News brief

Italy: controversy at the CGIL on the platform to renew the collective agreement in the food industry
is consulting workers on the separate agreement on the reform of the conventional system (see our dispatch No. 090080), its food federation (Flai-CGIL) agreed with the other two federations, the...
Great Britain: the government questions “one-size-fits-all” approach to equal opportunities
es and Local Government (DCLG) has launched a three-month public consultation to improve opportunities for minority ethnic people. The consultation seeks recommendations, views and commentary on...
Great Britain: code of practice on remuneration policies in banks
he bonuses awarded in banks with high losses, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) proposes a code of practice on remuneration policies for employees. This code is currently subject to...
EU: national courts need to check if rules allowing automatic retirement answer to social policy considerations
rch 5, 2009, the Court of Justice of the European Communities (EJC) on the compatibility of British law, which permits employers to send to automatic retirement workers of 65 or over, with...
France: paid leave that isn’t taken because of a sick leave have to be transferred after work resumes
f the Court of Justice of the European Communities on January 20, 2009 (see our dispatch No. 090074) – which declared that national provisions ordering the loss of the right to paid leave...
EU: the European social partners are about to reach an agreement on the revision of the parental leave directive
(UEAPME, BusinessEurope, CEEP for employers and the ETUC for unions) are about to reach an agreement on the revision of their agreement on parental leave, included in directive 96/34. In the draft...
General Motors Europe: towards 3.500 job cuts at Opel
rmaker, GM, Opel’s employees are going to have to make major sacrifices to save their firm. Carl-Peter Forster, CEO of GM Europe – GM’s European subsidiary and Opel’s...
Brazil: new wage cut agreements in the metal and mining sectors
soared in January – from 6.8 to 8.2% – Brazilian unions accepted new agreements to cut wages and working time to avoid redundancies. (Ref. 090242) Vale Rio. Negotiations between the...
Spain: emergency measures against unemployment
nisters will adopt seven emergency measures to maintain employment, without waiting for an agreement with the social partners, who stay on their ground. Unions refuse to decrease contributions and...
EU: ETUC wants a directive on passive smoking on the workplace
federation (ETUC) published its reply to the consultation launched by the European Commission in October on passive smoking on the workplace. Unlike BusinessEurope (the employers’...
Belgium: mailmen fight for decent wages and labor
en on strike for three days, until today, March 4, to ask for an increase of their status and express concern over the evolution of their job and the way the company is preparing for the...
Great Britain: agency workers targeted by government aid for vulnerable workers
ent Board, gathering the government, employers and unions, is meeting once again to fight against “abusive” employers. Agency workers, at the center of their concern, are targeted by...
Germany: SAP management and staff representatives reach a compromise on a new structure for the works council
ries into the parent company, in April 2008, led to a legal battle between the company’s management and staff representatives on the structure of SAP’s WCs. After several conflicting...
Great Britain: Unite rescues jobs in the automotive sector
y union, Unite, launched a national campaign to safeguard jobs in the automotive industry, in a context of redundancies and bankruptcies. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT)...
Germany: Deutsche Telekom and Ver.di call on a mediator to clear up their payroll differences
the fourth round of wage negotiations, the Deutsche Telekom phone company, and the Ver.di services union decided, on February 28, 2009, to launch a conciliation procedure and asked Henning...
Germany: Volkswagen to end all contracts with agency workers
-offs for others: Martin Winterkorn, chief executive of the German carmaker VW, announced in an interview with the magazine Der Spiegel (02.03) that the group is going to cut this year all the...
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
Spain: new terms and conditions for in-company training contracts
On 25 November, Spain's Council of Ministers approved a regulation on training contracts. This text defines the terms and conditions for hosting work-study students and interns doing professional...
2
EU: Commission issues first recommendation on human capital as part of European Semester
In parallel with the European Semester adopted on 25 November, which proposes guidelines to member states on economic policies for the coming year, the European Commission has adopted an...
3
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
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Germany: apprenticeship openings fall sharply in manufacturing and chemicals
From 1 January 2026, Dutch collective agreements for temporary employment agencies will alter the employment conditions of temp workers. Agencies will be required to pay these workers at least the...