All articles

Great Britain: reform of the building sector
Shriti Vadera, Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, launched, on June 12, 2008, the "Government Strategy for Sustainable Building", a series of measures to improve...
EU: the Court of Justice condemns Luxembourg for incorrect transposition of the directive on the posting of workers
In a recent judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Communities condemns Luxembourg for failure to correctly transpose the directive on the posting of workers, and especially for imposing...
Belgium: the participation of employees in the capital of firms extended to agency workers
On June 17, 2008, the Parliament adopted an amendment to the law "including different provisions" which extend the mechanism of employee profit sharing ("one-off profits related to the results")...
Germany: the conflict between the management and SAP staff representatives is growing acrimonious
Brought before industrial courts (see our dispatch No. 080448), the conflict on SAP's staff representation structures should go on. On June 12, 2008, the Dusseldorf court gave satisfaction to the...
Croatia: several social bills presented to Parliament in preparation for EU membership
On May 29, the Croatian government sent to parliament several bills to adjust national laws to EU standards and get Croatia ready to join the European Union. The bills are on employment agency...
France: bill to reform the 35-hour work week
The bill on social democracy (see our article No. 080512) adopted on June 18 by the Council of Ministers also contains provisions making regulations on working time more flexible by granting more...
Suez: agreement on social guarantees for Suez Group employees
Since all the prior requirements to the vote by Gaz de France and Suez's general assemblies on the merger were met, Suez's management and the social partners signed, on June 17, 2008, an agreement...
France: a bill to reform union representativeness
The Council of Ministers adopted, on June 18, the bill for the reorganization of social democracy and for the reform of working time. This bill amends unions' representativeness regulations, which...
Italy: mobilization against the changes to the law on health and safety at work
After six people died in Sicilia on June 11, the three metalworkers' union federations organized, on June 17, 2008, a national one-hour strike, which didn't get much support. The government...
Cegelec: EWC and management agree on a meeting agenda
The management of the French group Cegelec (25.000 employees), integrating solutions and technological services, and members from the European works council adopted, on June 17, 2008, at the...
Italy: Eni “takes his tie off” at work to reduce energy consumption
After the success of last year's test, Eni's employees will be allowed to adopt a "more casual wear" at work this summer as well. This initiative, which will start in a few weeks, is part of the...
17 June 2008
Spain: first union report of the equality plans negotiated in firms
The Equality Act, in force since March 23, 2007, has hardly paid off. Yet, one of the main strengths of the text was the obligation for companies with 250 or more employees to bargain for a plan...
Germany: the Deutsche Post wants to turn its last 750 post offices into “postal agency”, causing unions’ anger
Deutsche Post intends to improve its service offer. In the meantime, the group confirmed, on June 13, 2008, that it was looking for partners (supermarkets, superstores, tobacco shops...
Netherlands: a government committee wants to raise retirement age to 67
The Bakker Commission, appointed in 2007 by a coalition government unable to find an agreement on the softening of the law on dismissal and other social reforms, gave its annual report on June 16...
Germany: many executives want to switch employers
According to an online study carried out by the Lüneburg University, many executives and technicians are extremely unhappy about their job. 70% of them are thinking about leaving their firm in the...
Spain: professional experience soon to be officially validated
Employees will soon get official recognition for the skills acquired as part of their professional experience. (Ref. 080508)
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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
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...
5
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...