08/02/2010: Spot fines for workplace privacy breaches
The Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs is currently working on a Labour Code amendment that would give labour inspectors the power to impose fines on employers found to be infringing the privacy of employee communications. According to a recent survey by consultants Ernst and Young, four out of five Czech employers monitor employees' online activities and 58% limit employee Internet access.
08/02/2010: MEPs to debate pay equality and paternity leave
This week Members of the European Parliament will vote on a resolution calling for further measures to achieve gender equality throughout the European Union. The focus of the debate will be a report drawn up the Belgian socialist MEP Marc Tarabella. This points to the continuing pay gap between men and women and calls on more EU member states to introduce paternity leave entitlements.
The most significant clauses for employers in the resolution are:
* Concern about the lack of response from the European Commission following a previous parliamentary recommendation seeking to revise the EU's current equal pay Directive.
* A proposal to make 22nd February 'International Equal Pay Day' and to establish a European charter of women's rights.
* The need for all EU Member States to acknowledge companies that take action to promote equality between women and men and facilitate work-life balance.
* The establishment of paternity leave on an EU-wide basis - closely linked to maternity leave rights.
* Legislation at EU member state level to introduce "binding targets" that will "encourage gender balance in corporate, administrative and political positions of responsibility".
Although the European Parliament has limited powers, its resolutions often influence national governments and shape the agenda for future EU legislation.
03/02/2010: Law to clarify representation rights
The Greek Labour Minister, Andreas Loverdos, has decided to introduce legislation which will clarify a long-standing dispute about how banks should be represented as employers during negotiations with the Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE). This issue has held up progress towards a collective agreement covering the entire banking sector.
31/01/2010: Minimum wage null and void
The Federal Administrative Court in Leipzig Germany has ruled that the minimum wage operating in the postal sector is unlawful. The wage was set in January 2008 when Deutsche Post was privatised as part a liberalisation programme across the sector. However, the Court has decided that the German Government violated the rights of other postal companies by failing to consult them about an amendment to the wage regulation limiting its scope to enterprises whose main business was the delivery of mail.
28/01/2010: Portability of training rights
From now on, the work certificate issued to French employees upon leaving their employment must contain a statement about the balance of hours due under the 'employee access to training scheme' (Droit Individuel à la Formation or DIF). Decree 2010-64 requires the certificate to include the number of unused DIF hours, the value of the benefit (the hours multiplied by 9.15 euros) and the name/address of the training agency responsible for its execution.
26/01/2010: Deadline approaches for alcohol and drugs policy
Employers in Belgium have until April 1st 2010 to establish an in-house preventative alcohol and drugs policy in response to the mandatory national collective agreement no 100. The policy may only be implemented after consultation with appropriate employee representative bodies or, in their absence, directly with employees.
26/01/2010: Employment service does not serve needs of large companies
The Austrian Court of Audit (Rechnungshof) has criticised the public employment service (AMS) for failing to secure employment for its clients in large enterprises. This is in spite of special programmes to collect data on job vacancies in the top 500 enterprises. Only nine key account managers operate to deal with major companies, although plans exist to double this number in the near future.
24/01/2010: Extension of identity card coverage
The UK border agency has introduced mandatory identity cards for non-European foreign skilled workers and their dependants. They are issued whenever the foreign national applies to extend their stay. The cards include the individual's facial image and fingerprint and shows whether they have the right to work or study legitimately under the UK's points-based immigration system.
20/01/2010: Age limit for calculating years of service discriminatory
The European Court of Justice has ruled that the existing requirement in Germany that years of service prior to age 25 are not taken into account when determining notice periods amounts to discrimination on the grounds of age. The case involved the dismissal of an employee with ten years service whose notice entitlement was based only on the three years she had worked for her company since her 25th birthday. This meant that she was entitled to just one month's notice instead of four months. (Case C-555/07).
19/01/2010: Growth in workplace inspections
Last year the Spanish labour and social security inspectorates carried out 224,492 spot checks on employers - an increase of 30% on 2008. The inspections led to the discovery of 29,357 social security violations, 8,148 workers found to be drawing unemployment benefit and 7,122 cases of foreign workers without permits.
18/01/2010: Reduction in long-term absence
The Swedish social insurance inspectorate has reported that reforms to the sickness absence system introduced in July 2008 have significantly reduced the number of people on long-term sickleave. Under the new rules employees must undergo medical examinations after both three and six months absence. This has led to a 60% rise in the number of people returning to work after six-months sickleave.
12/01/2010: Tax authorities clamp down on fake employee loans
All Bulgarian residents who are above the minimum working age are obliged this year to submit a tax return to the National Revenue Agency (NRA) by April 30th 2010, even if they are not normally required to do so. The NRA will enforce a new requirement for the declaration of all loans (except bank loans) received during the last year in excess of 10,000 leva (5,113 euros) and loans in excess of 40,000 leva (20,451 euros) received during the last five years. This is because interest-free loans from employers have frequently been used as a method of income tax evasion.
