News brief

EU: European summit offers guarantees to Ireland and Jose Manuel Barroso
eld on June 18-19, the heads of States and governments of the Twenty-Seven validated the application of the current president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, to succeed to...
Germany: Bundestag adopts Act limiting managers’ pay
German heads of businesses will have to take into account the company’s long-term success. Their civil liability in case of neglected duties will also be increased. These are the main...
Finland: bill on the liberalization of opening shops on Sunday
signed by the Service Union United (PAM) and employers’ organizations in November 2008, the bill presented by Minister of Labor Tarja Cronberg (Greens), is aimed at opening shops on Sunday...
Italy: Fiat presents industrial plan to government and unions
2009-10 confirmed for all Italian undertakings: this is the industrial plan the carmaker presented to unions and local governments during the meeting on the group’s future in Italy...
Austria: government announces measures to support employment and businesses
Arbeitsmarktpaket II), presented to the European Parliament on June 18, 2009, removes businesses’ contributions after the 7th month of partial unemployment. The maximum limit of this system...
Great Britain: British Airways asks staff to work for free for up to a month
d over 30,000 employees to take unpaid leave or work for free for one week up to one month to help the company survive, after it lost 401 million pounds (471 million euros) in one year. (Ref...
Netherlands: pension funds in the red zone
of the Netherlands announced that about twenty pension funds will have no other choice but to reduce their members’ payments next year. The government already left businesses free to leave...
Portugal: employees at Volkswagen Autoeuropa’s Palmela factory reject the flexibility agreement
europa’s Palmela factory, near Lisbon, rejected – with 51.6% of the votes – the new company agreement introducing more flexible working time. This brings back the spectrum of...
Axa: impending agreement renewing the insurer’s EWC
, French union organizations and the Uni European trade union – mandated by organizations from other countries – should sing an agreement renewing the agreement establishing...
France: four new recruitment premiums to boost youth employment
er the President announced an “Emergency Youth Employment Plan” of over one billion euros, four decrees, passed on June 15, 2009, temporarily introduce financial incentives for...
Germany: Verdi union says 9,000 jobs are in jeopardy at E.ON
ram announced in February by the largest energy group in Germany, E.ON, could cost almost one in ten jobs, the Verdi services union called E.ON’s employees for a giant demonstration...
Argentina: government forces the metal social partners to find a wage agreement
ounced by metalworkers, the Argentinean government adopted, on June 16, 2009, a directive forcing staff representatives and employers to conclude a wage agreement. On the absence of an agreement...
EU: the European social partners sign a new agreement on parental leave
– BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME for employers and the ETUC for unions – signed, today June 18, 2009, the interprofessional agreement revising the 1995 agreement on parental leave...
Austria: the bill on the postal market stuck at the coalition
tal market should have been adopted by the Council of Ministers on June 9, 2009. However, disagreements appeared within the ruling coalition, notably about the definition of wage levels for...
Denmark: public employment service reform gives town councils more responsibility
adoption of the reform of public employment services, the LO trade union (whose members manage unemployment insurance funds) and the municipalities’ organization (Kommunernes Landsforening)...
Germany: Deutsche Post in turn hit by a scandal of illegal gathering of employees’ private data
inesses accused of violating the law on the protection of data keeps getting longer. On June 14, 2009, the Deutsche Post recognized that it illegally stored data on employees’ health status...
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
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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