News brief

Germany: Volkswagen reduces the ‘guaranteed salary’ it promised to 18,000 managers
On 13 May Volkswagen’s middle management (some 18,000 mangers) learned that the variable part of their salaries would be reduced in 2020, due to the collapse of the group’s revenues...
14 May 2020
Solvay: solidarity fund set up by managers, employees and shareholders to help staff affected by the crisis raises €15 million
This significant sum – dedicated to the solidarity fund announced on 9 April and created at the end of the same month – was announced on 6 May by Solvay chief executive officer Ilhma...
14 May 2020
Mexico: the auto industry and its subcontractors, classed as ‘essential activities’ and will resume business from 18 May.
On 12 May Mexico’s General Health Council delivered its opinion allowing ‘manufacturing transport equipment’ to resume business nationwide from 18 May. Alongside the automobile...
14 May 2020
Chile: legislative wrangling over the ban on state-supported companies from paying shareholder dividends
Will shareholders of companies receiving Covid-19 related state aid be prohibited from receiving dividends? The debate has been raging in Chile since the 06 May Parliamentary Joint Committee...
13 May 2020
United States: Facebook reaches agreement to settle class action from content moderators who develop mental health problems as a result of their work
On 13 May The Verge was the first media to report Facebook’s agreement to pay $52 million to content moderators, employed by directly and by third-party service providers who monitor and...
13 May 2020
Finland: social security services learn from the universal income experiment and point to weak effects on employment, but positive effects on beneficiaries’ mental health
“Basic Income recipients were more satisfied with their lives and experienced less mental stress than the control group (a group not receiving Basic Income, but in receipt of job search...
7 May 2020
EU: EU Commission to propose a regulation by 2021 on human rights due diligence in global supply chains
On 29 April the European media reported that EU Justice Commissioner Didier Reynders had announced that next year, and as part of the EU Commission’s 2021 work plan and the European Green...
6 May 2020
Belgium: commerce sector social partners approve a plan setting the conditions for the safe resumption of business
Belgium’s non-food stores will be able to reopen from 11 May. As such, on 30 April the social partners signed a declaration and approved the Phoenix Plan, which details specific measures to...
5 May 2020
Italy: ‘citizens’ income’ helps combat poverty, but is not really effective in reintegrating the beneficiaries into the world of work
Almost a year after the introduction of a flagship measure in the first Conte government (c.f. articles No.10970 and No.11586), the Citizens’ Income has produced very mixed results as far as...
5 May 2020
Belgium: special parental leave framework created for duration of health crisis
On Saturday 2 May, Belgium’s council of ministers agreed to the creation of an exceptional parental leave framework to help parents to cope with the current situation, even though business...
4 May 2020
Marking 01 May across social networks
While events for 01 May events may be cancelled due to Covid-19, trade union organizations nonetheless want to celebrate Labor Day more than ever. In France, several organizations have called on...
30 April 2020
EU: European Trade Union Federations update their recommendations to the European Works Councils for managing Brexit
The trade union federations: IndustriAll Europe, Uni Europa, EFFAT, EPSU, ETF, and EFBWW have updated their Joint Recommendations to coordinators and workers’ representatives in SNBs, EWCs...
30 April 2020
Axa conducts a global survey on employee morale during the pandemic
The global insurance group conducted its worldwide ‘Checking’ survey between 20 and 24 April in an attempt to gauge the state of mind and morale of its staff during this unprecedented...
29 April 2020
Great Britain: the government launches a training platform for furloughed employees during Covid-19
Called The Skills Toolkit, this free online learning system aims to enable the many Britons currently not in full time employment (c.f. article No. 11878) to acquire skills during the pandemic...
Germany: ‘Coronavirus’ measures added to draft vocational training legislation
Germany’s legislature is making additions to the text voted by the Bundestag on 23 April on the current health crisis. In order to ensure appropriate functioning of works councils and the...
28 April 2020
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: pensioners in work already common practice, study shows
As the German government steps up measures to encourage people to stay in work beyond the legal retirement age, a new study by the Institute of Economic and Social Research (WSI) – an independent...
2
Spain: government approves creation of ‘intern status’
The Spanish government has paved the way for the creation of a new status for "persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies, institutions or public or private organisations...
3
France: social conference on labour and pensions to proceed without main employers’ group
The preparatory meeting ahead of the social conference on labour and pensions, which is set to decide on the pension system model and the funding thereof, was held on 4 November at France's labour...
4
Luxembourg: two pension reform bills submitted to parliament
After lengthy negotiations with the social partners, in mid-October the Luxembourg government submitted two bills to parliament aimed at reforming the pension system to ensure its long-term...
5
Candice Guillot (Talan): “Our recruiters save just over 80 hours per year on administrative tasks thanks to AI”
Candice Guillot, group director of employee experience and HR performance at Talan (7,000 employees), outlines for mind RH her vision and strategy for introducing artificial intelligence at the...