News brief

Finland: government unilaterally raises normal retirement age from 63 to 65
, on February 24, 2009, that the government decided to progressively raise retirement age from 63 to 65. It will be put into place by a measure destined to finance retirement in the context of the...
Austria: Telekom Austria’s Director of Personnel creates an outrage by explaining his “mobbing” techniques on YouTube
ube video sharing website shows Gernot Schieszler, Director of Personnel of the largest telephone company in Austria, explain to investors how to lobby hundreds of employees with the status of...
Italy: court confirms legitimacy of emails at work for union communication
ily) condemned the S.T. Microelectronics company for antiunion behavior for it sanctioned a Fiom representative for sending union emails to the professional emails of his colleagues. By doing...
China: entrepreneurs promise not to lay off
a handful of Chinese entrepreneurs promised not to lay off or reduce wages. The idea is simple: the Chinese economy has to move away from exports and produce for its internal market if it wants to...
26 February 2009
Bolivia: businesses threaten with thousands of dismissals after the minimum wage increase
against the presidential decree which commands a 12% minimum wage increase in 2009. A general wage increase in the private sector will depend on the results of the negotiation between the social...
Finland: Nokia imposes a law allowing employers to monitor their employees’ email
Parliament adopted an amendment to the law on the protection of data, which its opponents called “Lex Nokia”, allowing employers to monitor their employees’ email. The text was...
Slovakia: “flexi-accounts” to avoid layoffs
pted a law introducing a system of “flexi-accounts” allowing employers to temporarily reduce activity without dismissing. It allows them to send employees away while maintaining their...
Italy: Parliament permanently adopted the “thousand extensions” decree
Chamber of Deputies, the “Milleproroghe” decree contains, among the many extensions postponing the enforcement of many texts, one on the new obligations in terms of health and safety...
Germany: focus on the partial unemployment system
vercome the crisis without collapsing, the federal government is placing all its hopes into partial unemployment (Kurzarbeit). Confirmed on February 20, 2009 by the Bundesrat, the chamber of...
Spain: the merger between the metal and textile-chemistry federations of the Workers’ Commissions won’t happen
et closer, the CCOO’s two largest federation failed to unite. The leaders of the textile-chemistry and affiliate federation (Fiteqa) decided to end the process. They argue that methods and...
EU: the College of Commissioners consults the social partners on solutions to the crisis
pean social partners (ETUC for unions, BusinessEurope, CEEP and UEAPME for employers) were invited to express themselves at the College of Commissioners on February 25. Talks on possible solutions...
Netherlands: negotiations on measures to adopt against the crisis
ein Donner, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, called for a total freeze of wages and pensions. This is one of the solutions to be proposed and discussed by the social partners. The Minister...
International: ILO sectoral meeting on the impact of the crisis on bank employees
nization (ILO) dedicated its tripartite meeting on the financial sector to the impact of the crisis on banking jobs and possible solutions to downplay this impact. The February 24-25 meeting was...
Netherlands: veil squad against discrimination
Muslim women, member of the Ibnou Khaldoun Islamic foundation, launched a “veil squad of the polders’ Muslims”. These women want to defend their right to wear the veil at work...
Austria: government prepares for the creation of a “labor foundation” for agency workers
loyment (January 2009) in the sector, Austrian agency workers are the first victims of the crisis. Supported by the social partners, Rudolf Hundstorfer, Minister of Social Affairs and Employment...
Germany: Schaeffler brings joint management home and breaks a taboo
fects. After objecting to it for several years, the Schaeffler family group announced, on February 23, 2009 in a joint press release with the IG Metall union, that it accepted to extend joint...
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
Italy: decree-law adopted to increase workplace safety
On 28 October, the Italian cabinet adopted a decree-law on health and safety at work, aimed at preventing and reducing accidents. The text addresses both the powers and actions of supervisory...
4 November 2025
2
Romania: parents of children with disabilities granted up to eight days of remote work per month
On 9 October, the Romanian parliament adopted a bill aiming to bolster support for parents of children with disabilities up to the age of 18. The legislation, which came into force on 12 October...
3
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...
31 October 2025
4
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...
14 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
AI-driven job cuts on the rise in tech sector
As leading tech companies ramp up investment in artificial intelligence (AI) and roll out transformation plans to boost its development, layoffs across the sector are increasing. But are the job...
7 October 2025