News

Great Britain: employees are still stressed out
It has been four yearssince the HSE (Health and Safety Executive) proposed tools for the management of stress at work to companies. However, employees' working conditions hardly changed or even...
Netherlands: Unilever helps former employees open up their business
Former Unilever employees working at the Delft, Loosdrecht and Vlaardingen factories, which are soon going to close, launched, on September 29, 2008, a new packing company. The group helped with...
Germany: Ver.di union wants repayment clauses in the rescue plan of the Hypo Real Estate bank
According to the services' union, Ver.di, the call recently launched by the European trade union federation UNI Europa Finance, inviting financial groups to call their EWCs in for an extraordinary...
EU: Spanish Parliament opposed to the draft working time directive
The Spanish Parliament sent to European Parliamentary groups the text, voted unanimously in Madrid on September 19, denouncing "a clear step backwards regarding the protection of workers' social...
Chile: quality label guaranteeing the respect of gender equality at work to be issued to companies from 2009
While the government is preparing a law for pay equality, the institution in charge of defending women's rights (Sernam, Servicio nacional de la mujer) will award a distinction to private and...
Germany: the record increase of sickness insurance raises controversy
During a new summit meeting after several months of break, the parties of the Grand Coalition agreed, on October 5, 2008, on a major increase of sickness insurance which will amount, from January...
Italy: the Democratic Party trying to reunite unions after the break on the reform of the conventional system
Walter Veltroni, leader of the democratic party, met, last night, with the three trade unions, CGIL, Cisl and Uil, after meeting with the employers' association Confindustria on October 2. The...
Spain: renewal of the collective agreement of the insurance sector
Employers and trade unions in the mutual and insurance sector signed, on October 1, a new collective agreement which will be in force until 2011. Signed by the Unespa, the Amat and the Asecore for...
Belgium: Belgian employers say the right to strike is not an absolute right
During the national day of action launched by the three Belgian trade union confederations CSC, FGTB and CGSLB, employers deplored this initiative which paralyzes public transportation and...
EU: the European Commission adopted a package on the reconciliation of professional and family life
On Friday, October 3, the European Commission adopted a series of measures on better work-life balance. In addition to the revision of the directive on maternity leaves (see our dispatch No...
EU: the European Commission proposes to extend minimum maternity leave to 18 weeks
On October 3, the European Commission adopted the proposal for the revision of Directive 92/85 on the protection of maternity along with a package for reconciling professional and family life. The...
Belgium: national conference on pensions
The Minister for Social Integration, Pensions and Urban Policy, Marie Arena (Socialist Party) presented to the Council of Ministers on October 3, 2008, a project of national conference on...
Spain: Seat and Nissan and Seat decrease production to face the sales drop
Decreased production at Seat’s. Seat (Volkswagen) told its employees that it needed to stop part of the production on the Martorell site, near Barcelona, to face the dropping sales. The company...
EU : EU ministers promises to speed up the revision of the EWC Directive
A fast approval of the draft Directive on EWC. After the support of the European Commission to the joint amendments of the European social partners (see our dispatch n°080643), the Council of...
Germany: the Hans-Böckler Foundation says the restructuring of Deutsche Bahn AG upsets the staff
Increased flexibility, work overload and fear of lost jobs in the aftermath of the restructuring of the German railway have sharply increased the stress of the remaining workforce after the...
EU: sectoral social dialogue mobilized against the Commission’s plans in terms of quotas for the emission of greenhouse gas
Within a few days, the European Social Partners of the steel and chemistry sectors stepped up to the plate against the planned revision of the Community system to change the quotas of emission of...
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
Spain: new terms and conditions for in-company training contracts
On 25 November, Spain's Council of Ministers approved a regulation on training contracts. This text defines the terms and conditions for hosting work-study students and interns doing professional...
2
France: sectors feel economic slowdown to differing degrees
The latest data on France’s occupational sectors (branches professionnelles), covering the year 2023, show how employment trends are shaping workplace dynamics. After a more favourable period for...
3
Germany: apprenticeship openings fall sharply in manufacturing and chemicals
From 1 January 2026, Dutch collective agreements for temporary employment agencies will alter the employment conditions of temp workers. Agencies will be required to pay these workers at least the...