Germany: four-day week niche and unpopular, German Economic Institute finds (study)
Between March and May 2024, the German Economic Institute (IW) surveyed human resources managers from 823 companies of all sizes and across all sectors on the topic of the four-day week with...
25 April 2025
South Korea: parental leave extended to 18 months for each parent
On 11 February, the Korean government approved several decrees related to parenthood. From 23 February, parents will be able to take up to 18 months of parental leave each, instead of the previous...
17 February 2025
Germany: Henkel, a pioneer of partner parental leave amid a national context that is stagnant 
A few months ago, the Henkel group introduced a partner parental leave scheme that benefits employees in the 80 countries in which the company operates. Meanwhile the bill approved in 2023 on the...
14 February 2025
A look back at 2024: remote work central to debate
Four years after the widespread introduction of remote work or telework for employees in the service sector, the practice was called into question in 2024, as companies moved to roll back the...
15 January 2025
United States: Senate report condemns working conditions in Amazon warehouses
After 18 months’ work, 135 interviews and 1,400 documents collected, a US Senate committee led by Bernie Sanders has published a report on working conditions in Amazon warehouses. It found...
17 December 2024
Suez: new European agreement on health and safety signed
At the beginning of October, water and waste management group Suez signed a new European agreement on health and safety. Though such agreement no longer existed following the absorption of a large...
28 November 2024
Italy: ‘smart working’ on the rise at large companies
Hybrid working or 'smart working' as it is legally known in Italy, is becoming increasingly widespread at large companies in the country. The annual study by Milan's Politecnico University...
6 November 2024
Ireland: bill passed allowing postponement of maternity leave in event of serious illness
On 23 October, the Irish parliament adopted a bill introducing the right for an employee to postpone her maternity leave in the event of serious illness (physical or mental), subject to medical...
Germany: four-day week experiment yields mixed results
On 18 October, the results of the study on the four-day week in Germany were presented by a team from the University of Münster. According to the data collected from the 41 companies involved...
21 October 2024
Australia: right to disconnect comes into force
On 26 August, six months after the enactment of changes to the Fair Work Act, the right to disconnect came into force in Australia. Employees will be legally entitled to refuse to respond when an...
Portugal: how companies successfully experimented with a four-day week
After a year of experimentation, a number of Portuguese companies have adopted the four-day week. They are seeing productivity levels maintained as well as an improvement in employee commitment...
Netherlands: guide published to combat sexual harassment and violence in the workplace
Mariëtte Hamera, the Dutch government’s commissioner responsible for gender-based harassment and sexual violence, has published a new guide to help companies “create a safe...
[mind RH study] EU: parental leave continues to vary greatly from country to country
With French president Emmanuel Macron having announced that he wants to replace parental leave with a new, shorter but better-paid birth leave scheme by 2025, mind RH takes a look at how parental...
29 February 2024
France: RATP seeks to improve attractiveness with QWL innovations
RATP, the urban transport operator employing 65,000 people, is experimenting with new measures, including the four-day week, new working rhythms and the deployment of exoskeletons in maintenance...
27 February 2024
United Kingdom: occupational health taskforce launched
On 21 February, the UK government unveiled the Occupational Health Taskforce, which is being launched to reduce occupational illness, combat inactivity and raise awareness among employers of the...
23 February 2024
Australia: right to disconnect comes closer to introduction 
On 8 February, the Australian senate adopted an amendment proposing the introduction of a right to disconnect, as part of its examination of a bill to reform industrial relations. The text...
13 February 2024
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
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
EDF bans alcohol on all its sites
From 1 January 2026, French energy giant EDF (180,000 employees) will prohibit alcohol consumption at all internal and external corporate events, from social gatherings to seminars. The policy...
26 November 2025
3
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
4
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
5
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
6
Austria: European rules on wage transparency expected to cause a cultural shock
With the gender pay gap in Austria being the second largest in the European Union (18.3%), the Austrian government has promised to introduce a bill next spring to transpose the European directive...
27 November 2025