News

France: executives at Orange (ex-France Telecom) risk standing trial for moral harassment
The public prosecutor’s office in Paris has called for three former executives at the Orange company to stand trial for workplace harassment. The three in question are Didier Lombard, the then...
11 July 2016
Great Britain: the government focuses on reconverting workers in the crisis stricken oil sector
Faced with mass layoffs in the North Sea oil sector, the British government is trying to encourage workers to seek skilled work in sectors with manpower shortages.
8 July 2016
Myanmar: the Vision Zero Fund for the prevention of workplace accidents is launched
On 17 June in Yangon, German Secretary of State for Employment Yasmin Fahimi and the Myanmar Minister for Labor H.E.U Thein Swe inaugurated the fund aimed at creating and/or bolstering local...
7 July 2016
Estonia: employers and unions start to set out lay the groundwork for the annual autumn negotiations
In the run up to the autumn tri-partite negotiations, employers are increasingly finding ways of drawing attention to what may turn out to be the problem that wage increases will pose for...
7 July 2016
France: the Court of Cassation delivered two new rulings on the concept of co-employment within company groups
On 06 July the Labour Division of France’s Court of Cassation ruled that Continental AG, Continental France’s parent company, did not have co-employer status alongside its French subsidiary. The...
7 July 2016
Spain: Telefónica installation network scrutinised by the Catalonia labour inspectorate
On 30 June Catalonia’s regional government, the Generalitat de Catalunya, presented the results of an open inquiry into Telefónica’s chain of suppliers and subcontractors which offer technical...
5 July 2016
Norway: hard-fought deals in the oil sector
Negotiations in the oil sector have been brought to a close with the help of mediation. It is a difficult period for the industry and this can be seen in both the discussions which took place and...
5 July 2016
Sweden: a new postal sector agreement focuses on working time
On 29 June an agreement was struck between the employers’ confederation Almega, and the services and communications union Seko (service- och kommunikationsfacket). Decisions over working time are...
5 July 2016
International: four companies sign the ILO Global Business and Disability Network charter
On 29 June at the head offices of host and 2016 ILO Global Business and Disability Network president, Carrefour, four companies, namely BNP Paribas, IBM, Repsol, and Sodexo joined the originating...
4 July 2016
EU: UNI Europa has published its first results from a study across five European countries investigating the ‘gig economy’
Commissioned by the services union federation UNI Europa and carried out jointly by the Foundation for European Progressive Studies (FEPS), the independent research organization TNO Netherlands...
4 July 2016
United States: Uber has to justify that the compensation it promised is sufficient in exchange for drivers dropping a class action over employment status misclassification
On 30 June the judge in charge of accepting the terms of a settlement agreement that was meant to halt collective action by Uber (online platform based chauffeur service) drivers in California...
4 July 2016
France: in the run up to the final vote by the National Assembly the labor reform bill continues to divide the left and the unions
Following four months of contestation both on the streets and in Parliament, the bill on labor market reform (c.f. article No. 9575) is approaching its final hurdle when on 05 July the National...
1 July 2016
Sweden: given the exponential growth in the number of posted workers, unions are finding ways to promote the conclusion of collective agreements
How to temper the effects of the EJC ruling in the Laval case over working conditions for posted employees? The ruling calls the fundamentals of the Swedish model into question and has forced the...
1 July 2016
General Electric: the EWC has delivered a detailed negative opinion on the major restructuring plan with social dialogue set to continue at national level
Following the merger on 02 November 2015 between General Electric (GE) and Alstom Power & Grid, on 04 January 2016 GE announced a major European restructuring plan involving around 6,500 job...
30 June 2016
Great Britain: Prospect union ready to merge with BECTU
The small media and entertainment union BECTU has the summer to vote for or against a merger with the ever growing Prospect union, which is the trade union for scientists, engineers, and other...
30 June 2016
Italy: the new President of Confindustria renews union links in view of upcoming industrial relations negotiations
A positive atmosphere surrounded the first informal meeting held on June 28 between Vincenzo Boccia, leader of the employers’ body Confindusria since March 2016, and the secretaries general of the...
30 June 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
France: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 2025
2
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
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France: Decathlon introduces a ‘duty to respect others’ right to disconnect’
A right-to-disconnect agreement was signed in late September for the French arm of the Decathlon sports retail group. It sets out a "duty to respect others’ right to disconnect" and provides...
14 November 2025
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United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
5
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
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Italy: new collective agreement for managers in tertiary sector
On 5 November, the ManagerItalia union and the employers’ association Confcommercio renewed the collective agreement for managers in Italy’s tertiary, distribution and services...