News Flash

A recent decision by the French Supreme Court has changed the position regarding an employee who has been unable to take their annual leave entitlement.
Previously, an employee who brought legal proceedings claiming that their employer had prevented them taking

Further details have merged about the new Belgian collective bargaining agreement (no.103). This makes several additional restrictions on access to ‘time credit’ by raising service and age thresholds.
The new provisions distinguish between ‘motivated’ and ‘non-motivated’ time credit. ‘Non-motivated’ time

According to the Irish Central Statistics Office (CSO) average hourly earnings in the Irish Republic were virtually unchanged over the year to Q1 2012. More recently unions have rejected a proposed pay freeze at Allied Irish Bank and a staged

The new Belgian national agreement 103 (replacing the existing collective agreement 77bis) on time-credits will come into force in September 2012.  Employees will be entitled to three calendar years time credit for the care of young children, assistance with sick

The French government has announced an increase in the national minimum wage (SMIC). The 2% increase effective on July 1st represents a 0.6% rise above inflation and takes the hourly rate to 9.40 euros and monthly rate to 1425.67 euros.

The German parliament has passed a bill to implement the EU Directive for Highly Skilled Migrants. This means that from August 1st 2012, Citizens of non-EU states will be able to enter and reside in Germany in order to carry

From November 2012 applicants for a standard Russian work permit will be required to pass a test which includes questions about Russian history, language and culture. Those applying for permits under the highly qualified specialist program will, however, be exempted

The Portuguese Parliament has recently approved a revision of the Labour Code (no. 46/XII). The new law is awaiting promulgation and publication which is expected in the forthcoming weeks. The revision covers a wide range of employment issues including severance

The French Supreme Court has further limited an employee’s right to workplace privacy by ruling that information stored in the ‘my documents’ folder of a work computer may be monitored by their employer – even without the employee being present.

Spanish Royal Decree 3/2012 has modified article 13 of the Workers Statute by introducing and regulating the term ‘distance working’. This type of activity is normally carried out in the worker’s home, as opposed to a company workplace.
Under the

The average number of usual weekly hours worked by individuals in their main job varies significantly by level of seniority in a company. According to Eurostat, in 2011 managers in the EU worked an average of 44.9 hours a week

A new five-year pay deal has been concluded for temporary agency workers in Germany’s engineering sector.

Although in principle Germany follows the legal basis of equal pay for equal work, this rule was liberalised as part of the Hartz reforms

Due to an amendment in the Commercial Companies Code, it is now possible to form a new limited liability company in Poland with the minimum of delay and bureaucracy. Details can be  submitted online at the Ministry of justice website

Further details are emerging about the Dutch government’s austerity plan. It is now clear that the tax-free travel allowance that may be paid to employees for travelling to and from work is to be abolished. However, it would appear that

This week the largest trade union Federation in Europe will be formed following the merger of the European Metalworkers’ Federation (EMF), the European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers’ Federation (EMCEF) and the European Trade Union Federation for Textiles, Clothing and