All articles

Germany: unions approve the deferment of the privatization of Deutsche Bahn
Referring to the "extreme anxiety" which took over the financial markets, the German Minister of Finance and the railway company Deutsche Bahn announced, on October 9, the postponement of the...
Germany: IG Metall and Dansk Metal organize cross-border placement services for their members
The IG Metall Küste (Küste = sea coast) signed, on October 7, 2008, a cooperation agreement with its Danish counterpart, Dansk Metal. The objective is to place workers - both active and unemployed...
Spain: bank unions criticize the pressure and threats employees are faced with because of the financial crisis
Employees in the banking sector refuse to pick up the pieces of the financial crisis. Discontent is rising and unions are mobilizing. The representatives of the Comfia-CCOO de la Caixa and of...
Netherlands: a ruling in favor of a jobless who refused a reasonable job offer
A ruling was rendered, on October 8, 2008 in Arnhem, which goes against the government's logic that the jobless should accept "reasonable jobs." (Ref. 080785)
Germany: metal sector employers propose extending wage negotiations to 2009 on account of the financial crisis
Even before the onslaught of the financial storm, Gesamtmetall, the employers’ federation in the metal sector, was already shocked by the level of IG Metall wage claims. “They are out of their...
Denmark: non-hiring clauses are legal if the employer gets the employees’ consent
Danish companies must now get the written consent of the employees concerned for non-hiring clauses (jobklausuler) to be valid, says a new law enforced on July 1, 2008. Unions wanted these clause...
Argentina: the pay gap between employees and executives is reducing
The maximum pay difference between employees at the bottom of the scale and the senior executive of the same company was almost divided by half since the 1990s. In some businesses, this reduction...
Italy: the referendum organized by the Fiom denouncing an agreement on the restructuring of Alenia Aeronavali failed
On September 9-11, 2008, the Fiom organized, on all the sites of Alenia Aeronavali (a company with a workforce of 1.300 belonging to the group Finmeccanica), a referendum to rescind the separate...
EU: the ETUC wants a social progress clause in the EU Treaty
On the eve of the "Forum on workers' rights and economic freedoms" organized by the European Commission today, October 9, the European trade union confederation (ETUC) repeated its request for a...
Netherlands: employees’ contribution to unemployment insurance removed
A social agreement, presented as "unique"; was signed on October 7, 2008 during the traditional fall negotiations between the social partners and the government. The Federation of Dutch trade...
EU: the European MPs of the employment commission have adopted the common position of the Council of Ministers on temporary work
The Portuguese presidency had decided, in 2007, to link the draft proposals on temporary work and working time to get them out of the blockage where they had remained too long in the Council. The...
Germany: Opel temporarily closes its Bochum and Eisenach factories
Hit by the financial crisis, several car manufacturers, including Opel, Daimler, Ford and BMW, reduced their production in Germany. On Opel's site in Bochum, the flow line was stopped for two...
Spain: non-European immigrants entitled to receive full unemployment benefits if they return to their country
A decree-law, enforced on September 20, aims at encouraging unemployment aliens to return to their country of origin by enabling them to receive the whole amount of the unemployment benefits to...
France: the Supreme Court renders two rulings on restructurings in transnational groups
Two decisions rendered on September 23, 2008 by the French Supreme Court illustrate the possibilities, but also the limits, of European laws on restructurings. In one of the cases, the high court...
Denmark: the LO union published a manual on CSR for staff representatives
The demand for the social responsibility of all partners (customers, investors, colleagues...) is gaining ground in Denmark. Considering that unions have an important role to play in this context...
8 October 2008
Great Britain: employees are still stressed out
It has been four yearssince the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) proposed tools for the management of stress at work to companies. However, employees' working conditions hardly changed or even...
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1
EU: Commission launches consultation with social partners on quality jobs
On 4 December, the European Commission launched the first phase of consultation with social partners with a view to a European directive on jobs, which is scheduled for the end of 2026. It could...
4 December 2025
2
United Kingdom: government scraps plan to introduce ‘day one’ protection against unfair dismissal
The UK government announced on 27 November, in a statement, that it would not be introducing the right to challenge unfair dismissal (without cause) from the first day of employment in its...
3 December 2025
3
Poland: bill adopted to amend definition of psychological harassment
On 27 November, the Polish cabinet adopted a draft amendment to the labour code aimed at simplifying the definition of psychological harassment at work, or “mobbing” (Article 94 3)...
4 December 2025
4
EU: MEPs demand directive on algorithmic management
Members of the European Parliament have called for a directive on algorithmic management. Such legislation would introduce obligations for companies to inform employees, assess health and safety...
17 December 2025
5
United Kingdom: Parliament finally passes Employment Rights Bill
The UK Labour government's flagship reform of employment rights was passed by both houses on 16 December after a turbulent parliamentary process. The bill introduces numerous changes to labour...
18 December 2025
6
France: minimum wage to rise by 1.18% on 1 January
On 12 December, the French government announced a 1.18% increase in the minimum wage, taking effect on 1 January 2026. The pay level will rise from €1,802 to €1,823 gross per month (for...
16 December 2025