News brief

Germany: whistleblower protection law hit by new delay
A bill passed in December by the German Bundestag, for law to protect whistleblowers (Hinweisgeberschutzgesetz), was blocked on Friday 10 February by the Bundesrat, the chamber where the...
17 February 2023
US: salary comparison calculator shows the material benefits of trade unionism
Although trade union membership in the US is at an historical low (10.1% in 2022, vs. 10.3% in 2021), public opinion is more supportive of unionism than ever, with 71% of Americans...
15 February 2023
Australia: gender pay gap in companies with over 100 employees to be made public
On 08 February 2023, the government presented a text to the Senate proposing the mandatory publication of gender equality data by businesses with more than 100 staff. Thus, from 2024 onwards, the...
15 February 2023
Poland: employers allowed to carry out sobriety checks (drugs and alcohol)
The new regulation allowing employers to carry out ‘preventive, one-off sobriety tests’ on employees comes into force on 21 February 2023. Tests will be able to verify the presence of...
15 February 2023
Belgium: bicycle allowance extended to all private companies
All Belgian private sector companies can now grant a mileage allowance to their employees who cycle to work and apply for it by 01 May 2023, at the latest. While the allowance amount is not fixed...
14 February 2023
China: the four-and-a-half-day week at Leshi, a model for the future?
Since 1 January 2023, the 400 employees of Leshi Internet Information & Technology Corp, a video streaming platform founded in 2011, have been able to work a four-and-a-half-day week without...
13 February 2023
United Kingdom: companies reluctant to hire over-50s (survey)
Research conducted by the Chartered Management Institute, which surveyed more than 1,000 managers in the UK, found that only 42% would be open to recruiting people aged between 50 and 64. For...
New Zealand: minimum wage increase from 1 April
On 08 February 2023 Prime Minister Chris Hipkins announced that the minimum wage would be increased by 7.08% (NZ$1.50) from 01 April 2023, saying that the impact on inflation would be...
9 February 2023
Great Britain: towards a right for a degree of control over working patterns
On 03 February 2023, the UK government announced its support for the Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill. Championed by Conservative MP Scott Benton, the bill, currently being debated...
9 February 2023
Denmark: government plan to eliminate a public holiday sparks trade union ire
On 02 February 2023 the Danish Parliament discussed the government’s plan to abolish a public holiday in order to increase defence spending following the conflict in Ukraine. With this plan...
8 February 2023
Portugal: three-day sick leave can be self-declared
Portuguese workers will be able to take a three-day sick leave period without having to obtain a certificate from a doctor. All that is required is that the employee reports the illness online...
7 February 2023
United States: NLRB condemns Apple’s “culture of secrecy”
Apple is violating US labour laws by seeking to curtail the freedom of its staff to talk about certain topics, according to legal experts at the National Labor Relations Board. This was the...
6 February 2023
EU: European Parliament votes to strengthen role of European Works Councils
A report drafted by German MEP Dennis Radtke, which urges the European Commission to revise the 2009 directive on European Works Councils, was supported by the European Parliament in a vote on 2...
3 February 2023
The Netherlands: Senate adopts bill amending Whistleblowers Act
On 24 January 2023, after more than a year’s delay, the Dutch Senate finally adopted the bill protecting whistleblowers. The European Commission had launched an infringement procedure...
1 February 2023
France: digital and consulting sectors to give two days’ leave to women who suffer a miscarriage
The business organisation Syntec, which brings together French companies in the digital and consulting sectors, among others, has signed an agreement with all the relevant trade unions on the...
30 January 2023
Portugal: 20 days of bereavement leave for the death of a spouse
On 23 January 2023, Portugal’s parliamentarians approved an amendment to the country’s labour code that increases paid bereavement leave for the death of a spouse from an original 5...
26 January 2023
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: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 2025
2
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
3
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
4
United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
5
Germany: legal battle at Tesla ahead of works council election
The Frankfurt/Oder labour court has postponed a mid-November hearing in the case between the IG Metall union and Michaela Schmitz, employee representative and head of the works council at the...
6
Carrefour and UNI Global Union renew global agreement on promoting social dialogue and diversity
On 17 October, Carrefour, one of the world’s largest retailers, with nearly 500,000 employees worldwide, and global union federation UNI Global Union renewed their global agreement on...