
Belgium: social partners transpose new EWC directive
Effectiveness. The modalities for the information and consultation of workers are determined and implemented in a way that ensures effectiveness and that allows efficient decision-making in the...
Great Britain: annual working hours are gaining ground
The basic principle of annual hours is that, instead of defining working time on the basis of the standard working week, for example 37 or 39 hours, working hours are distributed out over the...
3 January 2011
Sweden: IF Metall signs highly disputed agreement on apprenticeship and occupational integration
An agreement accused of wage dumping. Pointing to the fact that Sweden has the highest youth unemployment rate in the Nordic countries, IF Metall signed an agreement aiming to facilitate young...
Italy: Fiat signs new derogatory agreement for Mirafiori plant
The “newco” which will take over Mirafiori’s bodywork plant will be, as anticipated (see our dispatch No.  100895) subject to a new collective contract derogating from the national legislative and...
Poland: imbroglio around the accumulation of work and pension
The system allowing to combine, under no conditions, salaried activity and retirement pension was introduced in January 2009. Thus, it allowed about 60,000 people to improve their lives, by...
Poland: 5.24% minimum wage increase on January 1, 2011
This 5.24% minimum wage increase should affect a few thousand workers.  These are mostly low-skilled or disabled workers.  PLN 1,386 gross (about €347) amount to approximately PLN 1,000 after tax...
Suspension of the information thread, December 24th-January 2nd
We are taking advantage of this slow period in social news to take a little break. The information thread will be suspended on the night of December 23rd until the morning of Januaery 3rd. The...
23 December 2010
Latvia: social partners disapprove of fiscal reforms adopted within the framework of the 2011 budget
Employees’ social contributions up by 2% in 2011. Employees’ social contributions will increase from currently 9% to 11% of gross wages, while employers’ social contributions rate will remain at...
Sweden: new sectoral agreement in communications provides for 2.9% wage increase
A central agreement that fits with market reality.  Several unions, SEKO (workers’ unions in, notably, the energy, postal, telecommunications, traffic, road and transportation sectors), ST (union...
Estonia: unions demand minimum wage increase and social budgets
Too much flexibility, not enough security.  The Estonian Trade Union Confederation (EAKL) has recently been drawing attention to several problems. In October, it published a study named...
Portugal: minimum wage will increase to EUR500 in 2011, but gradually
Gradual increase.  Minimum wage in Portugal is going to increase by €10 a month on January 1, 2011, for a total of €485 a month (+5.3% with inflation at 2.2%).  Then, it will be increased again in...
Germany: retail trade prepares for the introduction of minimum wage in the first 2011 quarter
Around €8 an hour.  Minimum wage in retail trade?  No one was expecting this, even though the social partners have been talking about it since 2008.  Josef Sanktjohanser, leader of HDE, confirmed...
EU: second-phase consultation on the working time directive
Clearly stating that the existence of a European framework on working time will not be questioned, and that the regulations can’t remain as it is, the Commission presents the two possible choices...
Spain: Catalonian Juan Rosell elected as the new President of the CEOE employers’ organization
Catalonian entrepreneur Juan Rosell was elected with 444 votes in favor (i.e. 62.5% of voters) as opposed to 247 for Santiago Herrero, the other candidate for the Presidency of the CEOE employers’...
21 December 2010
Germany: unions’ view of the bill transposing the EWC directive
In charge of transposing into its legal order, by January 5, 2011, the new Community directive on European Works Councils (2009/38, see our dispatch No.  081026), the German government adopted, on...
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The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the night of 8 December on the weakening of the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and corporate...
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EU: list of new CSRD reporting standards finalised
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EU: Parliament formally adopts omnibus, diluting due diligence rules
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