News

EU: agreement on Workers Health Protection from Crystalline Silica published in the OJEU
Multi-sectoral agreement signed last spring between the European social partners has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), making it the first voluntary agreement to...
Sweden: clashes over unemployment insurance reform
The victory of the Alliance, grouping of the Swedish center and right-wing parties, was based on the commitment taken by its leader, Fredrick Reinfeldt, to respect the Swedish model and to bring...
Renault Spain proposes negotiation for the shedding of 1300 jobs
Renegotiation of the company agreement. Renault wants to reach rapidly an agreement with the unions with, if possible, implementation end December stressing that “the negotiation is set in the...
Germany: the governmental commission on the reform of joint management is a failure
Created in August, 2005 by Gerhard Schröder and confirmed by Angela Merkel, this commission had to introduce proposals to update joint management and adapt it to European development. But on last...
British Airways consults unions on plan to finance pension fund deficit
According to the terms of the agreement, the airline management would pay £800 million (£300 more than planned) into the pension fund with a commitment to pay £50 millions per year for the three...
EU: parliament adopts the “services” directive
The draft directive on services in the interior market was adopted, on November 15th, 2006, by the European Parliament. Euro MP 's followed the common position of the Council. Prior to the vote...
Belgium: a bill to open up boards of directors to women
Socialist deputy Veronica Ghenne has submitted a bill, at the beginning of November, with five of her colleagues, with a view to setting up quotas in order to increase female presence at this...
Latvia: Employers are reluctant to inform about work accidents
Few employers are aware of work accidents in their companies. Only half of companies have a conducted a risk analysis. (Ref. 061145)
European Commission introduces its work program 2007 to Euro MP’s
The president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barosso, introduced, during the plenary session of the European Parliament, on November 14th, 2006, the working program of the European...
Germany: trade union confederation DGB wants to strongly reduce manual workers’ salaries
Is the German trade confederation DGB -and its eight trade unions members, which employ about 11 000 employees- the best employer in Germany or « the worst of the capitalists »? Information...
Spain : incentives to increase the number of permanent employment contracts seem to work
According to the Employment Minister, 800 000 permanent employment contracts were signed in Spain since July 1st, 2006, thanks to various incentives proposed by the government. These figures...
Great Britain: an Internet portal dedicated to discriminations on grounds of age
The English law firm Lewis Silkin (ius laboris) has just created an Internet site dedicated to age discriminations. This tool gathers the bulk of British, Community and other Member States'...
The European social Agenda from November 20th till December 19th, 2006
We provide you with a weekly diary on the main events involving social Europe and institutional appointments. You can forward us your schedules of events to the following address...
EU : publication of the decision establishing a Community program for employment and social solidarity (PROGRESS)
This program, merging four existent programs, is intended to support various activities in the domains of employment, protection and social integration, working conditions, fight against...
EU: publication of council’s decision on reduced VAT rate for services with high labor intensity
This decision allows certain Member States to apply or maintain the reduced VAT rate until December 31st, 2010. The Council's decision implements the provisions of directive 2006/18 allowing a...
Great Britain: « National Skill Academies » to solve qualification problems
The government has approved the three first « National Skill Academies », a new professional training structure broadly inspired and financed by employers' confederations. They aim at solving...
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: Commission launches consultation with social partners on quality jobs
On 4 December, the European Commission launched the first phase of consultation with social partners with a view to a European directive on jobs, which is scheduled for the end of 2026. It could...
4 December 2025
2
EDF bans alcohol on all its sites
From 1 January 2026, French energy giant EDF (180,000 employees) will prohibit alcohol consumption at all internal and external corporate events, from social gatherings to seminars. The policy...
26 November 2025
3
United Kingdom: government scraps plan to introduce ‘day one’ protection against unfair dismissal
The UK government announced on 27 November, in a statement, that it would not be introducing the right to challenge unfair dismissal (without cause) from the first day of employment in its...
3 December 2025
4
Poland: bill adopted to amend definition of psychological harassment
On 27 November, the Polish cabinet adopted a draft amendment to the labour code aimed at simplifying the definition of psychological harassment at work, or “mobbing” (Article 94 3)...
4 December 2025
5
EU: MEPs demand directive on algorithmic management
Members of the European Parliament have called for a directive on algorithmic management. Such legislation would introduce obligations for companies to inform employees, assess health and safety...
17 December 2025
6
Austria: European rules on wage transparency expected to cause a cultural shock
With the gender pay gap in Austria being the second largest in the European Union (18.3%), the Austrian government has promised to introduce a bill next spring to transpose the European directive...
27 November 2025