Recent news

Latest items of recent news relevant to Europe as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’. 

Europe: EasyJet to keep middle seats empty once coronavirus rules are lifted

One of the hardest hit sectors has been the airline industry …

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Europe: Legal lockdown tracker for employers

FedEE’s easy to track review of emergency measures being taken in several key western European states is now available …

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Kosovo: Twelve years of independence

Recognition of the country following its declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008 has been a struggle and, since talks broke down 2 years ago, Serbia has been working hard to persuade countries to withdraw their original recognition …

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Europe: Trump bans travel from Europe to US

A complete travel ban will be imposed by the USA upon all European countries in the Schengen area …

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Andorra: Minimum wages increased for 2019

The monthly minimum wage has increased by 3 …

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Monaco: New maternity law now in force

A new maternity law has been introduced into the Principality of Monaco and is now effective …

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Monaco: Extension of maternity leave

In June 2019, the National Council will be voting on a Bill to extend maternity leave to 18 weeks (from current 16 weeks) …

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Gibraltar: Government offers agency workers direct full time employment

The Gibraltar British Overseas Territory government has offered full-time civil service posts to all recruitment agency workers who have previously provided “relief cover” to any of its departments …

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Europe/USA: Is travel time working time?

One of the longest running issues affecting employment law relates to whether travelling to work time is working time. In the European case Federacion de Servicios Privados del sindicato Comisiones Obreras v Tyco Integrated Security SL (C-266/14) it was found that it did constitute working time if it satisfied a number of criteria and the employee did not have ” a fixed or habitual place of attendance”. Then, in a Norwegian case (Torbjørn Selstad Thue v the Norwegian Government (E-19/16)) last year the EFTA court questioned whether the latter condition was appropriate and stated that any journey between home and his or her fixed or habitual place of work should be included. Now Pacific Bell has successfully contested a Californian class claim on Appeal from workers travelling to clients in a company vehicle. Their claim being that as the use of the company vehicle to travel from home to a clients was optional and voluntary it was not working time under Californian law. If employers revisit the European cases where this has been an issue, then one condition stands out. For the time to be counted as working time it must be “travel ordered by the employer”. This therefore would exclude commuting time as where an employee lives is normally their choice. Moreover, if an employer gives the employee only the option to use the vehicle and does not order them to use it then the status of the travelling time as working time is further undermined.

Scandinavia: Pawternity leave

The largest pet supply company in the Nordic countries has decided to offer three days paid  “parental leave” to its 1500 employees when they first obtain a new pet …

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Baltics: Wage growth in Latvia is expected to average 8.3% this year

According to Latvia’s SEB Bank, wage growth in Latvia is expected to average 8 …

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Europe: France ratifies Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights, triggering its entry into force

The ratification by France of Protocol No …

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Monaco: Disability designated for employment purposes has been amended

The way that disability will be designated for employment purposes has been amended …

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Europe: Q3 2017 statistics for average pay or labour costs updated

Q3 2017 statistics for average pay or labour costs are also available here …

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Europe: Minimum wage rates

The latest and impending minimum wage rates across European countries can be viewed here …

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