News brief

Austria: Austrian Railways (ÖBB) were illegally gathering information on their employees’ health
l of absenteeism, the ÖBB’s personnel service pressured employees to know why they were on sick leave. Classified in the employees’ personal files, such data wasn’t kept...
Poland: social conflict around the privatization of the ENEA energy group
ing, to privatize the ENEA energy group, relations between the government and the group’s unions have been particularly tense. Unions denounce the conditions of the privatization, in favor...
Great Britain: government toughens legislation on the recruitment of foreign workers
announced, on September 7, that employers will have to advertise jobs in jobcenters for a month (instead of two weeks) prior to recruiting workers from outside Europe. The goal is to limit the...
Germany: Supreme Court increases liability for compliance officers
e first time, the Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH) condemned a compliance officer to pay a fine for failure to prevent an infringement made by employees. This decision should put more...
Italy: towards a separate agreement for the renewal of the metalworking CCN
f the metalworking national collective agreement resumed on September 10, the Federmeccanica employers’ federation announced that it would only base the negotiations on the joint platform...
Spain: unions of the Santander bank propose closing agencies on Saturday to save money
unions of the Santander bank opened talks which should lead to closing the 3,000 national agencies on Saturday, therefore allowing the group to save 17 million euro. Unions proposed this solution...
Italy: tense start for Fiat with short-time working, Mobilita procedures and overtime
‘s unions are mobilized against Mobilita procedures, short-time working and “unilateral posting” of workers. On September 9, the mobilization of workers at Case New Holland in...
EU: ECJ subtly defines when the decision of the parent company sets off the obligation to consult workers
rday, September 10, the European Court of Justice introduces details, sometimes subtle, on when the obligation to consult workers in the event of mass layoffs decided by the parent company...
Austria: collective bargaining about to be tough in metalworking and civil service
s’ unions will open negotiations with their wage claims in preparation for the annual collective negotiations which will start on October 9, 2009. Negotiations in civil service and trade...
Germany: SPD and unions to help employees save their company
ement often “employee capital interest act” two social-democrat ministers, Olaf Scholz (Employment and Social Affairs) and Peer Steinbrück (Finance) presented, on September 8, the...
Netherlands: bankers propose limiting their bonus to one year’s pay
ks (NVB) presented a spontaneous and non-binding code of conduct on September 9 in Amsterdam to limit administrators’ premiums to one year’s pay. This symbolic progress doesn’t...
Italy: dialog slowly but surely resumes between the Confindustria and the CGIL
o (Lombardy) on Sunday, the leader of Confindustria (employers’ federation) and the leader of the CGIL, the largest Italian union, started patching things up while a major disagreement on...
Netherlands: Wessanen’s shareholders cancel the CEO’s golden parachute
ders canceled a CEO’s golden handshake amounting to three years’ pay on the grounds of bad results. This model decision still needs the justice’s approval. (Ref. 090830) In the...
Venezuela: Mitsubishi and General Motors struggle to revive production
rk would resume on September 21 in its Venezuelan factory. The car maker suspended production in late August because of a worker struggle. However, the shutdown was deemed illegal. General Motors...
Spain: social partners about to reopen talks after the negotiations on the labor market reform failed before the summer
loyment went back up, the government wants to convince employers and unions to find an arrangement to redefine labor market rules and better face the crisis. They will talk about more flexible...
Germany: managers saw their wages drop by 21% in 2008 following the crisis
he German small shareholders association (Deutsche Schutzvereinigung fur Wertpapierbesitz – DSW), published on September 3, shows that the remuneration of the managers of large businesses...
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
Germany: government seeks to facilitate immigration of skilled Indian workers
During a visit to India earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the strategic importance of attracting Indian workers to Germany, signing a series of cooperation agreements...
2
France: 2026 budget expected to maintain employer contribution relief
On 19 January 2026, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu decided to invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass France's 2026 budget without a vote in the National Assembly. Three days...
3
EU: Cyprus unveils its six-month presidency programme
Cyprus has set out its priorities for its six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. On the social front, the centre-right government will focus on the Union of Skills, which aims to boost...
4
Informal economy and slow wage growth hamper decent work, ILO says
The International Labour Organisation published its Employment ans Social Trends 2026 on 14 January. It anticipates unemployment stabilising in 2026 and employment growth of 1%, driven by...