News Flash

The Upper House of the German Federal Parliament has voted to introduce a universal statutory minimum wage of 8.50 euros an hour. This measure will now be passed down to the government controlled lower house where it is likely to

Preliminary agreement has been reached between the European Parliament and the European Commission on the limiting of bonus payments in the financial service sector. The draft measure – which has yet to be ratified by the Council of Ministers –

The French government is likely to announce later this Spring whether it will begin to tax family allowances as personal income. A report examining the present system will shortly be published by the Higher Council for the Family and this

During the 11 months to November 2012 the euro area produced a trade surplus in goods of 81.80bn, compared with a deficit of 15.7bn over the same period in 2011. However, this outcome was largely due to the performance of

International Airlines Group has gone ahead with its plans to shed 3,807 jobs at Iberia as part of its “transformaton plan”. The plan involves a reduction in fleet capacity, suspension of unprofitable routes and salary reductions of 23% for pilots

The European Commission has decided to refer the Dutch government to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for failing to protect the rights of employees on maternity, adoption or parental leave when they return to work.

The EU Gender Equality

For many years employers in Italy have required employees to sign an undated resignation letter when they are first hired. Although resigning employees were required last year to confirm their resignation the window for responding to the request or revoking

Talks are to be resumed in Germany later this week between the power supply company E.ON and the unions Ver.di and IG BCE. The unions have suspended a threatened walkout after extensive talks had not led to agreement over changes

There have been mixed reactions to the UK Prime Minister’s speech about the conditions necessary for Britain’s continued membership of the EU. Lest international companies should view the speech as a reason to reassess future investment intentions in the UK

A study carried out by Lausanne University has found that two-thirds of those losing their job through a mass redundancy in 2010 were able to find themselves alternative employment within two years and 11% took early retirement. 80% of those

The French and German governments have announced that they will not give free access to their labour market for Croatian workers when Croatia joins the European Union in July. Both countries will apply at least a two year restriction –

The minimum wage in Spain has risen to 645.30 euros per month. Social security rates have not changed this year, but the minimum monthly contribution base is now 752.70 euros and the the maximum contribution base is 3,425.70.

The Danish parliament has approved a Bill that will require listed companies with 50+ employees to establish targets and a timetable for improving the gender balance on their boards and in senior management positions. The target and progress towards them

From 2013 employers operating in Europe will be required to provide additional financial details to employees who are US citizens in order to satisfy new rules imposed by the the US revenue service (IRS). The new FATCA rules will impose

The German Federal Labour Court has ruled that an employer may ask their employee to provide a medical certificate covering the period from their first day of sickness absence. Employees may, however, continue to supply certificates from the third day