News Flash

The Belgian Federal Public Employment Service has recently issued (non-binding) guidance on to what extent temporary workers should be taken into account when determining the number of mandates in the forthcoming social elections.

It has confirmed that it will only

The Spanish government has passed the most significant changes to its labour law seen in decades. The legislation is set to encourage employer flexibility, changing the rules on dismissals, contracting and collective agreements. For a more detailed explanation of the

The French Supreme Court has given a surprisingly liberal ruling in a case where the working locations and hours of an employee were unilaterally modified by her employer. The employee concerned had been required to work at two sites in

Employers in Italy are no longer required to inform their Provincial Labour Office (Direzione Provinciale del Lavoro, DPL) about any changes from a full-time to a part-time employment contract (Law No. 183/2011). A written agreement between the parties

The French law on the financing of social security for 2012 has been published in the Official Journal. There are a number of important changes this year:

* The rate of the so-called employer ‘forfait social’ contribution is increased from

The UK government has confirmed that it will postpone the implementation of the increase in parental leave required by the EU Parental Leave Directive. This change will increase the rights to unpaid parental leave, for those with a child under

Russia’s ruling “United Russia” party is planning to introduce substantial increases in the national minimum wage in order to bring it more into line with the official subsistence level. Parliament plans to follow a three-step schedule this year with the

The Criminal Chamber of the French Supreme Court has ruled that an employee may be convicted of harassment under articles L1152-1 and 222-33-2 of the French Labour Code even if the individual concerned is actually the subordinate of the victim.

Swiss trade unions have gained the necessary 100,000+ signatures to require the Federal Chancery to call a referendum on a national minimum wage of 22 francs (18.2 euros) per hour. If supported by the Swiss population, this measure would raise

The Hungarian Metropolitan Court has ordered over one year’s imprisonment and 10 million euros in damages in a case concerning industrial espionage. Former managers of a Hungarian pharmaceutical company were found to have sold company files containing restricted trade and

The European Commission is set to propose changes to the EU Data Protection Directive that will dictate how employers handle personal information. The proposals include, for the first time, a single set of privacy standards for all 27 EU countries.

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