News

Great Britain: nuclear radiation might be linked to heart diseases
An amazing study was published last week in the International Journal of Epidemiology: radiation exposure could be the source of increased mortality after cardiovascular diseases among nuclear...
Sweden: tax cuts to encourage fathers to take parental leaves and leaves to care for sick children
The Swedish government will introduce, on July 1, 2008, a relatively important tax cut for families where the mother and the father equally share parental leaves. It is also thinking about a...
Germany: dispute on seniors’ part-time in the metal sector
The metalworkers' union IG Metall, which is fighting to keep the law on seniors' part time (Altersteilzeit), which is supposed to expire at the end of 2009, chose the tough way. Between March 10...
Denmark: 3F launches a new network to fight pay inequality
In spite of companies' obligation to gather information on pay according to gender, the pay gap between men and women is increasing and would have reached 17% in 2006. This is the reason why Jane...
EU: CJEC to rule on the notion of direct discrimination on the grounds ethnic origin
In his conclusions delivered on March 12, 2008, the Advocate General Poiares Maduro proposes that the Court accepts that, when an employer tells the media that "he would not recruit persons of...
Gaz de France: EWC says no to merger with Suez and takes cognizance of the social guaranties presented by the management
After the EWC meeting on March 11, 2008, the members adopted a negative opinion on the merger between GDF and Suez. The document, rounded up on March 12, presents economic arguments against this...
Germany: a ruling which revives controversy on industry-wide minimum wage
Since Berlin's Administrative Court declared, on March 7, that the new minimum wage which came into effect on January 1, 2008 in postal services was "illegal", the controversy on this topic...
Great Britain: more companies train their workers on ethics codes
According to a study carried out by the Institute of Business Ethics, 71% of the 350 companies listed on the stock market train their employees in the subject of business ethics, instead of 47% in...
12 March 2008
Germany: wage agreement in the textile and clothing industry
After sixteen hours of negotiation, the metalworkers union IG Metall and the employers' organization of western Germany's textile and clothing industry signed, on March 11, 2008, a wage agreement...
EU: Commission validates training aid to Volvo Cars Gent’s employees
The European Commission approved, on March 11, 2008, the €3.54 million aid the Flemish Region intends to grant to support training at Volvo Cars Gent in Ghent, Belgium. The Commission, after an...
EU: sectoral social dialogue committee for professional football
The list of sectoral social dialogue committees is extended with the launching, on March 17, of the European social dialogue committee for the professional football sector. One of the social...
Italy: the Council of Ministers approved the legislative decree on occupational health and safety
On March 6, the Council of Ministers approved the legislative decree which ends the Testo Unico, the global reform on health and safety (see our dispatch No. 080137). The act's main reforms...
Netherlands: employers want pension funds reformed
The Federation of Dutch Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW) listed on March 10 in the daily Het Financieele Dagblad its claims in terms of pension funds reforms. Employers' goal is to reduce company...
Germany: Deutsche Bahn and train drivers’ union GDL put a final stop to their conflict
We thought it would never happen. After eleven months of tough negotiations, punctuated with a series of strikes, the Deutsche Bahn and the train drivers' union GDL announced, on March 9, 2008...
Portugal: first employment forum for Portuguese-speaking African countries
The first recruitment forum for Portuguese-speaking Africa took place on March 7 and 8, 2008 in Lisbon. Created by Global Career Company, an international recruitment and consulting agency, this...
Great Britain: private equity bill fails in Parliament
At its second reading in Parliament on March 7, the bill presented by the Labor MP John Heppell which aims at extending to investment funds the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)...
10 March 2008
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
Pascale Rauline (Axa EWC): “European charter formalises ongoing and accelerated social dialogue on AI”
On 27 November, Axa and its European works council (EWC) signed a charter setting out principles governing the deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) and guaranteeing social dialogue on the...
2
Germany: crisis-hit industries cast shadow over 2026 bargaining cycle
In 2026, collective wage agreements for nearly 10 million employees in Germany are set to expire. With upcoming negotiations in crisis-hit 'pilot' sectors such as chemicals and metalworking, the...
2 December 2025
3
Bulgaria: government approves bill to encourage sector-level collective bargaining
On 26 November, the Bulgarian government approved amendments to the labour code designed to reinforce the legal framework for sector-level collective bargaining. The reform aims to stimulate...
2 December 2025
4
EU: social partners in telecoms sign joint statement on AI
On 16 December, the social partners in Europe's telecommunications sector unveiled a joint statement on artificial intelligence. They propose an action plan for skills and commit to raising...
18 December 2025
5
Germany: Erwin Hymer Group’s innovative and award-winning AI agreement
Fed up with negotiating separate agreements for each new artificial intelligence (AI) tool, the social partners at Erwin Hymer Group (8,900 employees) have instead secured a broad, overarching...
12 December 2025
6
Italy: telecommunications sector introduces new measures to navigate major transformation
The agreement reached between Asstel, the employers’ association for Italy’s telecommunications sector, and the SLC-Cgil, Fistel-Cisl and Uilcom unions centres on strengthening labour relations to...
27 November 2025