News

Portugal: new government aims to improve quality of employment
Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, the centre-right leader who won the parliamentary elections on 10 March, presented his roadmap to parliament on Thursday 11 April. The minority government's...
France: negotiations on keeping older workers in employment fail
Negotiations initiated by the social partners at the request of the government to accompany the recent increase in the legal retirement age and to prevent burn-out have ended in failure. The...
United Kingdom: 9% pay rise at Tesco
UK supermarket chain Tesco has significantly increased its hourly pay with effect from 1 April, taking the wage level slightly above the Real Living Wage. The group has also announced an increase...
8 April 2024
Italy: collective agreement in tertiary sector puts emphasis on equality
The agreement signed on 22 March by the employer organisations Confcommercio and Confesercenti and the trade unions Filcams-Cgil, Fisascat-Cisl and Uiltucs provides for a €240 pay rise and...
5 April 2024
EU: Parliament toughens up revision of European Works Councils Directive
On 3 April, the European Parliament's Committee on Employment and Social Affairs adopted the parliamentary report on the proposed revision of the European Works Councils (EWC) Directive presented...
3 April 2024
Germany: new funding for retraining in the event of ‘structural change’
On 1 April 2024 significant provisions of the law to reinforce "the promotion of initial and ongoing training", adopted last year, came into force. The new retraining allowance covers employees...
United Kingdom: minimum wage raised by 10% on 1 April
To mark its 25th anniversary, the UK minimum wage has seen one of its largest annual increases since it was introduced in 1999. The government's 10% hike has, however, provoked concern among...
2 April 2024
Germany: Deutsche Bahn proposes switch to 35-hour week with an ‘options-based’ model
After two months of failed collective bargaining and "surprise" strikes, the train drivers' union GDL and Deutsche Bahn have reached an innovative agreement on a 35-hour working week with no...
27 March 2024
Czech Republic: government approves a draft reform of the minimum wage
The Czech government has passed a draft amendment setting out new rules for calculating the minimum wage. From now on, the wage level will no longer be decided by the executive, but will be...
25 March 2024
China: steps towards more paid leave and a right to disconnect
Every year in March, the two main assemblies of the People's Republic of China hold their plenary sessions. Once again this year, from 4 to 11 March, this important event gave the Chinese...
22 March 2024
Safran steps up commitment to the professional integration of young people with renewal of European agreement
Safran and the trade union federation IndustriAll Europe have renewed for the second time the European agreement on the professional integration of young people, which has bound the two parties...
France: agreement struck in digital, engineering and consultancy sectors to combat sexual harassment
On 15 March, the social partners in France's so-called 'Betic' branch, comprising technical consultancies, engineering consultancies and consultancy firms (1.2 million employees), signed an...
21 March 2024
EU: Commission proposes a new regulatory framework for traineeships
On 20 March, the European Commission presented two texts aimed at strengthening the framework for traineeships in the workplace. The aim is to combat unpaid traineeships, however,  placements that...
20 March 2024
EU: member states adopt watered-down due diligence directive at the last minute
After the texts on non-financial reporting (CSRD) and forced labour, the EU will complete its regulatory framework on CSR with a directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. The text...
15 March 2024
Netherlands: public consultation launched on proposed reform of non-competition clauses
The Dutch government has adopted a plan to tighten the rules on non-competition clauses. The bill would require employers to justify the use of non-competition clauses regardless of the type of...
14 March 2024
France: employees will be able to apply retroactively for paid leave for non-occupational illnesses
In a consultative opinion issued on 13 March with a view to a government amendment, the Conseil d'État, France's highest administrative court, ruled that employees can benefit retroactively from...
13 March 2024
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
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
3
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
4
Germany: Volkswagen cancels almost all collective bargaining agreements signed with IG Metall
The Volkswagen brand announced on 30 September that it is terminating 10 of its 13 internal collective bargaining agreements, effective 31 December 2026. The announcement, which the carmaker...
1 October 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