11/01/2010: Controversial ELENA database goes live
This month employers in Germany must begin submitting all payroll and employee absence data to the new central ELENA database.
Following an intervention by the Federal Data Protection Agency the Labour Minister, Ursula von der Leyen, has agreed that company works councils will have the right to receive a list of data to be submitted to the system and that participation in strike activity will not be specifically identified within the data. However, the minister has also decided to introduce a new section in the system requiring reason(s) for the termination of employment.
Currently German employers produce over 60 million separate income and other employment-related documents each year. A major advantage of the new system will be that from 2012 employers will no longer be required to issue individual monthly pay slips in paper form.
11/01/2010: More time for employers to submit action plans
The French Labour ministry has extended until April 1st 2010 the deadline for meeting new requirements for the employment of older workers. Companies with 50+ employees must have either entered into a collective agreement in favour of employing older workers, or established an approved action plan setting clear employment targets. Failing to submit a valid agreement or plan to the Direction Générale du Travail (DGT) by the revised date may result in a penalty payment equal to 1% of a company's payroll.
10/01/2010: Rising numbers outside healthcare net
The incidence of health insurance payment defaults in the Netherlands increased from 190,000 in 2006 to 304,000 in September 2009. Under the 2006 Health Insurance Act all residents are required to be insured. If an individual is in arrears for more than six months they are only entitled to emergency health treatment.
01/01/2010: Retirement age raised to 65 by 2026
The Estonian Cabinet has approved a new bill raising the retirement age to 65. The retirement age is currently 63 for men and 60.5 for women. According to the proposal the change will take place in two stages, with equalisation of the retirement age at 63 for both men and women by the year 2016. From 2017, it will then be gradually increased by three months a year until 2026.
22/12/2009: Training to be a factor in severance levels
The two principal parties in the Dutch coalition government have agreed in principle that the ceiling for severance payments for redundant workers should be geared to the training investment that the employer has made. No agreement has so far been reached about how the training element will be measured or how much impact it will have. However, this change is likely to be incorporated into a proposed Bill on severance payment limits that will debated by the lower house of parliament early next year.
21/12/2009: Deadline approaches for job subsidy scheme
Irish-based companies have until 2pm on Wednesday, December 23rd 2009 to apply for funding under the government's 'Employment Subsidy Scheme'.Companies may apply for funding if they employ ten or more full-time employees and the employees would otherwise face redundancy if support is not provided. The maximum subsidy is 9,100 euros for each full-time employee and 6,370 euros for each part-time employee - payable over the period to October 31st 2010. For further details visit http://www.employmentsubsidy.ie
15/12/2009: Road transport dispute ends
The road transport industry in France has agreed to a 4% wage hike, following the appointment of a mediator by the French government to avert strike action by the industry's 610,000 truck drivers. The deal follows an effective two-year pay freeze.
15/12/2009: Minimum wage to rise by 0.5%
The French Labour Minister Xavier Darcos has announced that the national minimum wage (SMIC) will rise on January 1st 2010 by 0.5% to 1343.77 euros gross per month (for a 35-hour week). A review of the SMIC now takes place on January 1st, rather than July 1st, each year. Earlier this month an expert group recommended that the SMIC should remain unchanged during the coming year.
14/12/2009: Continuing four-day week
The leading truck and bus manufacturer, Scania, has reached agreement with the metalworkers' union and white collar unions to continue the four-day week first establish in June 2009 for 12,000 employees in its Swedish operations. The extension will apply to all employees during the first quarter of 2010 and volume-dependent personnel also during the second quarter. The agreement suspends guaranteed bonuses and delays holiday supplements and retoactive payments. In return, the company has undertaken not to issue any lay-off notices for the next six months.
10/12/2009: Short-time scheme to continue for a further three months
Although the Dutch short-time working scheme (WW) was due to end this year, it has now been extended until April 1st 2010. However, no additional funds will be made available and therefore employers should submit their applications as soon as possible in the new year. So far 3,800 companies have secured part-time unemployment benefit for their employees under the scheme.
09/12/2009: Launch of new-style conference
It is set to be the most enjoyable HR event in 2010 - and it's happening in Ireland. FedEE's conference on 'Managing people across national frontiers' will follow a novel comedy-club format with a Compère, cabaret-style seating, short sessions for each speaker and the minimum use of powerpoint slides. For further details visit http://www.fedee.com/conference.shtml
07/12/2009: Temporary contracts used for most new hires
A total of 11.86m new employment contracts were registered in Spain between January and October 2009, of which 90.4% were on a fixed-term basis. Temporary contacts have averaged 73 days this year compared with 79 days in 2006.
04/12/2009: Minimum wage to rise by 5.6%
The Portuguese Prime Minister announced to Parliament today that the Government intends to increase the national minimum wage on January 1st 2010 by 25 euros to 475 euros a month. This move is in line with the government's long established policy of raising the minimum wage to 500 euros by 2011.
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