News brief

Ireland: bill published to introduce sick leave paid by employers
In line with plans announced last year, the Irish government has published a bill to introduce statutory sick pay from 2022. The sick pay scheme is to be phased in over a four-year period;...
22 November 2021
Colombia: first employers’ union in the country established
On 2 November the Colombian ministry of labour gave approval to the Sindicato de Empresarios por Colombia (Siempre Colombia) as a union organisation for employers, making it the first of its kind...
19 November 2021
Great Britain: Marks & Spencer offering employees individual pronoun badges
Employees at the UK supermarket chain, Marks & Spencer (M&S), can choose to wear a badge specifying the personal pronouns with which they wish to be identified. M&S that recently...
18 November 2021
Austria: substantial salary increase in the metal industry
On 10 November, after 18 meetings and a number of warning strikes, collective bargaining in the Austrian metal industry resulted in a +3.55% salary agreement over one year. The same rate also...
17 November 2021
EU: MEPs support EU minimum wage directive with strong emphasis on collective bargaining
On 11 November, MEPs on the Employment and Social Affairs Committee voted in favour of a draft directive for ‘fair minimum wages’. While the Member States were unable to reach an...
16 November 2021
United Kingdom: law firm Stephenson Harwood launches electric car scheme for staff
In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from next year, as encouraged by the draft resolution from the COP26 climate change summit, UK-headquartered law firm Stephenson Harwood has announced...
15 November 2021
Great Britain: government looks to further improve female representation in the upper rungs of FTSE companies
On 01 November, the UK government announced the establishment of a new five-year review called the FTSE Women Leaders Review. The overall ambition of the review is to increase female...
10 November 2021
Germany: companies looking to set up separate canteen areas for Covid vaccinated and recovered employees
In contrast with Italy and Austria, Germany has so far chosen not to make the health pass at work a mandatory requirement. However, several German employers have nonetheless decided to take the...
9 November 2021
United States: court blocks mandatory vaccine rule set to apply to 84 million employees
Democrat president Joe Biden announced in September that, as of 4 January, staff at companies employing 100 people or more would have to either be vaccinated against Covid-19 or be tested on a...
8 November 2021
Brazil: order bans dismissal of workers for lack of Covid vaccine
An order signed by the Brazilian labour and social security minister Onyx Lorenzoni – published in the country’s official gazette on 1 November 2021 – prohibits the dismissal of...
8 November 2021
Mexico: bill tabled to extend paternity leave to two months
A bill tabled on 28 October by Manuel Baldenebro, a member of the Mexican Chamber of Deputies of the ruling centre left Morena party and chairman of the lower house’s labour committee, seeks...
5 November 2021
Italy: ratification of the ILO Convention on violence and harassment at work
On 29 October and almost as the same time as France (c.f. article No.12768), Italy definitively ratified ILO Convention No.190 2019 (Violence and Harassment Convention). During the ceremony held...
4 November 2021
Mexico: public trade union registry put in place to promote trade union transparency
Commencing 03 November, the Federal Center for Conciliation and Labor Registry is putting the National Public Registry of Trade Unions in place, which will offer free access to documents...
3 November 2021
Ikea Retail (Ingka Group) to pay out €110 million in Covid bonuses to its employees
In view of their ‘exceptional adaptability and entrepreneurial spirit’ shown since the beginning of the pandemic, the furniture and home furnishing retailer will pay staff a total of...
3 November 2021
Netherlands: Ikea introduces paid leave for transgender employees undergoing a gender transition program
Ikea has reached a one-year ‘inclusive’ collective bargaining agreement with the FNV trade union (01 October 2021 – 31 August 2022), which is designed to reduce differences...
2 November 2021
Great Britain: more than half of HR professionals trained during the pandemic (survey report)
According to the annual People Profession 2021 survey report, conducted by the professional body for HR and people development, the CIPD, 50% of UK HR professionals have upskilled in the last 12...
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
Italy: Enel signs agreement to manage the effects of AI on work
An agreement signed at the end of July by the electricity company Enel (31,000 employees) and the unions Filctem-Cgil, Flaei-Cisl, and Uiltec is pioneering in the Italian energy sector. It aims to...
7 September 2026
2
Italy: artificial Intelligence on the menu of Barilla’s new company agreement
Prior consultation with trade unions on innovations related to artificial intelligence, strengthened training, and progress on parenthood: these are the main new features of the agreement signed...
2 September 2026
3
France: Bayer puts female health and inclusive parenthood at the centre of its equality policy
In a new agreement on gender equality highlighted by mind RH, Bayer commits to strengthening its parenthood policy. Furthermore, the company is anticipating pay transparency and introducing...
25 September 2026
4
France: final document on the work of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference
After six months of discussions between French social partners, the guarantors of the Labour, Employment and Pensions Conference submitted the conclusions of the discussions to the Prime Minister...
17 September 2026
5
Germany: working time dispute between Mercedes and the IG Metall Union
The news. At the beginning of September, Mercedes-Benz asked employee representatives and the IG Metall union to agree to an increase in the weekly working time from 35 to 40 hours, without any...
16 September 2026
6
Germany: major day of union action in the automotive industry ahead of collective bargaining
A few weeks before the start of collective bargaining in the German metalworking sector, the IG Metall trade union mobilised nearly 175,000 workers across more than 200 industrial sites on 21...
22 September 2026