News brief

EU: coming adoption of three directives materializing joint immigration policies
e European Parliament gave an agreement in principle for a proposal for a directive providing for sanctions against employers of illegally staying third-country nationals. The MEPs will formally...
Italy: Fiat increases partial employment because of the worsening crisis
white collars in Turin would be placed in Cassa Integrazione (see our dispatch No. 080932) in March. The unrest caused by the extension of partial unemployment led to a first conflict in the...
Slovakia: the social partners agree to limit wage increases in 2009
he key trade unions have committed to wage demand pragmatism for 2009, in an effort to preserve the Slovak labor market in a country which highly depends upon exports. They committed not to ask...
Great Britain: Total’s employees at the Lindsey refinery go back to work after obtaining 102 positions for local workers
refinery, owned by Total, ended last week. Faced with the wildcat strike of British employees against the employment of Italian and Portuguese workers posted by a subcontractor employed to extend...
Slovenia: employers and union organizations criticize the lack of social dialogue
or employers’ and union organizations sent an open letter to the president of the Slovene government where they expressed concern about recent developments in social dialogue. They think...
France: the 4-year term of the representative of a EWC established without an agreement cannot be questioned with subsequent elections
ourt rendered a ruling within the framework of a dispute related to the appointment of the French representative at Dell’s EWC, established in a legal way. It overrides the ruling of the...
Italy: ThyssenKrupp Ast signs an agreement with unions on the management of partial unemployment
the management of ThyssenKrupp Acciai Speciali of Terni (Umbria) and unions provides for a “fair management” of the activity suspension which will affect the 2.200 employees (permanent...
United States: new act against wage discrimination
or, George Bush, President Obama chose to act from the very beginning of his term. On January 28, the President passed his first act, the “Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act” named after...
Finland: the new Code of Governance consolidates transparency and enforces equal gender representation within boards
rnance Code came into force on January 1, 2009, reinforcing transparency of companies quoted on the stock exchange and pressing firms to ensure representation of both genders of corporate boards...
9 February 2009
Finland: the social partners reform unemployment benefits and pensions
izations – SAK for blue collars, STTK for white collars, AKAVA for university-level trades – and the confederation of Finnish industries (EK) reached an agreement on a major social...
EU: the European Commission focus its compromise efforts on working time directive on on-call time
their stand in preparation for the conciliation phase between the European Parliament and the Council of EU Ministers on the working time directive, last phase of the legal process. Whereas...
Netherlands: outcry after the announcement of double bonuses for ABN Amro managers
mplained after a double bonus was awarded to about 500 managers for the second year in a row. It is suspicious as to the fairness of this bonus, awarded to the highest levels of the hierarchy...
Spain: unions and employers’ organizations fight about the inflation rate to take into account for wage increases
nion confederations, defined the threshold for wage increases to 2%, while the CEOE employers’ confederation draws the line at 1%. After seven years of consensus on the prices defined in the...
Italy: the CGIL mobilizes against the separate agreement on the reform of the conventional system
he largest union confederation in Italy unanimously approved a strategy to object to the January 22 separate agreement on the reform of the conventional system (see our dispatch No. 090080) signed...
Slovakia: government proposes measures to support labor market
agged up a labor market support plan which introduces three new benefits for Slovak maintaining employment despite production cuts. These benefits could be available from March 2009, under certain...
Belgium: the Minister of Labor proposes to open talks on extending partial unemployment to employees
the Minister of Employment, Joelle Micquet, questioned on February 5, 2009 about the need to extend partial unemployment – currently reserved to employees with the status of blue-collar...
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
Germany: government seeks to facilitate immigration of skilled Indian workers
During a visit to India earlier this week, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz addressed the strategic importance of attracting Indian workers to Germany, signing a series of cooperation agreements...
2
France: 2026 budget expected to maintain employer contribution relief
On 19 January 2026, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu decided to invoke Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass France's 2026 budget without a vote in the National Assembly. Three days...
3
EU: Cyprus unveils its six-month presidency programme
Cyprus has set out its priorities for its six-month presidency of the Council of the EU. On the social front, the centre-right government will focus on the Union of Skills, which aims to boost...
4
Informal economy and slow wage growth hamper decent work, ILO says
The International Labour Organisation published its Employment ans Social Trends 2026 on 14 January. It anticipates unemployment stabilising in 2026 and employment growth of 1%, driven by...