News

Luxembourg: implementation of the directive on working time in road transport
The Parliament adopted, on December 6, 2007, a law to implement the Directive n° 2002/15 of 11 March 2002 on the organisation of the working time of persons performing mobile road transport...
EU: the CJEC rules on unions’ right to act against social dumping
In the Viking case concerning unions' right to act to force an employer to apply a collective agreement, the Court recognized that a union's right to take a collective action is a fundamental...
Italy: directives from the Labour Ministry to clarify some provisions of the “123 law” on safety
After the interpretation difficulties of the "123 law" of August 3, 2007 (see our article n° 070690) on safety in the workplace pointed out by the INAIL (National Institute of insurance against...
EU: the CJEC compared equal pay for equal working hours to reveal gender discrimination
In a case concerning a national pay system which leads part-time workers – notably women – to be less paid than their colleagues working full-time whereas they work, with extra hours, the same...
Netherlands: bonus to work from home
Deputies from the Christian Democrat Call (CDA), in power, proposed on December 7, 2007, the introduction of a tax-exempt bonus to encourage employees work at home. The goal is to reduce traffic...
Great Britain: more and more people work over 48 hours a week
A study by the trade union confederation TUC reveals a significant increase in the number of people working more than 48 hours a week whereas figures had been decreasing for ten years. For the TUC...
EU: the Commission wants to adapt the legislation on the coordination of social security schemes with new forms of mobility
In a communication published on December 10, 2007, about a new action plan to promote employment mobility in Europe, the European Commission announced its work plan to tackle the issues raised by...
Germany : Angela Merkel’s government sticks to minimum wage in postal services
Threats of dismissals. On December 4, Pin, owned by the editor Axel Springer, had announced the need to lay off at least 1000 out of 9000 workers as a consequence of the expected introduction of a...
Netherlands: liberalization of the postal market postponed after the introduction of a minimum wage in the German post
The liberalization of the postal market, planned for January 1, is postponed. Mentioning the introduction of a minimum wage in the German post (see our article No. 070983), the State Secretary of...
Germany: IG Metall and BMW sign an agreement establishing wage equality between temp and permanent workers
The Bavarian section of the IG Metall union and the car manufacturer BMW signed, on December 3, 2007, an agreement which grants temp workers the pay negotiated for the branch, and that from the...
EU: European social partners evaluate the enforcement of their framework of actions on gender equality
European Social Partners (BusinessEurope and CEEP for employers, ETUC for unions) published their second report on the establishment of the framework of actions on gender equality. This report...
Italy: Thales Alenia Space’s unions worried about the future of R&D sites after alliance with Thales
Thales Alenia Space's Italian unions Fim-Cisl, Uilm-Uil declared two hours of strike and asked to meet with the government and the Italian aviation and defence group Finmeccanica to talk about the...
Germany: in preparation for coming conflicts, Verdi wants to impose a code of conduct to Deutsche Telekom’s management
The services' union Verdi wants to impose a code of conduct (Sozialkodex) within Deutsche Telekom to protect employees from permanent lay-offs, low wages and the worsening in working conditions...
EU: European social partners to be consulted on the amendment of the directive on EWCs
The consultation document on the possibility to amend the 1994 Directive on EWCs should be submitted to European Social Partners at the beginning of 2008, after being permanently adopted by the...
Netherlands : labour inspectorate becomes more specific
The Dutch labour inspectorate announced its intention to concentrate exclusively on sectors where there are many abuses. Are particularly concerned the non-respect of the minimum wage and the...
EU : talks around directive bills on temp work and working time still on for 2008
From the outside, it is a complete failure on all three fronts. The EU Employment Ministers, who met on December 5, did not reach political agreements for the key files that are working time...
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