News

EU: Member States can’t confine pregnant women’s remedies against dismissal into too short delays
Facts. On January 25, 2007, a registered letter informed Mrs. Pontin, employed by T-Comalux in Luxembourg, that she was being dismissed for gross misconduct after three days of unjustified...
Great Britain: second wave of strikes in the post after Royal Mail and unions talks failed
Failed talks. The three days of bargaining didn’t please Royal Mail’s unions. The company accused the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) of “walking away” as peace talks were making significant...
Germany: Verdi, IG Metall and IG BCE present conflicting wage claims for 2010
The IG-Metall mostly wants to maintain jobs. “The automotive industry, machine-tool manufacturers and their suppliers are battling with unprecedented drops in orders. The key priority is to...
Netherlands: Parliament wants at least 30% of women on large businesses’ boards
Political majority in favor of a quota. Three main parties joined a reform project introducing, for the first time, quotas in favor women in the private sector. The Christian Democrats (CDA), the...
Italy: new Cisl federation for agency, independent or atypical workers
Organize the universe of independent and atypical labor. The Cisl jointed its two federations, the Alai (atypical workers) and the Clacs (independent workers) into a singled federation, the Felsa...
Germany: BMW couples senior executives and workers’ wage increases
Herald Kruger, director of personnel at BMW, announced the news in an interview to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung on October 24, 2009. The carmaker, which never drew attention with...
EU: new European social dialog committee in metal sector
New-born in the scenery of European social dialog, the sectoral committee of the metal sector should include the CEEMET (Council of European Employers of the Metal, Engineering and...
Germany: sectoral minimum wage introduced in industrial laundry and mining
100,000 employees in three sectors. Probably reassured by the declaration made by Angela Merkel who, in spite of the hesitation of her new liberal ally, promised that the system for the...
Slovakia: government increases minimum wage by 4.1% for 2010
The Confederation of Trade Unions of the Slovak Republic (KOZ SR) justified its high claims by the need to reduce the gap between minimum wage and average wage (€721.40). It is also based on the...
Italy: unitary agreement for the renewal of the telecommunications’ collective contract
New unitary agreement. In spite of three different claim platforms, the Asstel employers’ association and the Fistel-Cisl, SLC-CGIL and Uilcom-Uil unions concluded, on October 23, a unitary...
Danone: European Works Council extended at global level
Official opening at global level. As the management of the French food company reminded in a press release published on October 21, the agreement establishing the ICC – Danone’s EWC – originally...
Great Britain: stage two consultation on the transposition of the European directive on temporary work
Long blocked by the UK within the Council of the European union, the European directive on temporary work (see our dispatch No. 080986) was finally adopted in November 2008, shortly after the...
Germany: new German government doesn’t envision a break in terms of employment and labor
A rather social message. The first measures announced during negotiations on the new government’s program immediately laid the government’s cards on the table. Angela Merkel and her new ally...
Netherlands: negotiations on working conditions break
Disagreement on “arduous jobs.” The social climate remains tens after the announcement of the pension reform. Employers’ organizations say that the FNV broke the negotiations to protest against...
Great Britain: success for the government’s policy in favor of training and skills
Continuous training. The statistics publish are about workers over 16 who aren’t enrolled at school or in a British college. In addition to positive apprenticeship figures, almost 1.5 million...
Sweden: government proposes to adjust industrial relations system to comply with EU law
Supervising collective action. In a decision rendered in December 2007 (Laval, see our dispatch No. 071034), the ECJ ruled that, in the case of posted workers, Swedish unions’ actions to...
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
EU: Commission launches consultation with social partners on quality jobs
On 4 December, the European Commission launched the first phase of consultation with social partners with a view to a European directive on jobs, which is scheduled for the end of 2026. It could...
4 December 2025
2
United Kingdom: government scraps plan to introduce ‘day one’ protection against unfair dismissal
The UK government announced on 27 November, in a statement, that it would not be introducing the right to challenge unfair dismissal (without cause) from the first day of employment in its...
3 December 2025
3
Poland: bill adopted to amend definition of psychological harassment
On 27 November, the Polish cabinet adopted a draft amendment to the labour code aimed at simplifying the definition of psychological harassment at work, or “mobbing” (Article 94 3)...
4 December 2025
4
EU: MEPs demand directive on algorithmic management
Members of the European Parliament have called for a directive on algorithmic management. Such legislation would introduce obligations for companies to inform employees, assess health and safety...
17 December 2025
5
United Kingdom: Parliament finally passes Employment Rights Bill
The UK Labour government's flagship reform of employment rights was passed by both houses on 16 December after a turbulent parliamentary process. The bill introduces numerous changes to labour...
18 December 2025
6
France: minimum wage to rise by 1.18% on 1 January
On 12 December, the French government announced a 1.18% increase in the minimum wage, taking effect on 1 January 2026. The pay level will rise from €1,802 to €1,823 gross per month (for...
16 December 2025