News brief

International: European Court of Human Rights limits collective action’s nuisance right
h 5, 2009, the European Court of Human Rights judged that “the total block, repeatedly, of road traffic on the highway went beyond the usual inconvenience inhering in any...
EU: working time directive might be shelved after yet another failed conciliation
tiations which ended early in the morning, the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers couldn’t reach an agreement on the draft revision of the working time directive, currently...
Safran: first plenary meeting for the EWC
ployees) met for the first time on March 25, 2009. It elected bureau members and the council’s secretary. Two days dedicated to training preceded the meeting. The first, in February...
Great Britain: unions and employers mobilized to save the industry, poorly defended by the government
employers unanimously welcome the campaign launched by Unite. They met to propose an emergency assistance strategy for the industry and its jobs. The government, which made many promises but gave...
France: framing managers’ pay in businesses helped by the State
10, the managers of businesses which, because of the crisis, were helped by the State or receive public funds will have to give up their stock options and free shares and accept close supervision...
France: special status businesses must take account of work performed in an undertaking located in another Member State
rt rendered a ruling bringing a new solution and forcing businesses with a special status to think about recruitment conditions and the careers of collaborators who used to work in an undertaking...
Argentina: labor court judge imposes collective sentence to a group of businesses in a case of unfair dismissals
ember 18, 2008, the Labor Court of Buenos Aires gave an unseen sentence, condemning a group of businesses to pay compensation for unfair dismissals. Indeed, the judges decided to take account of...
Belgium: judiciarization of social conflicts at Carrefour
of Mons rendered, on March 25, an ordinance giving satisfaction to Carrefour’s employees, who exercised their right to strike in October 2008. Unions contested the management’s...
Netherlands: friendly agreement on bonuses in the finance sector
or Minister for Finance, concluded a friendly agreement with bankers, insurers and pension funds on remuneration policy. (Ref. 090360) During this informal meeting, it was agreed that the wages of...
Germany: IG Metall ready to compromise to save Opel
d visit by Angela Merkel (CDU) on March 31, 2009 at the head office of Opel, German subsidiary of the American General Motors in Russelsheim, the IG Metall union indirectly put pressure on the...
GfK: analysis of the agreement on the involvement of employees in the European company
studies institute worldwide, the German group GfK (10.000 employees of which 80% are outside German territory), has just converted to a European Company on February 3, 2009. The group came to an...
EU: MEPs from the Parliament’s Employment Committee support the draft revision of the Globalization Adjustment Fund
ndments, the European Commission’s proposition on the revision of the European Globalization Adjustment Fund (EGF), MEPs from the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment proved...
EU: Ministers for Transport opposed to including self-employed workers in the scope of the directive on working time for truck drivers
Ministers, gathered on March 30, made a clear stand against the inclusion on self-employed in the scope of Directive 2002/15 on the organization of the working time of persons performing mobile...
MAN SE: analysis of the agreement on the involvement of workers in the future European company
producer of engines for transport and power plant applications MAN (51.000 employees) signed, on February 18, 2009 in Munich, an agreement on the involvement of employees, thus allowing the group...
Italy: 3.4 million people reject the reform of the conventional reform in a referendum organized by the CGIL
ion workers took part in the consultation organized by the largest Italian union, the CGIL, on the agreement on the reform of the conventional system. The CGIL rejected this agreement but the two...
Great Britain: amendments to labor law enforced
British labor law because it is one of the two periods of the year when new social legislations are enforced. Paid annual leave, flexible work, dispute resolution, employment agency liability...
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
6
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