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France: focus on the working time reform
More flexible extra hours. The law of August 20, 2008 brings more flexibility into the overtime system, thus enabling the company (or establishment-level) agreement to define a quota of extra...
EU: the EU27 about to develop a residence and work permit for highly-skilled workers
In early 2009, the 27 EU States intend to finalize the creation of a European blue card for highly-skilled workers. This card, oftentimes compared to the American green card, should help these...
Great Britain: TUC demands additional measures for the respect of minimum wage
The UK's Trades Union Congress (TUC) has called on the Low Pay Commission (LPC) - which is going to issue recommendations to the government in early 2009 - to propose new measures to improve the...
Italy: Michelin and the trade unions sign a framework agreement on the restructuring of the company
The industrial plan provides for the specialization of Michelin Italiana's sites (5.500 employees) for 2009-2013 and around 700 job cuts. The management promised to support the reclassification of...
Germany: the train drivers’ union (GDL) demands a 6.5% wage increase
The three train drivers' unions - Transnet, GDBA and the GDL - presented to the Deutsche Bahn, on December 1, 2008, in Berlin, their official claims before the opening of the renegotiation of the...
EU: the CJEC rules on the liability of the new employer in the case of a change in working conditions which is not due to him
Facts. An employee working in a staff canteen covered by the metallurgy collective agreement was transferred, after a change of employer, to the collective agreement for the accommodation and...
Germany: Ver.di and Deutsche Post end their wage conflict in two German postal subsidiaries
After two warning strikes, the services' union Ver.di and Deutsche Post reached, on December 2, 2008, a wage agreement which ends a conflict which lasted for several months in two subsidiaries of...
Spain: two rulings by the Supreme Court force nine supermarkets to respect the right to 48 hours of weekly rest in a row
Judges gave satisfaction to the trade unions in two similar rulings which concerned Carrefour for one and Makro for the other. The two rulings force these companies to respect their employees'...
Netherlands: ten applications for partial unemployment or assisted reductions of working time approved
Ten applications for State support as part of the new system of partial unemployment or assistance in reducing working time (ATV) were already approved by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs...
EU: 10.7 million euro from EU Globalisation Fund to help redundant workers in Spain and Lithuania
The European Globalisation adjustment Fund (EGF) has made payments totalling 10.4 million euro to Spain to help some 1,600 workers made redundant, when the American multinational Delphi decided to...
Great Britain: insurance companies which covered the employer at the time of exposure to asbestos have to compensate mesothelioma victims
The UK's umbrella Trades Union Congress (TUC) and Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (UCATT) have welcomed a new High Court ruling which forces insurance companies to honor...
Poland: TP SA phone company signs a new social pact
The management of the phone company TP SA (France Telecom group) and the company's 18 unions signed, on November 27, 2008, a new version of the Social Pact for 2009-11. This new text, which will...
Latin America: ILO reports slow wage growth
Latin America is the region in the world which registered the slowest income growth since 1995, as pointed out by an ILO report which analyzes wage evolution in the region. In five countries...
Spain: the Ministry of Labor wants to impose the negotiation of actual social plans in the event of mass layoffs
The government wants to suggest to the social partners to impose social accompanying plans, until now optional and hardly used in Spain, even though, according to the Status of Workers, they are...
France: adoption of the Labor Income Act
The Labor Income Act was adopted by the Parliament on November 27, as an answer to the decreasing purchasing power of French employees. We are presenting a review of its main provisions which...
EU: the French presidency stays on track for the permanent adoption of the recast of the EWC directive by the end of the year
In spite of the fact that MEPs from the Committee on Employment adopted some amendments introducing significant changes to the recast EWC (see our dispatch No. 080915), the French presidency and...
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
Italy: Enel signs agreement to manage the effects of AI on work
An agreement signed at the end of July by the electricity company Enel (31,000 employees) and the unions Filctem-Cgil, Flaei-Cisl, and Uiltec is pioneering in the Italian energy sector. It aims to...
7 September 2026
2
Italy: artificial Intelligence on the menu of Barilla’s new company agreement
Prior consultation with trade unions on innovations related to artificial intelligence, strengthened training, and progress on parenthood: these are the main new features of the agreement signed...
2 September 2026
3
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
4
Germany: a high-tension start to the social and political year
The German government must finalize its major reforms (pension funding, corporate competitiveness, and labor law) while the chancellor’s popularity hits an all-time low and three regional...
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Sweden: IF Metall union forced to end industrial dispute with Tesla
The news. After three years of conflict, the Swedish union IF Metall announced it would suspend its strike actions against Tesla starting Wednesday, August 19, after the American automaker...