News brief

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...
Belgium: several measures on work-life balance enforced
paternity leave, parental leave entitlements extended to the child’s 12th birthday: these are the measures which will be enforced on April 1 for parents. (Ref. 090349) Extending parental...
EU: metalworkers’ unions want to strengthen European coordination on wage negotiations
on the economic crisis, the European metalworkers’ unions call for an active wage policy and better coordination of wage negotiations by the European Metalworkers’ Federation –...
Denmark: unions prepare for negotiations on the renewal of collective agreements in the private sector
t out to companies not having signed collective agreements. Better conditions for severance with, inter alia, a longer term of notice. And, especially, employers’ respect of agreements...
Germany: the resigning boss of the Deutsche Bahn rejects spying charges
eillance of emails sent to unions or journalists and the general control of employees’ personal data, Hartmut Medhorn, leader of the German railways, was forced to resign. He nonetheless...
Germany: strong wave of dismissals as of this summer taking shape
heinmetall or Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, among others: staff cut announcement are growing in number in Germany. Gesammtmetall, the employers’ federation of the iron and steel sector...
EU: Parliament adopts report on the responsibility of subcontracting undertakings in production chains
21 votes for, 235 against and 11 abstentions) a resolution establishing a legal instrument extending social responsibility to general or principle undertakings in production chains. (Ref. 090343)...
Sweden: the scandal of the AMF pension fund harms the credibility of Wanja Lundby-Wedin, leader of the LO union
andals (high remuneration and bonuses) within the equally funded AMF pension fund when the latter announced reduced yield for pensions paid because of the financial crisis, weakened the...
United States: EFCA subject to important employer lobby
s for the fourth time, the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) is supposed to facilitate the creation of trade unions in businesses. A majority of employees needs to present an authorization card for...
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
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
Germany: launch of the “WE-Fair” alliance for binational training of skilled foreign workers
Germany continues to expand and diversify its initiatives to attract skilled foreign labour from outside the EU. In mid-March 2026, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development...
4
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
5
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...