News brief

Great Britain: 3,000 fake job applications to investigate discrimination in recruitment
Pensions (DWP) sent around 3,000 fake job applications between November 2008 and May 2009, answering real job offers published in the press or online. The goal was to see employers’...
Germany: IG-Metall union calls for better regulation of agency work
00 agency workers lost their job since the crisis began in steel, textile and wood, the IG-Metall metalworkers’ union urged the government, on July 1, 2009, to take measures to limit the...
Italy: the three unions of the electricity sector present separate platforms for the renewal of their national collective agreement
tricity sector each presented their platform for the renewal of the national collective agreement (CCN). Claims are quite similar, except for wage claims: the Filcem-CGIL wants an average 190...
Germany: with the crisis, videoconferencing becomes a serious alternative to business trips
s: the crisis and the development of CSR practices have a growing influence on business trips. This is what comes out of the annual report (2009 business trip report) of the business travel...
Australia: in response to the crisis, the social-democrat government questions the liberal basis of labor law and conventional relations
loyees are covered by a new law, the Fair Work Law, which replaces the Workchoices Law, voted by a conservative majority in 1996 and amended in 2005. The new law balances labor relations...
Lithuania: towards a compromise between unions and government on the auterity policy to avoid social conflict
a particularly intense week. Following the project to cut civil servants’ pay and the announcement of a drastic austerity policy, the key union organization organized hunger strikes. Subject...
Great Britain: government wants to include dual discrimination into Equality Bill
rimination based on two characteristics (black woman for instance). To protect them, the government suggests introducing into the Equality Bill the possibility to press charges for dual...
Germany: IG-Metall survey reveals that employees demand more social equity
legislative elections, the German metalworkers’ unions, IG-Metall, presented, on July 3, 2009 in Berlin, the results of the largest study a trade union ever carried out among employees in...
Italy: Saint-Gobain finished implementing national commitments in terms of restructuring for its Italian undertakings
the local implementation of the national agreement signed between Saint-Gobain and the sector’s unions on restructuring in three Italian undertakings of the French multinational. The group...
ArcelorMittal: coming conclusion of a transnational agreement on anticipating change
cial negotiating body (SNB) – composed of three representatives from the steel group’s management and of three representatives from the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF)...
HP: EWC and unions against the social plan
enting EWC members and employees from communicating, union representatives from different countries met, on June 30, under the leadership of the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF) and...
Germany: Minister of Employment and Social Affairs creates permanent minimum wage committee
f government representatives and social partners, will study in which sectors it will be possible and necessary to introduce minimum wage. It will work on the basis of the recent “law on...
Spain: Ford lowers social plan in Valencia
at Ford, where the local government, unions and the management made progress. The administration wants a lower social plan, with 294 job cuts instead of 1,100. The carmaker announced that the...
Italy: Fiom-CGIL presents platform for the renewal of the economic part of the metal national collective agreement
federation – decided to present its platform for the renewal of the economic part of the sector’s national collective agreement three months early, after the Fim-Cisl and Uilm-Uil...
Google: search engine follows HR to fight against “brain drain”
or user of highly-skilled workers, brain hunt is a daily sport, sometimes dangerous for the businesses affected. To limit the risks of loosing in creativity and competitiveness in the long run...
EU: Commission chooses flexible approach for banning smoking at work
ltation, the recommendation proposal adopted on June 30 by the European Commission will strengthen the ban on smoking in public places and at work. However, this text has limits since it...
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
France: Cabinet adopts pay transparency bill
After several months of delay beyond the European deadline of 7 June 2026, French Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou finally presented the bill transposing the Pay Transparency Directive to the...
10 September 2026
2
Germany: IG Metall demands 5% pay rise amid severe pressure
Despite the crisis hitting the automotive industry, the leadership of the German trade union IG Metall announced on Wednesday 23 September that it would be asking for a 5% pay increase as well as...
23 September 2026
3
Italy: Crédit Agricole introduces a handbook on managerial behaviour
The document adopted in mid-July by Crédit Agricole Italia and the main banking trade unions goes beyond the proper use of meetings and emails. This six-point handbook aims to foster constructive...
3 September 2026
4
Slovakia: 6% increase in the minimum wage from 1 January 2027
The news. As Slovakia’s social partners failed to reach an agreement during tripartite negotiations, Labour Minister Erik Tomas has decided to increase the minimum wage by 6% from 1 January...
1 September 2026
5
Spain: government revisits its draft decree on salary transparency
The Spanish Ministry of Labour has opened a consultation on the transposition of the European directive on salary transparency and the reduction of the gender pay gap. This decision follows a...
8 September 2026
6
EU: Commission proposes a list of worker-related criteria for public procurement
The news. On 9 September, the European Commission published a proposal for a regulation aimed at unifying European public procurement law, which accounts for 15% of European GDP. It is notably set...
17 September 2026