News brief

France: employment central to prime minister’s budgetary announcements
In an alarmist speech on the state of French public finances delivered on 15 July, French prime minister François Bayrou announced €44 billion in measures starting in 2026. These...
15 July 2025
Luxembourg: government pledges not to challenge trade unions’ exclusive right to collective bargaining
The OGBL and LCGB trade union federations and employers met on 14 July at the Ministry of State to discuss various bills the trade unions are strongly opposing. They called for demonstrations on...
15 July 2025
EU: transparency requirements for companies regarding workers in their value chains postponed until 2027
Although the directive postponing the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) for companies with fewer than 500 employees was passed in April, the initial provisions of the text still...
11 July 2025
Netherlands: fines for labour law violations to be increased and indexed annually 
On 9 July, the Netherlands’ right-wing government announced that it would “significantly” increase the fines imposed on companies that violate labour law. These fines will now be...
11 July 2025
France: government sets out to address serious and fatal accidents at work
With France recording a very high number of workplace deaths every year (around 750, the highest incident rate in the EU), the government announced a series of measures on 10 July. These measures...
10 July 2025
EU: social partners in chemicals industry commit to improving working conditions for migrant workers
On 30 June, the European social partners in the chemical industry, the European Chemical Employers Group and the trade union IndustriAll Europe, signed a joint declaration to combat bad practices...
Italy: social partners sign protocol to limit climate risks at work
Italy’s main employee and trade union organisations signed a protocol 2 July, in the midst of a heatwave, to set out measures to protect workers in the event of a climate emergency...
8 July 2025
Denmark: recruitment of foreign workers now subject to signing a collective agreement
On 30 June, the Danish government announced the introduction of a new measure for the recruitment of certain foreign employees. Companies will now have to have a collective agreement between the...
EU: Danish presidency promises little on social matters
The Danish Presidency of the Council of the EU, which begins on 1 July, promises to be light on social issues. While the Nordic centre-left government has indicated that it wants to defend free...
Germany: minimum wage to rise by 14% over two years
On 26 June, the German minimum wage commission published its proposal on adjustments for the next two years. It calls for raising the minimum wage to €13.90 gross per hour on 1 January 2026...
1 July 2025
EU: Council seeks to limit the regulation of traineeships
On 19 June, member states adopted a negotiating mandate on last year’s proposed directive to combat disguised employment in the context of traineeships. It relaxes the framework devised by...
26 June 2025
New Zealand: bill to make labour relations more flexible presented to parliament
On 17 June, New Zealand employment minister Brooke van Velden, of the right-wing ACT party, presented a bill to parliament with changes to labour relations. The aim of the bill is to...
26 June 2025
ILO introduces new convention on biological hazards at work
The 113th International Labour Conference, held in Geneva from 2 to 13 June, resulted in the adoption of the 192nd ILO Convention. Delegates approved a text that calls for biological hazards to be...
23 June 2025
EU: Commission calls on France to comply with the Working Time Directive
The European Commission announced in a statement on 18 June that it has sent a formal notice to France for its failure to comply with the provisions of Directive 2003/88 on working time. The...
23 June 2025
EU: Commission refers Spain to CJEU for failing to fully transpose rules on transparent working conditions
The European Commission is seeking financial penalties against Spain, which is accused of failing to comply with its obligations regarding transparency and predictability of working conditions by...
20 June 2025
Germany: two collective agreements for temporary work sector merge
The German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and the General Association of Personnel Service Providers (GVP) have signed a new joint collective agreement for the temporary work sector, which...
19 June 2025
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
EU: Omnibus Directive clears key milestone in European Parliament
On 13 October, the European Parliament’s position on the Omnibus Directive was approved by its Committee on Legal Affairs by 17 votes to six. Regarding due diligence rules, the report...
13 October 2025
2
mind RH analysis – Initial findings from CSRD social indicators
In 2025, for the first time, the universal registration documents of major European companies contain the sustainability reporting required by the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive...
3
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
4
Italy: European pay transparency directive, a major step forward for businesses
Italy’s labour market continues to suffer from limited pay transparency and a persistent gender pay gap. The forthcoming implementation of the EU pay transparency directive — still awaiting...
5
Germany: EU pay transparency directive to force companies to ‘get tough’
Germany introduced a pay transparency law in 2017, meaning companies are already somewhat familiar with the issue. However, the broader scope and stricter requirements of the EU directive, the...
24 October 2025
6
France: government proposes suspending pension reform
French prime minister Sébastien Lecornu, reappointed on 10 October after resigning four days earlier, delivered his general policy speech to the National Assembly on 14 October. He announced the...
15 October 2025