News

Germany: new measures on January 1, 2009
During its last meeting of the year, the Bundesrat, the Upper House of the German Parliament, implemented a series of laws concerning employment and social contributions. They add to other laws...
Suspension of the information thread until January 5, 2009
Because of the Holidays, we are going to suspend our information thread from until January 5, 2009, am. Our database will remain available for consultation during that period. The Planet Labor...
24 December 2008
Netherlands : focus on the temporary reduction of working hours scheme due to credit crisis
Due to the credit crisis the Dutch government has created a special reduction of working hours scheme (werktijdverkorting, or WTV in short, see our article 080934). This will enable companies who...
Czech Republic: the automobile crisis will be more serious than anticipated
Skoda Auto. The Czech Republic’s biggest exporter is to scale down operations by three percent due to a sharp decline in demand, the company announced last week. This would result in nearly 870...
Portugal: transnational funding to save Qimonda from bankruptcy
Portugal is granting a 100 million euro loan to the Qimonda company (subsidiary of the German multinational company Infineon) to avoid bankruptcy. The loan granted by the national Portuguese bank...
EU: the mission for flexicurity presents its report
Gerard Larcher's Flexicurity Mission rendered its report during the Council on Employment and Social Affairs of December 17. This report follows the communication of the European Commission...
Argentina: collective bargaining increased of nearly 40% in one year
The numerous social conflicts led to a major increase in collective bargaining during the third quarter of 2008. It increased of 37% compared to the same period in 2007. Most concern wage...
Mexico: campaign to prevent dismissals and strengthen the human capital
The Mexican association of human resources managers launched a campaign among businesses to prevent dismissals due to the crisis. Specialists propose that employers adopt a strategy in five points...
Czech Republic: national railway reaches collective agreement for 2009
The management of the Czech Republic's largest employer, Ceske Drahy (Czech Railways) signed a company level collective agreement for 2009 with participating trade unions in mid-December, after...
Poland: implementation of the reform of early retirement for arduous labor
On December 19, 2008, Polish MPs finally overrode the President's veto on the text a few days earlier, and implemented the reform on early retirement which considerable reduces the number of...
Germany: postal minimum wage ruled illegal by second instance
The regional administrative court of Berlin Brandenburg confirmed a ruling of first instance rendered in March 2008. According to the judges, the federal government may not impose the rate of...
Portugal: Portuguese regulations for partial unemployment
After looking at the Cassa Integrazione Guadagni in Italy (see our dispatch No. 080932), conventional possibilities to adjust working time in some cases in Slovenia (see our dispatch No. 081005)...
Brazil: businesses want more flexible labor laws to face the crisis
The Brazilian mining giant, Vale Do Rio Doce, took the lead of a protest movement requesting the government brings flexibility into labor law to face the production decline. Several Brazilian...
19 December 2008
Netherlands: over 100 applications for the new partial unemployment system
Employers and unions want to postpone to April 1, 2009 the deadline for companies which intend to appeal to the AVT (Arbeidstijdverkorting), the system for partial unemployment and assistance to...
Spain: focus on continuous and discontinuous partial unemployment
Mandatory consultation and administrative authorization. When circumstances arise which lead to a temporary reduction in work, employers may file a petition for authorization of lay-off. Any...
Austria: partial unemployment soaring and extended to temps
One of the EU's star pupils in terms of employment has registered a boom in partial unemployment measures and plans 30.000 dismissals by the end of January 2009. To soften the consequences, the...
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: list of new CSRD reporting standards finalised
On 4 December, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) presented the revised list of reporting indicators under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which...
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2
EU: co-legislators strike agreement on Omnibus Directive
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the night of 8 December on the weakening of the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and corporate...
9 December 2025
3
EU: Parliament formally adopts omnibus, diluting due diligence rules
On 16 December, the European Parliament formally approved the omnibus package amending the EU corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence directives. Their application has been pushed...
16 December 2025