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Portugal: outsourcing sector signs code of conduct
Competence, transparency and better working conditions. The signatories accepted to only commit for service contracts for which they are directly competent. They also adopted a confidentiality...
14 October 2009
United States: bill strengthens the fight against age discrimination
Three heavyweights of the democratic party presented a bill to improve American laws on age discrimination and against a four-month-old supreme court ruling. Tom Harkin, democratic Iowa senator...
Germany: company agreement on “the future” for ThyssenKrupp’s stainless steel subsidiary
ThyssenKrupp Nirosta and its 4,500 employees were almost the victims of the major restructuring organized by ThyssenKrupp AG, the parent company (see our dispatch No. 090491). The latter, which...
Denmark: “ability assessment” replaces medical certificates to reduce absenteeism
Reduce the number of sick leaves. Since October 5, medical certificates have been replaced by “ability assessments” (mulighedserklæring). It is composed of two sheets, one filled by the employer...
Great Britain: Royal Mail employees vote yes to national strike
A strike to protest against job and service cuts. Two years after the last national postmen strike, a similar scenario is taking shape in the UK. “This is a huge vote of no confidence in Royal...
Netherlands: more flexible parental leave
More flexible parental leave. Piet Hein Donner, Minister for Social Affairs and Labor, wants to bring more flexibility into leaves for employees who want to care for sick children or parents...
Sweden: unions want equal pay between men and women to be a priority for the coming wage negotiations
Better compliance with anti-discrimination laws. Despite an internal study showing a relative improvement in women’s situation, the federation of private employees’ unions, Unionen, thinks that...
EU: European and international union federations sign a charter on “sustainable” tourism
The European Trade Union Liaison Committee on Tourism, ETLC – which gathers the EFFAT (European Federation of Food, Agriculture and Tourism trade unions), ETF (European Transport Workers’...
Lithuania: government and social partners about to sign a far-flung national agreement
Drastic cost-cutting program. Initially, the text was mostly a plan to financially save the State and the social security from 2009 to 2012. it provided for layoffs and new wage cuts (8-10% in...
Portugal: first mandatory arbitration unfreezes negotiations in paper industry
Regulatory tool. The Mandatory Arbitration Court is called when all forms of negotiation failed. In this case, the decision rendered by the Arbitration Court, made up of professionals from the...
United Kingdom: Tories’ social agenda bothers unions
Outsourcing. “There will have to be cutbacks in public spending, and that will be painful. We will need to confront Britain’s culture of irresponsibility and that will be hard to take for many...
Italy: the general strike organized by the Fiom didn’t block negotiations for the renewal of metalworkers’ CCN
In a speech given during the demonstration organized in Milan on October 9, concluding the strike aimed at “defending the national collective agreement and democracy and against layoffs and...
EU: governments and social partners face the challenges of the green economy
Institutional and political diversity. At the level of the Member States, the political and institutional resources developed are different. Most countries created green government departments...
Germany: DGB calls for a reform of apprenticeship statistics
Employment Agency officially presents data on the apprenticeship market in 2008-09, the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DBG) presented, on October 7, 2009, the guidelines of a reform of...
Netherlands: employers liable for burnout
This is a major victory for the FNV: the Court of Appeal of Bois-le-Duc ruled that an employer was liable for overworking one of its employees, insofar as there was no active policy for the...
Italy: first “Charter for equal opportunities and parity at work”
Diversity as a key to competitiveness and success. Directly based on French and German initiatives, the “Charter for equal opportunities and parity at work” (Carta per le pari opportunità e...
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
Pascale Rauline (Axa EWC): “European charter formalises ongoing and accelerated social dialogue on AI”
On 27 November, Axa and its European works council (EWC) signed a charter setting out principles governing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteeing social dialogue on the...
2
Germany: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
3
Bulgaria: government approves bill to encourage sector-level collective bargaining
On 26 November, the Bulgarian government approved amendments to the labour code designed to reinforce the legal framework for sector-level collective bargaining. The reform aims to stimulate...
2 December 2025
4
EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
5
Germany: Erwin Hymer Group’s innovative and award-winning AI agreement
Fed up with negotiating separate agreements for each new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the social partners at Erwin Hymer Group (8,900 employees) have instead secured a broad, overarching...
12 December 2025
6
France: Orange submits gender equality agreement – including AI provisions – for union approval
The three representative trade unions at Orange France have until 10 December to validate an agreement on gender equality, work–life balance and anti-discrimination measures. While the text...