News brief

Germany: IG-Metall union starts next Congress with more and younger members
four-year Congress, on October 9-15, 2011, the management of the Metalworkers’ Union Federation is starting to leak the first elements of its evaluation. For the biggest sectoral union in...
Italy: measures of the budget austerity plan affecting the social sphere
e since the beginning of the Berlusconi administration, the Italian Chamber of Deputies approved the new budget austerity plan last night (September 14th). The law aims to save over EUR 53M in...
Great Britain: key unions ballot for strike on November 30th
ld a ‘crisis’ annual conference at its London headquarters on September 12-14. With a vastly reduced number of delegates (600 down to 300) from its 58 union affiliates comprising 6.2m...
Germany: DBG reveals that, in spite of the lack in skilled manpower, the quality of cooperative education has not improved
he Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB) revealed, on September 14th, its “2011 Annual Report on Cooperative Education” (Ausbildungsreport 2011), which evaluates the quality of...
14 September 2011
China: the modalities of the new obligation to subject foreign workers to the Chinese social security still need to be clarified
2010 Social Insurance Act, enforced on July 1st, provides, for the first time ever, for the mandatory subjection of foreign workers to the Chinese social security, when they used to be...
EU: towards a general principle taking account of the period of temporary employment in the seniority of a worker with a permanent contract
ptember 8th, the Court of Justice of the European union (CJEU) stated that the internal promotion of a worker with a permanent contract should take into consideration seniority years performed as...
South Africa: three-year agreement in the industry
neering Industry Federation of South Africa (SEIFSA, the steel employers’ organization) and several unions (NUMSA, Solidarity, UASA the Union, CEPPWAWU, MEWUSA and SAEWA) signed a three-year...
Portugal: unions and employers reject the government’s plan to create a compensation fund to pay for layoffs
d the government’s draft on the creation of a compensation fund to partly pay for workers’ layoffs. The social partners demand new guarantees as to its efficiency. (Ref. 110539)...
13 September 2011
Spain: unions are worried about the new constraints announced by the carmakers
several carmakers announced that they intended to reduce operations in their Spanish sites. They are asking that businesses don’t make employees alone pay for the consequences of the drop in...
13 September 2011
Netherlands: bill on the right to flexiwork and telework
and telework by 2013 is the target of a bill introduced on September 12th in Parliament and which has the support of a majority of MPs. (Ref. 110537) Since 2009, the Christian Democratic Party...
Turkey: new “National Employment Strategy”
Party (Muslim/conservative, AKP) won, on June 12th, its third consecutive victory since 2002. Numerous reforms were announced, among which the fight against unemployment, one of the key stakes for...
International: UNI launches global union alliance for Manpower staff
d, on September 6 in Nyon, an international union network for Manpower. In doing so, the union representatives are hoping for better follow-up of the memorandum of understanding signed in 2008...
Great Britain: creeping discontent in the construction industry after eight contractors proposed to cut hourly rates of pay
echanical contractors in the building and construction industry are proposing to cut hourly rates of pay by up to 35% from March 2012. The current industry rate of £16.25 per hour (nearly...
Germany: Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency calls for better protection against discriminations
the “Equal Treatment Act” celebrated its fifth birthday this summer. On this occasion, the German Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, created within the framework of this law, issued...
EU: report on European social files
or is taking stock of major ongoing social debates in Brussels. On the menu: extension of maternity leave, Parliament negotiations on draft directives regarding intra-group transfers and seasonal...
Portugal: adoption of the Labor Code reform cutting layoff benefits
Portuguese Parliament yesterday, September 8th, brings layoff benefits down to 20 days’ pay per year worked. For the first time, a limit was added to these benefits. (Ref. 110530) Reform...
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
France: Yves Rocher convicted of breach of duty of vigilance for infringement of freedom of association
The specialised chamber of the Paris Judicial Court convicted Yves Rocher on 12 March for breaching its duty of vigilance. The group was sued by Turkish employees dismissed in 2018 by a subsidiary...
12 March 2026
2
Spain: business support package to tackle the economic impact of the Middle East conflict
The Spanish government approved a series of measures on 20 March to support companies facing rising energy prices. In return, these businesses are prohibited from making redundancies for economic...
23 March 2026
3
EU: Council adopts position on simplifying AI rules
The Council of the EU approved its position on 13 March regarding the “omnibus regulation” proposal, published last November by the Commission to simplify the AI Act. Confirming the...
20 March 2026
4
Germany: a corporate group supports local political engagement via its “Democracy Charter”
Large corporations in the Hesse region, surrounding Frankfurt, are defending local democracy by enabling employees to volunteer in local public life through an initiative dubbed the "Democracy...
11 March 2026
5
United States: Coca-Cola subsidiary sued by the administration over women-only event
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced on 18 February that it is launching federal proceedings against Coca-Cola Beverages Northeast for “sex-based...
6 March 2026