News brief

Great Britain: more and more conflicts over pension schemes
008, businesses have been amending their pension schemes (closing defined benefit pensions schemes to new entrants, reforming final salary schemes…) without employees resisting much. After...
Spain: Seat signs draft agreement linking pay to productivity
er, Seat (Volkswagen group) and the UGT union, which represents a majority of workers in the company, signed an agreement in principle on the new collective agreement 2011-2015. For the first...
Germany: new measures in force since January 1, 2012
and Social Affairs detailed the new measures that came into force on January 1, 2012 in the fields of employment policy, labor law and pensions. Planet Labor is detailing the key changes. (Ref...
Denmark: businesses relocating to Denmark bank on the Scandinavian working culture
the magazine published by the Fødevareforbundet NNF food workers’ union dedicated 12 pages to businesses in the sector relocating the greater part of their production to Denmark...
23 December 2011
Brazil: Zara strikes deal with Brazilian court following the slavery scandal
ant is going to invest EUR 1.4 million in Brazil to prevent slave labor in the textile industry, by virtue of the agreement signed with the Brazilian labor prosecution. In doing so, the Court is...
22 December 2011
Luxembourg: in the absence of an agreement between the social partners, the government announces the temporary review of wage indexation
uxembourg’s Prime Minister, Jean-Claude Juncker, decided to adapt the indexation of wages on inflation. Over the next three years, only an index bracket will be paid annually, in October...
Italy: union unity stronger because of concerns over Mario Monti’s labor reform
erations are tightening their ranks after the Minister of Labor announced the possibility of reviewing Article 18 of the Workers’ Statute which provides that employers have to re-hire any...
Germany: for the first time, the temporary sector is setting up sectoral minimum wage
kel administration introduced, on December 20, via a decree, sectoral minimum wage in the temporary sector. Starting on January 1, 2012, the sector’s approximately 900,000 employees will...
Portugal: creation of a new service confederation to boost employers’ representation
ese Services (CSP) created a group with the major employers’ organizations in the service, retail and telecom industry. The new confederation represents 20 percent of the country’s GDP...
Austria: average 3.65 percent increase in computer services
rtners in the Austrian computing industry agreed on an average 3.65 percent wage increase for the sector’s 40,000 employees on January 1, 2012. The lowest wages will get a 4.1 percent...
Portugal: new bill adding 30 minutes to the workday
f Ministers adopted a bill increasing the workday by 30 minutes in the private sector, with no financial compensation. (Ref. 110768) Private sector. The decision of the conservative Portuguese...
France – Great Britain: union finances, a debate on both sides of the Channel
ce, the issue of union funding came (back) up in public debates in recent days. In the UK, it was the result of a report from the TaxPayers’ Alliance, which led the Prime Minister to support...
EU: new report on the debate on the draft “intra-corporate transfer” and “seasonal workers” directives
to vote to allow their rapporteurs to negotiate, with the Council of EU Ministers, the draft directives on the intra-corporate transfer of third-country nationals and on the entry and residence of...
Belgium: measures of the new government’s program affecting the labor market
upo, new socialist Prime Minister taking over the reins of the country after 535 days of political crisis, presented his policy statement to the Parliament. His government, made up of...
Netherlands: new amendment to the bill on pensions
n made a concession to the left-wing party in order to push the pension reform through: the lowest paid will still be able to retire at 65, instead of 67 after 2025, with no loss of earnings...
EU: working conditions and collective bargaining in 2010
hed on November 17, the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin), analyzes the evolution of working conditions and industrial relations in Europe in 2010...
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
Catherine Chavanier (CDC Habitat): “Social dialogue on AI facilitates its deployment”
In February, CDC Habitat (10,500 employees) signed a two-year framework agreement governing social dialogue on AI. Catherine Chavanier, HR Director of the subsidiary of CDC (Caisse des dépôts et...
2
Greece: hospitality sector signs first collective agreement aligned with National Social Pact
The hospitality sector (125,000 employees), one of Greece’s largest industries after retail, signed a new two-year collective agreement on 17 March. The text, effective from 1 April 2026...
3
France: La Poste to launch negotiations for an AI agreement
Following the lead of firms such as Axa, Syensqo globally, and more recently CDC Habitat, La Poste group management will open negotiations on an AI regulation agreement during the first half of...
4
France: Club Med includes “multiculturalism” in its professional equality agreement
In December 2025, Club Med and the CFTC, Unsa, and FO trade unions signed an agreement on professional equality and working conditions. It introduces measures addressing AI, pay transparency, and...
23 March 2026
5
Germany: crisis and transformation wage agreement in the chemical sector
Following a two-day marathon negotiation in Bad Breisig (Western Germany), the social partners of the German chemical and pharmaceutical industries—the IG BCE trade union and the BAVC employers'...
27 March 2026
6
France: bioMérieux’s new disability agreement pivots towards mental health
The news. On 6 January 2026, bioMérieux—an in vitro diagnostics specialist employing 4,400 people in France—signed a new four-year agreement “relating to the employment...