News brief

United States: complaint filed against Apple for importing products made with forced labor
On 27 September the Campaign for Accountability (CfA) research arm, the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) announced it had filed a complaint against Apple for importing products made in factories...
29 September 2021
EU: European trade unions welcome the SPD victory in Germany
The European Trade Union Confederation has welcomed the SPD Social Democrat victory in Germany’s federal elections on 26 September (with 26% of the votes vs. approximately 24% for the...
28 September 2021
Great Britain: launch of first national strategy dedicated to Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Unveiled on 22 September, the UK’s national AI strategic plan aims to increase corporate use of this new technology, which has become essential in recent years. This ten-year plan includes...
23 September 2021
Great Britain: ASOS will link its executives’ salaries to the achievement of environmental objectives
On 16 September, the online ready-to-wear retailer Asos announced that starting in 2022 its executive team’s salaries will be dependent on the company’s success in reducing its waste...
22 September 2021
Austria: unemployment benefit payments could be suspended for those refusing a job carrying a Covid-19 vaccination condition
According to the daily publication Der Standard, Austrian Labour Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) asked the Austrian Employment Agency (AMS), in a letter dated 25 August, to “block...
22 September 2021
United States: joins the Equal Pay International Coalition
The United States has just joined the Equal Pay International Coalition (EPIC), an initiative led by the ILO (International Labour Organization), UN Women, and the OECD, the mission of which is to...
21 September 2021
Belgium: a tool that can provide a company’s staff vaccination rate on an anonymous basis
Occupational physicians will soon be able to find out the vaccination rate of employees in companies with more than 50 staff. This is due to a tool currently being developed, which will...
21 September 2021
Italy: ‘Historic’ agreement at Amazon establishing a labour relations system
On 15 September, and under the aegis of Italy’s Labour Minister, Amazon Logistica Srl together with the Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl and Uiltrasporti unions have signed what the labour bodies have...
16 September 2021
Great Britain: Morrisons supermarkets cutting sick pay for unvaccinated employees who need to self-isolate
‘From 1 October, following UK government confirmation that all adults have had the opportunity to get double vaccinated, we will no longer be paying full sick pay for pinged colleagues who...
16 September 2021
Italy: government working on ‘active policies’ as intended by the PNRR (National Recovery and Resilience Plan)
Over the 5 years spanning 2021-2025, Italy plans to spend €4.9 billion on a range of ‘active policies’, which should concern 3 million people, 75% of whom are women, the long-term...
15 September 2021
Brazil: Senate considering bill giving intermittent worker status to platform-based drivers and delivery drivers
Brazil’s Senate is currently considering a bill that would provide for digital platform-based drivers to come within the country’s ‘intermittent work’ legislation, and thus...
14 September 2021
Europe : the growth of bonuses exacerbates wage inequalities
Bonuses are becoming more and more widespread in Europe and augmenting already existing inequalities. This is what a study carried out by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) has highlighted...
10 September 2021
Chile: new law validates the digital format of three documents used in formalizing the end of an employment contract
Digital versions of the ‘finiquito laboral’ (employment termination), ‘carta renuncia’ (resignation), and ‘Término de la Relación Laboral por Mutuo...
8 September 2021
Great Britain: a parliamentary committee inquiry considers the issue of menopause at work
On July 23 2021 the UK House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee launched an inquiry to examine whether legislation and company practices adequately support women during menopause. According...
7 September 2021
China: unions set up at two large tech companies
In what is a first for China’s tech sector, ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing and the country’s second-largest e-commerce platform JD.com have decided to encourage the establishment of...
3 September 2021
United Kingdom: government reiterates call for companies to improve support for domestic violence victims
On 26 August, the UK’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy announced that it has become a member of the Employers’ Initiative on Domestic Abuse. With this move...
3 September 2021
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
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...
3
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...
4
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...