Great Britain : employment tribunal asks CJEU for clarification on the status of ‘worker’ in the context of the gig economy
Does the fact an individual has the right to hire a replacement, to do part or all of their work, mean they cannot be considered a ‘worker’? This is a question that has recently been referred by...
20 September 2019
Great Britain: the gig economy – a threat or opportunity for British trade unions
With 4.7 million British currently estimated as working on a per-job basis across a variety of online work platforms, trade unions and experts in the field agreed to discuss with Planet Labor the...
Telefónica: cross-cutting digital transformation
Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica, which is present in 24 countries and employs more than 120,000 people across the world, spoke to Planet Labor about its digitalisation ambitions and...
Gig economy: university initiative seeks to set better standards for benefit of platform workers
“There are now over seven million digital platform workers that live all over the world, doing work that is outsourced via platforms or apps. Platform work provides essential income and...
19 April 2019
HR practices: French insurer MAIF immerses its whole social structure into digital transformation
Like others in the insurance industry, French insurance company Maif (7,500 employees) is facing a thorough overhaul of its entire business, not least with the arrival of insurtech startups, and...
Bosch continues to deploy its ‘Learning Company’ concept
In line with the rest of the industrial world, Germany’s largest auto-parts manufacturer, Bosch (400,000 employees), is having to deal with enormous challenges that must be met, or else risk the...
Siemens: an intelligent learning experience platform that helps employees acquire the competences they will need for tomorrow
What is the impact of digitalization on training and lifelong learning within businesses? How can we identify essential competences several years ahead? How can we learn to learn in the digital...
Germany: Siemens launches its ‘Future fund’ with which employees can choose their own training
Europe’s largest industrial and electro-technical manufacturing company is also facing the changes being brought about by digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and energy transition. In...
United Kingdom: May blows the cobwebs off the labour code, without taking action on zero-hour contracts or the gig economy
On 17 December, the UK government unveiled a package of labour reforms, which it believes are the biggest for 20 years. The government’s Good Work Plan, which is a response to the Taylor report...
17 December 2018
Finland: ‘Work in the age of artificial intelligence’ report reassesses human resource management
In May 2017 the Minister of Economic Affairs appointed a steering group to prepare Finland for reaching its goal of becoming a global leader in the use of artificial intelligence (AI). The group...
Brazil: companies faced with challenge of fostering racial diversity
Around 10 years after Brazil introduced quotas for people of African ancestry in its universities, the integration of people of colour in the corporate world is on the up. However, the issue...
3 February 2017
Germany: reassessing individual bonus payments
Germany’s businesses regularly discuss the issue of individual bonus payments and performance related bonuses that make up the variable part of employee remuneration. At Bosch, Deutsche Bahn, and...
2 February 2017
Nokia: puts a support package in place for workers laid off after mass redundancies
As expected, Nokia’s acquisition of Franco-American rival Alcatel-Lucent has had significant social consequences. Although the Finnish group did not provide any global figures beyond 1,300 job...
Great Britain: McDonald’s backs an employers’ campaign to promote employee soft skills
British employers are campaigning for soft skills to be taken seriously as business success factors. They estimate soft skills to be worth 88 million GBP (113.5 million euros) to the British...
Corporate Practice: Daimler calls its pensioners back into service for special missions.
In Daimler they are called the ‘Space Cowboys’. Like with the Clint Eastwood film where 4 elderly retired astronauts are called back into service for a crucial mission (to save the earth)...
Corporate Practice: how the German family run company VILSA-Brunnen helps its older staff take up, for the first time, professional vocational training
Can we go back to school after more than 20 years spent in a factory filling bottles. What are the benefits and challenges of such an approach for both the employee and the employer? During the...
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
Pascale Rauline (Axa EWC): “European charter formalises ongoing and accelerated social dialogue on AI”
On 27 November, Axa and its European works council (EWC) signed a charter setting out principles governing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteeing social dialogue on the...
2
Germany: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
3
Bulgaria: government approves bill to encourage sector-level collective bargaining
On 26 November, the Bulgarian government approved amendments to the labour code designed to reinforce the legal framework for sector-level collective bargaining. The reform aims to stimulate...
2 December 2025
4
EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
5
France: construction sector turns to long-term partial activity scheme
Amid the ongoing economic crisis hitting France’s construction sector, social partners in the public works industry (350,000 employees) signed an agreement at the end of October enabling companies...
21 November 2025
6
Inditex European works council mobilises on value sharing
In a joint statement, 10 trade unions comprising the European works council of the Inditex clothing group are calling for rallies in Spain, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, France, Italy and Germany...