News

France: Orange signs its first agreement on digital transformation
Orange signed an agreement with three trade union bodies representing 58.5% of its employees (CFDT-F3C, CGT-FAPT, FO-Com) that frames the multinational telecommunication giant’s digital...
29 September 2016
Continental offers mobile working to 90% of its global workforce (interview)
German auto parts manufacturer Continental has just launched mobile working within the company for 90% of its 200,000 employees from all hierarchy levels working across twenty-one countries. This...
29 September 2016
EU: the European Commission publishes a report on the implementation of the European agreement on harassment and violence at work
On 21 September, the European Commission published a study it had commissioned on the implementation of the autonomous framework agreement signed by the European social partners (the ETUC...
29 September 2016
France: the metals sector signs a landmark agreement allowing working time adjustments to extend over a three-year reference period
This jobs agreement was finalized on 23 September and secured signatures from at least of four of the five relevant trade union organizations (FO, CFTC, CFDT, and CFE-CGC) with the CGT set to...
28 September 2016
Germany: agreement in broad terms over company pension reforms
On 27 September during a meeting with representatives from the main trade unions and employers’ bodies, and following months of negotiations between the government and the social partners, SPD...
28 September 2016
Great Britain: BMW looks to prune pensions for 5,000 staff
German automaker BMW, which also produces the Mini and Rolls Royce has announced plans to close its defined benefits pension plans. This will entail moving 5,000 current UK employees over to the...
28 September 2016
Germany: 2016-2019 collective negotiations schedule
The 2016 collective negotiations are entering their final phase with some heavyweight wage and collective agreement negotiations still outstanding by the end of the year including Deutsche Bahn...
26 September 2016
Austria: autumn’s collective negotiations start with the metals sector
On Monday 26 September Austria’s metallurgy sector unions presented their demands at the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) starting off the country’s traditional autumn round of collective...
26 September 2016
China: Spanish unions criticize working conditions at Inditex suppliers and highlight the official trade union’s ‘lack of interest’ in improving the situation in textiles
Spanish trade union representatives at Inditex (managing Zara) regularly visit third party country suppliers within the framework of an agreement signed with management. Inditex was the first...
26 September 2016
Germany: the Bundesrat gives the green light to a much reworked occupational health and safety decree
Because of employer fury over Employment Minister Andrea Nahles’ (SPD) new workplace decree (Arbeitsstätteverordnung), the German Chancellery halted its progress in March 2015, and it has been...
23 September 2016
Spain: ECJ decision on equal treatment of permanent and temporary workers regarding termination compensation reignites debate on job security
Following the European Court of Justice ruling, which granted the same rights to an individual on a short term contract as those enjoyed by people on permanent contracts (see article nº9818)...
23 September 2016
Switzerland: National Council votes for EU-compatible immigration controls
On 21 September, following heated debate, the Swiss parliament finally reached a decision to approve a bill governing the country’s economy. The proposals advocate “preference” for natives, in...
23 September 2016
News update as of September 22, 2016
On the menu: strikes, strikes, and more strikes (Belgium's targeted strikes, Brazils banks on strike, Norway's oil sector strike), Germany's co-determination is under threat, new US rules for...
21 September 2016
Spain: mobilization by call centers demanding a breakthrough in the sector’s collective negotiations
The UGT, CCOO and CGT unions have called for a series of mobilizations in the call center sector throughout the month of September and they have also called for staged two-hour work stoppages on...
21 September 2016
Portugal: the government turns its attention to interim employment
Law 28/2016 that affirms the battle against ‘modern forms of forced labor’ broadens the responsibility of user companies and contractor companies for labor law rules violations that are carried...
21 September 2016
Canada: General Motors comes to agreement with the Unifor union securing jobs at its three production facilities
At the eleventh hour and just before strike action was due to start on 20 September, management at US carmaker General Motors (GM) and the Unifor union clinched a deal set to run for four years...
21 September 2016
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
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...
2
EU: right and far right join forces in parliament to dismantle sustainability due diligence
On 13 November, the European Parliament approved the report by EPP MEP Jörgen Warborn on the proposed omnibus directive, clearing the way for trilogue negotiations. Backed by the far right, the...
13 November 2025
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
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
5
EU: omnibus bill stalls in parliament
On 22 October, members of the European Parliament narrowly voted against a negotiating mandate that would have opened trilogue talks on the omnibus directive, which seeks to dilute the corporate...
23 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