News

Poland: a first judgement on the existence of an employment contract for a “self-employed” person
The Labour Court of Rzeszow, on first hearing, has decided in favour of a “sales representative” of the alcohol manufacturer Polmos, who was registered as a self-employed person. The court...
Great-Britain : certain pension funds of former state-owned companies are to be paid by the State
A recent revelation, by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, has refuelled the debate on company pension funds. Several former State monopolies negotiated a Crown Guarantee at the time of their...
Netherland : The Hague relaxes the rules on working time
The Netherlands is going to greatly simplify the rules on working time currently found in the law. Two-thirds of the current provisions should disappear from the “labour code” and will instead be...
Germany: metal industry avoids strike through a “historic agreement”
The employers' organisation Metall NRW and the union IG-Metall in North Rhineland Westpahlia signed an agreement that has been described as historic by many observers. Apart from the 3% increase...
Great Britain: the immigration from eastern countries is « an elixir » for British economy
According to a survey of Ernst and Young Item Club, published this weekend in the press, the flow or workers from new EU Member States has contribute to reduce inflation, to improve productivity...
Finland: merger planned between 6 trade unions.
Trade union federations of chemistry, paper, wood, building, electricity and of communications are planning a merger in a few months. The future organisation would gather 283 000 members together...
Belgium: regions list the trades open to workers from new member States
The Council of Ministers adopted a royal decree on 21st April which sets out the lists of professions for which there is a shortage of labour and for which work permits will be granted more easily...
France: “contract of professional transition” begins experiment
Tested during one year in seven employment areas, the “contract of professional transition” aims at facilitating the return to work of people fired for economic reasons by companies of less than...
Great Britain: the closing of the PSA factory in Ryton seen by the press
Press review from 17 to 21 April 2006. All British newspapers reacted, Wednesday 19 April, to the announcement the day before of the closing of the PSA factory in Ryton, close to Coventry. The...
24 April 2006
Germany: conflict in the metal industry and Volkswagen’s mass layoffs plans
Press review from 17 to 21 April 2006. The threat of a hard strike in the German metal branch and the comments on the meeting of Volkswagen' board of directors dominated the news in the German...
24 April 2006
Poland: Government measures against unemployment and for seniors’ employment
According to the daily newspaper Gazeta Prawna, the Polish government is preparing a bill on the labour market which aims at fighting unemployment and to stimulate the employment of seniors. Among...
Great Britain : pension funds’ deficit triggers their closure
It is the motors manufacturer Rolls-Royce's turn to consider closing its pension fund to its new salaried workers, a decision that has already been made by more than half (57%) of the british...
Neederlands : Strike at Nedcar’s
The Dutch Unions' Federation (FNV) and the Christians Unions' Federation (CNV) called for a 24-hour strike at the Nedcar's car assembly plant on April, 19th. The social movement will be extended...
Netherlands : unions want a national retraining fund
The biggest group of affiliated trade unions, the FNV, has enterred into a negociation within the Economy and Social issues' Council (SER) in order to bring about some change in the polders. It...
Finland : workers from the new EU Member States will have to register in order to work
After having announced, early March, the complete lift of restrictions for new EU workers who wish to work in Finland (see our article n°06127), the Finnish government is proposing a bill that...
Volkswagen: the restructuring plan remains vague
Contrary to expectations, the meeting of Volkswagen's board of directors did not bring more details on the company's reorganization plan. (Ref. 06391)
Most viewed articles of the month on mind HR
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1
EU: Commission proposes loosening of AI regulations
On 19 November, the European Commission published a proposal for an omnibus regulation aimed at simplifying the AI Act in order to ‘ensure the swift, smooth and proportionate implementation’ of...
24 November 2025
2
EU: list of new CSRD reporting standards finalised
On 4 December, the European Financial Reporting Advisory Group (EFRAG) presented the revised list of reporting indicators under the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), which...
5 December 2025
3
EU: co-legislators strike agreement on Omnibus Directive
The European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached an agreement on the night of 8 December on the weakening of the directives on corporate sustainability reporting (CSRD) and corporate...
9 December 2025
4
EU: Parliament formally adopts omnibus, diluting due diligence rules
On 16 December, the European Parliament formally approved the omnibus package amending the EU corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence directives. Their application has been pushed...
16 December 2025
5
Italy: three executives from luxury goods group Tod’s investigated over worker exploitation
Italian authorities are once again turning their attention to working conditions in the luxury goods supply chain. On 20 November, the Milan public prosecutor charged three senior executives of...
28 November 2025
6
Fashion brands accused of violating trade union freedoms in Asia
On 27 November, Amnesty International released a report denouncing widespread violations of trade union freedoms in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka by both governments and suppliers to...
28 November 2025