France: former Congolese employees at Comilog, a subsidiary of French group Eramet secure compensation from the French courts for the breaches of contract
After a 23 year long legal battle, former Congolese employees at Comilog (La Compagnie Minière de l'Ogooué, Ogooué Mining Company), a Gabon based subsidiary of French mining company Eramet...
11 September 2015
Multinational corporations: increasingly accountable for their human rights behavior?
In the United States a consumer action group set up in protest at the modern slavery policy used in Nestlé’s supply chain in Thailand for the production of pets feed products represents the latest...
1 September 2015
Work starts on a binding treaty for multinational company responsibility with respect to human rights violations
The first session of the “intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights,” guided by the UNO Human Rights Council came to...
13 July 2015
Great Britain: the fight against modern slavery in supply chains is about to get started
For the first time, once the summer comes to a close, firms operating in Britain will have to report on an annual basis what they are doing to combat human trafficking along their global...
6 July 2015
G-7 Summit: explicit support for establishing social minima along global supply chains
It is the first time that the subject of social and environmental standards in the labor world has occupied such an important place on the G7 agenda. The summit was held at the Chateau Elmau in...
10 June 2015
Two years after the Rana Plaza tragedy, a 6 million $ shortfall remains in the compensation fund for families of those who lost their lives or were wounded.
On April 24 2013 a textile factory collapsed in Bangladesh causing the death of more than 1,100 workers who produced garments for Western companies. The tragedy also left several thousand wounded...
24 April 2015
How digital campaigning could influence businesses’ social practices
Last February, Italian clothing brand Benetton agreed to contribute to a compensation fund for victims of the Rana Plaza disaster (c.f. article No. 8912). This last minute turnaround by the...
13 April 2015
India: the trade union IndustriAll Global Union attacks Sumangali practice, the exploitation of young Indian girls in the textile industry
The Tamil word Sumangali means “happily married woman”. The word is, however, used to designate a form of labour exploitation, that of young women from rural areas, usually adolescents. These...
25 March 2015
France: rights group Sherpa and the CGT accuse Vinci of forced labour in Qatar
On 23 March, the NGO Sherpa with the building federation of the CGT claimed that Vinci Construction, and those running its branch in Qatar (QDVC), has used forced labour on the construction sites...
24 March 2015
Lawsuit filed in Germany against the country’s largest discount clothing retailer KiK for damages and interest after a factory fire in Pakistan
A Pakistani worker and the families of some of the victims lost in a manufacturing factory fire in Pakistan in 2012 have been assisted  by several union and human rights organizations in a...
18 March 2015
Germany to promote “sustainable supply chains” and decent work during G7 Presidency
Two years after the Rana Plaza disaster in Bangladesh, which killed more than 1,000 Bangladeshi workers in the clothing industry, the German government has decided to focus on sustainable...
16 March 2015
Benetton: Italian brand commits to compensating Rana Plaza victims, under pressure from an online petition launched by Avaaz, signed by one million people
On Friday 20 February, Benetton announced its intention to contribute to the Rana Plaza victims’ compensation fund. The Italian company is the last — of those operating on the premises — to make...
23 February 2015
France: a new bill on the duty of care by multinational companies now goes to parliament
The socialist group in the National Assembly has tabled a new bill on parent companies’ and contractors’ duty of care that is to be examined at the end of March. The Ministry of the Economy and...
16 February 2015
United States: Nissan rejects mediation attempts over floundering unionization efforts, at its Mississippi plant, stemming from OECD social responsibility guidelines for multinationals.
Nissan North America has declined a US State department invitation to participate in voluntary mediation proceedings in order to resolve a long running row over worker unionization at one of its...
4 February 2015
France: the complaint filed by French NGOs against Auchan for misleading commercial practices, following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory, has been dismissed
At the end of January, the prosecutor’s office in Lille dismissed the complaint lodged against Auchan  (French supermarket chain) for non-respect of its ethical commitments in the Rana Plaza...
29 January 2015
Sainsbury’s and the GLA team up to train product suppliers identify cases of employee exploitation
The state body, Gangmasters Licensing Authority, has announced that it is working with the major supermarket chain, Sainsbury’s, to train staff to identify employee exploitation in the supply...
17 December 2014
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
mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators
In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...
31 October 2025
2
Germany: EU pay transparency directive to force companies to ‘get tough’
Germany introduced a pay transparency law in 2017, meaning companies are already somewhat familiar with the issue. However, the broader scope and stricter requirements of the EU directive, the...
24 October 2025
3
Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
4
Italy: European pay transparency directive, a major step forward for businesses
Italy’s labour market continues to suffer from limited pay transparency and a persistent gender pay gap. The forthcoming implementation of the EU pay transparency directive — still awaiting...
14 October 2025
5
EU: Omnibus Directive clears key milestone in European Parliament
On 13 October, the European Parliament’s position on the Omnibus Directive was approved by its Committee on Legal Affairs by 17 votes to six. Regarding due diligence rules, the report...
13 October 2025
6
France: government proposes suspending pension reform
French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu, reappointed on 10 October after resigning four days earlier, delivered his general policy speech to the National Assembly on 14 October. He announced the...
15 October 2025