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Spain: employers want freedom to lay off
nsist upon the idea that the only way to curb the rise in unemployment (from 8.5% to 14.5% in one year) is to make dismissals more flexible. They want lower compensation scales and removed...
Luxembourg: monthly minimum social wage brought up to 1.682,76 euro
the highest in the European Union – will be increased on March 1, 2009 and reach, for unskilled employees aged 18+, 1.682,76 euro a month. (Ref. 090198) Minimum social wage applied to all...
Belgium: age limits for the right to parental leave raised
uncil of Ministers adopted a royal draft decree allowing workers to take their parental leave until their child is 12. This amendment to the conditions for allowing parental leave was decided...
Germany: 800.000 employees regularly take drugs to improve their performances at work
study presented in early February 2009 by the Deutsche Angestellte Krankenkasse (DAK), one of the biggest health insurance funds in Germany – mostly focuses on the issue of...
Poland: the social partners seek solutions to the crisis
nts (see our dispatch No. 090103), the social partners are determined to curb the negative impact of the economic crisis: many bilateral (unions-employers) and trilateral...
Slovenia: detail on the application of the law on the Participation of Employees
Maximum amounts. The law provides that the profit distributed amongst employees may not exceed 20% of the accumulated profit of the business year or 10% of the gross amount of salaries paid out to...
Belgium: Flanders opposed to simpler employment subsidies to protect seniors
tly voted a conflict of interest motion which suspends the federal legal procedure and opens a long consultation phase against the simplification of employment subsidies. This simplification...
Portugal: new labor code enforced
e and Parliamentary debates, the new Portuguese Labor Code, reforming the 2003 version, came into force on February 17, 2009. However, union and ideological opposition is still strong. (Ref...
Denmark: the social partners demand a flexible partial unemployment system to face the crisis
nt has soared since the crisis began. However, unions and employers think that the system is still too strict. They asked the Minister of Labor to make it more flexible, but he doesn’t seem...
France: key employment measures announced at the social summit
h gathered the social partners at the Elysée on Wednesday, February 18, Nicolas Sarkozy presented a series of measures to protect employees from the crisis and support the most humble...
Faber Castell: revised international framework agreement
s’ International (BWI), the IG Metall German union and the management of the German group Faber Castell revised the international framework agreement (IFA) of March 3, 2000 to improve the...
Germany: daily publishes the pay of major German union managers
‘ pay and bonuses is raging, Munich’s Suddeutsche Zeitung daily (February 18) decided to publish the salary of the main union leaders in the country. However, only the leaders of...
Austria: union concentration goes on with the creation of “pro.ge”, a “production union”
metalworkers’ union (GMTN), the chemistry union (GdC) and wood and building workers’ union (GBH), the “pro.ge” interunion alliance is going to become a full-fledged union...
EU: the first conciliation meeting on the revision of the working time directive failed
n the revision of the working time directive started on the evening of Wednesday February 18 between the European Parliament (EP) and the Council of EU Ministers, in the presence of the European...
General Motors Europe: toward the creation of an independent European structure?
restructuring plan of General Motors (GM) on the verge of bankruptcy, to the American government, the management of the European subsidiary, General Motors Europe, and the European Works Council...
Spain: the social partners denounce the void of the integral support plan for the automotive sector
zation regret the lack of content of a plan prepared by the Ministry of Industry without consulting the major role players of the auto sector. They think that this plan won’t help the sector...
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1
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
4
Germany: launch of the “WE-Fair” alliance for binational training of skilled foreign workers
Germany continues to expand and diversify its initiatives to attract skilled foreign labour from outside the EU. In mid-March 2026, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development...
5
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...