News

EU: coronavirus pandemic driving momentum for initiatives on the right to disconnect from work
Already in the European Parliament pipeline since the end of 2019, the right to disconnect (from work) has received an additional fillip amid the coronavirus pandemic. On 22 June, the social...
25 June 2020
France: the environment is a subject for social dialogue in some companies
Environmental issues are currently a key focus of discussion in the trade union apparatus with debates occurring  in forums outside those of traditional social dialogue and collective bargaining...
25 June 2020
Mexico: delayed compliance with USMCA-related working conditions is causing concern in economic quarters
With the 01 July entry into force of the USMCA looming, (the new trade related United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), the issue of compliance with working conditions in Mexican factories is...
25 June 2020
France: contours drawn for future short time working provisions under common law and as a long-term measure
On 24 June, French President, Emmanuel Macron gave a presentation to the social partners outlining the contours of the future short time working provisions that were formulated following a process...
25 June 2020
France: relaxation of the company health protocol
Since it can be observed that ‘the health situation is improving significantly’, it is possible ‘to envisage a further easing of activity-related health conditions’ outlined the new protocol...
24 June 2020
EU social partners sign agreement on digitalisation
Today, on 22 June, European social partners (BusinessEurope, CEEP and SMEunited on the employer side, and ETUC on the trade union side) signed a framework agreement on the digital transformation...
22 June 2020
Greece: employment support measures extended
In mid-March, at the beginning of lockdown in Greece, which led to the majority of companies in the country closing, the government decided to grant an allowance of €800, paid from April onwards...
22 June 2020
France: first legal challenge to the shortening of related works council consultation deadlines due to Covid-19 proves unsuccessful
The ruling on 17 June by a French court of first instance (lower court), came about from what ostensibly appeared as a classic dispute between works council (WC) and company management over the...
18 June 2020
EU: a review of EU trade policy to make it an instrument for promoting social and environmental standards
Often more royal than a monarch, the EU has long been unconcerned about the reality of the competition conditions being practised by its trading partners, in the name of a well-established free...
18 June 2020
Japan: record amounts in additional budget directed to saving jobs
On 12 June, Japan's Diet parliament, approved a second record budget of almost 32 trillion yen (€262 billion) to ‘improve the government's measures designed to protect lives and livelihoods from...
17 June 2020
Chile: the government and the opposition agree on a ‘Covid agreement’ to address the economic and social impact of the pandemic
Late into the night of 14 June, and after weeks of tough negotiations, Sebastián Piñera’s (liberal right) government came to an agreement with the main opposition parties (Socialist Party, Party...
17 June 2020
Great Britain: government clarifies new arrangements for short-time work
The guide to applying the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (short-time working scheme) has been revised to take new measures into account and in particular to allow for the possibility from 01...
16 June 2020
United States: Supreme Court prohibits discrimination against LGBT employees
The rights of LGBT workers are protected in the workplace under the US Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination. Thus the landmark decision handed down by the majority of the...
16 June 2020
France: agreement signed at aeronautics subcontractor Derichebourg containing concessions from employees in return for commitment to protect jobs
The collective performance agreement signed on 12 June by Derichebourg, the aeronautics subcontractor, and the majority union FO (not including the CFE-CGC or UNSA unions, which are also present...
15 June 2020
Germany: study reveals cost-effectiveness of apprenticeships through comparison with cost of a conventional hire
On 9 June, the Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (BIBB) published its third study since 2007. It is based on more than 4,000 interviews and details the average cost of dual...
Netherlands: government, unions and employers strike deal that paves the way for implementation of pension reform
On Friday 12 June, the government, trade unions and employers in the Netherlands reached an agreement to finalise the pension reform, the broad outlines of which had already been agreed a year...
15 June 2020
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
France: austerity measures proposed in social security financing bill for 2026
Limits on sick leave, the end of social security exemptions for apprentices, and the introduction of additional birth leave: the 2026 social security financing bill, presented to parliament on 14...
16 October 2025
2
Netherlands: ING cites AI as it plans to cut around 950 jobs
Dutch bank ING has informed the employment agency UWV that it may cut around 950 jobs by 31 December 2026. In its notification on 20 October, the lender said the planned reductions stem partly...
30 October 2025
3
Romania: collective agreement extended to entire insurance sector
On 3 November, Romania’s National Tripartite Council for Social Dialogue approved the extension of the collective labour agreement signed on 23 May by the Confederation of Employers in the...
4
United Kingdom largely retained within scope of EWCs despite Brexit, study shows
A study published this month by the Institute for Economic and Social Research, the French trade union research organisation, examined how the involvement of British representatives in European...
5
Germany: legal battle at Tesla ahead of works council election
The Frankfurt/Oder labour court has postponed a mid-November hearing in the case between the IG Metall union and Michaela Schmitz, employee representative and head of the works council at the...
6
France: generative AI and older workers central to BPCE’s skills management strategy
On 17 July 2025, BPCE and its trade unions signed a second agreement on jobs and career management within the banking group. The text places generative artificial intelligence at the core of its...