News Flash

Portuguese employers and trade unions have agreed labour market reforms to boost the economy’s competitiveness, as required under the terms of the EU/IMF bailout. However, the CGTP union walked out of the talks and the government has had to drop

Both Belgium and the Netherlands have introduced new salary requirements for work permit applications which apply from January 2012. In Belgium the minimum annual salary required to get the ‘B type’ work permit has increased to 37,721 euros and to

The Austrian Act on Equal Treatment requires the declaration of minimum remuneration in job advertisements where the advert refers to a specific position. This includes every written announcement to a group of people (internally or externally) including newspaper, internet and

Spanish employer and trade union bodies have extended the deadline for negotiating a labour market reform package. Crucial factors relating to recruiting, dismissal and wage modernisation are yet to be resolved. However, agreement has been reached on the temporary conversion

The French government will shortly propose a substantial shift in the burden of taxation from work to consumption.  The introduction of a ‘social’ value-added tax would reduce labour costs and significantly increase France’s international competitiveness.

Germany has introduced a statutory minimum wage for temporary workers, effective from January 1^st 2012. The rate is 7.89 euros per hour in Western Germany and 7.01 euros in Eastern Germany. This will be increased to 8.19 euros and

Employers have until September 1st 2012 to reach agreement with the European Trades Union Congress (ETUC) on necessary modifications to the Working Time Directive. If no agreement is concluded by this date the European Commission will bring forward their own

The new Spanish cabinet decided at a meeting on December 30th 2011 to freeze the national minimum wage for the whole of 2012. The minimum wage is normally adjusted each January, but Spain’s recently appointed Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is

New Ukrainian legislation requires that databases controlled by Ukraine-based entities (residents and non-residents) be registered with the authorities by January 1st  2012. According to the law ‘On Protection of Personal Data’, Ukraine-based legal entities must register with the ‘State Service

The German carmaker Volkswagen has agreed with its works council not to send email messages to its German employees (apart from senior management) except during the flexitime hours of 7.00 am to 6.15 pm. This move follows decisions by several

The statutory minimum wage (SMIC) in France increased on December 1st by 2.1% from 9.00 to 9.19 euros per hour. It will rise again on January 1st 2012 to 9.22 euros an hour. This change will affect some 2.3 million

According to a recent survey carried out by the international recruitment firm Manpower only one in seven Bulgarian companies plan to hire new staff during the first quarter of 2012. Job growth is expected to be greatest in finance, business

The so-called French ‘Cherpion’ law regulating the hiring of interns has recently come into force. The law requires the signing of a tripartite contract between employer, intern and their educational establishment, limits the duration of internships, stipulates a monthly payment

The Dutch government is poised to adopt a proposal drawn up by the Party of Freedom that will severely curtail the power of trade unions. Currently sectoral pay deals in the Netherlands are negotiated with employer associations and then put

The Irish 2012 budget has amended the rebate on statutory redundancy payments. They will be reduced from the current rate of 60% to 15% – with effect from January 1st 2012. This will make redundancies a much more costly exercise