News

EU: social priorities of the French presidency
The French presidency is starting today, and will last six months during which France will decide of the order of the day of political meetings. With the idea of a protective Europe against the...
Spain: the government wants to end the “early retirement culture”
First, Labor Minister Celestino Corbacho wants to limit the possibilities of early retirement rather than delay retirement age. This is one of the major themes of the reform of the social security...
Klöckner & Co: the German group turns into a European Company
102 years after its creation, the Klöckner & Co company, the largest independent multi-metal distributor in the world, laid the foundation stone for its transformation into a European Company...
Peru : vote of a law regulating subcontracting
The law regulating outsourcing activities was promulgated b the Peruvian President Alain Garcia after ratification by the Congress despite the discontent of the private sector. The text requires...
Germany: the collective agreements signed in 2008 confirm the end of wage restraint
In its middle evaluation, the Institute for Economic and Social Research (WSI) of the Hans Böckler Foundation presents a summary of the industry-wide collective agreements signed in the first six...
Austria: the telecom union is blocking the creation of a “civil servants’ parking lot” at Telekom Austria and Österreichische Post
At Telekom Austria (TA) and Österreichische Post (ÖP), two former public companies, almost 20.000 employees kept the almost sacrosanct civil servant status they had before the privatization. To...
Poland: national strategy on health and safety at work 2008-2012
On June 23, the Council of Ministers adopted the national strategy for health and safety 2008-2012. Falling within the framework of EU policies on this topic, the strategy includes a series of...
Denmark: 3F says Danisco is responsible for the “mercury scandal” at its Grindsted factory
Of the 80 victims of the "mercury scandal" of Danisco's Grindsted factory who met with the 3F union on June 25 in Billund, at least 50 are ready to defend their case in court. After this case...
Great Britain: managers don’t overdo in terms of health and safety
According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), disproportionate health and safety management is much less widespread than the media suggest. The HSE mostly thinks that it is important to show...
EU: the European Parliament criticizes the working time agreement
In 24 hours, the outgoing Slovenian presidency and the upcoming French presidency were arraigned by the members of the European Parliament's Commission on Employment and Social Affairs about the...
EU: launching of the revision of the EWC directive
The European Commission adopted today, July 2, 2008, the proposal to revise the EWC directive. The major changes compared to the previous version – which Planet Labor had obtained (see our...
EU: the EU Parliament strikes out at the Commission about working time
The Parliament's Committee on Petitions adopted, on June 25, an own-initiative report ordering the Commission to deal with the complaints it received for breaches of the European legislation on...
Spain : unions and employers in the metal industry sign an agreement on safety at work
Information. Information will be communicated by visits of delegates to work sites in firms with 6 to 50 employees. Hitherto, visits by people appointed by the unions to companies without staff...
Portugal : tripartite agreement on the reform of the labor code
The agreement signed on June 25 terminates tough negotiations lasting six weeks (from April 22 to June 4 followed by bilateral meetings). Confronted with unexpected threats of the UGT   ( close to...
Germany : the Siemens CEO finds his firm « too Germanic» and makes a plea for diversity
“Our 600 executives are mainly men, German and white. We are too unidimensional”, criticized Peter Löscher at the helm of the German electronics giant for almost a year. In fact, this observation...
China : skilled workforce on the downturn and wages on the rise, China will soon no longer be “an employers’ paradise”
China, which introduced new labor regulations on January 1, 2008 (see article n° 070676), is beginning to witness the accumulation of worrisome signals in the employment sector. According to Cai...
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
Netherlands: new government seeks to “control” social costs
In his government policy statement to Parliament on 25 February, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten announced several measures designed to "control" social costs. Notably, he proposed raising the...
2
Spain: a bill to regulate internships
On 3 March, the Council of Ministers approved the bill on the “Status for persons undergoing non-professional practical training in companies”. The text limits the number of interns a company can...
3
EU: co-legislators aim to pivot European Globalisation Adjustment Fund towards restructuring anticipation
On 25 February, the Council of the EU and the Parliament reached an agreement on the Commission’s proposed regulation to expand the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF). Under the...
4
Block to slash workforce by nearly half
The news. In his latest shareholder letter, Jack Dorsey, CEO of payment service provider Block (formerly Square), announced plans to slash the company’s workforce “by nearly half, from...
5
Germany: launch of the “WE-Fair” alliance for binational training of skilled foreign workers
Germany continues to expand and diversify its initiatives to attract skilled foreign labour from outside the EU. In mid-March 2026, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development...