News brief

Italy: banking social partners sign agreement reviving the sector’s “solidarity fund”
mber 16 by the banking social partners improves social protection of employees affected by the crisis who aren’t entitled to social dampers. To that end, a new unit of the sector’s...
Germany: metal social partners sign “crisis agreement” on worker exchange in North Rhine-Westphalia
egional federation in North Rhine-Westphalia signed an agreement with the region’s five sectoral employers’ organizations to allow leasing employees between businesses. This crisis...
Netherlands: TNT Post competitors fight about working conditions
e government refused more flexible labor market conditions to Sandd and Selekt Mail, rivals of former national post TNT Post. Sandd sued the State to cancel the September ordinance which imposes...
Austria: trade workers will get a 1.5% wage increase on January 1, 2010
November for the 570,000 employees (Angestellte) in trade was used for workers (Arbeiter) in the sector (storekeepers, drivers…), i.e. about 100,000 people. Unlike the agreement for...
Great Britain: government improves support to youth employment and the fight against long-term unemployment
government published a white paper to fight against the impact of the recession on employment. It notably provides for a subsidy of 2,500 pounds for employers taking on 16-17-year-old apprentices;...
Belgium: anticrisis measures extended to June 30, 2010
en the social partners failed, the Federal Government decided, on December 15, during a limited Council of Ministers, to add six months to three measures adopted in June to face businesses’...
Portugal: notice of strike for December 24th in retailing
e and Service Workers of Portugal, CESP (affiliated with the CGTP-IN), called for a 24-hour strike on Christmas Eve to protest against the sector’s employers’ request to bring maximum...
Germany: labor cost increase down after two quarters up
ember 9 by the Federal Statistics Agency show that labor costs have been still in Germany for the 3rd 2009 quarter compared with the second 2009 quarter. It is a sign of stabilization of working...
Italy: social partners sign joint opinion of employee participation in enterprise profits
l partners save the CGIL signed a joint opinion recognizing employee participation in enterprise profits as an element of quality employment and productivity. The document provides for a follow-up...
Germany: Deutsche Bahn to cut nearly 14,000 jobs within five years
Tagesspiegel” daily wrote that the German railway, Deutsche Bahn, allegedly intends to cut around 14,000 jobs over the next five years, to overcome the impact of the crisis. The merchandise...
Spain: BBVA closes bank agencies on Saturday morning
d an agreement to close the 3,000 offices on Saturday morning. Workers will enjoy working time compensation. (Ref. 091141) As of December 26, BBVA employees will be free on Saturday, in exchange...
Sweden: Scania signs another company agreement for its 12,000 employees
national bus and truck manufacturer, announced that it signed a new company agreement with the If Metall (metalworkers’ union) and Teckniksföretag (supervisory union). As Veli-Pekka...
Belgium: ACV-CSC Textura and CSC Metal merge, creating ACV-CSC Metea, the federation of industry and the technology sector
d textile federations of the CSC, the Belgian Christian union, officially merged, creating ACV-CSC Metea. This new organization should help the union have a better say in sectoral bargaining...
Triumph International: Thai and Filipino unions organize a European tour to object to 3,600 compulsory layoffs
nternational, one of the world leaders in women’s lingerie, let go 3,600 workers in three plants in Thailand and the Philippines. Triumph justified this by operating losses and a global...
EU: the Twenty-Seven open the debate on the post-2010 Lisbon Strategy
on December 10-11, the heads of State and government of the EU, gathered in Brussels, opened the debate on the reform of the Lisbon strategy. They want it to be an “ambitious”...
United States: BP fined 87.4 million dollars by OSHA
Health Administration, OSHA, fined BP 87.4 million dollars for failure to respect safety rules in its Texas refinery. This fine, of an unprecedented amount, shows the new government’s will...
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: 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
2
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...
3
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...
4
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
5
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
6
Germany: ‘active retirement’ law adopted to encourage seniors to remain in the workforce
On 15 October, Germany’s cabinet approved draft legislation on ‘active retirement‘, which is expected to pass swiftly through Parliament. The bill would allow people who continue...