24 June 2021
In closing out the G20 Labour Ministers’ meeting held in Catania, Italy, on 22-23 June, government representatives from the world’s 20 richest countries issued a joint statement that focused on the issue of gender equality. The ministers committed to renewed effort in closing the gender gap in labour market participation rates by 25% by 2025 (the Brisbane target). They also listed a series of new policies to be put in place to limit the effects of the pandemic on the fight for gender equality.
23 June 2021
Since 2016, volunteer HR managers registered on the HR-integrate platform have been mentoring refugees in their search for a job, vocational training ,or a place at university in Germany. Thomas Batsching, one of the HR professionals behind the project and CEO of the Karlsruhe-based consultancy HR Works Personalwerk, has spoken with Planet Labor about the main successes and problems in implementing the project, as well as about the new challenges ahead.
8 June 2021
Approximately 10,000 Mexican manufacturing workers in the state of Baja California will soon be able to receive free Covid-19 vaccinations as part of a unique cross-border agreement. All 10,000 maquiladoras employees (US subsidiary manufacturing companies with tax friendly status), will travel by company-chartered buses to the border crossing between Tijuana, (Mexico) and San Diego, (U.S.), where a mobile vaccination center has been deployed by the University of California, San Diego. “Mexico is our largest...
26 May 2021
In its report released on 23 May, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is inviting UK employers to mobilize as soon as possible towards the “green economy”. The CBI’s report: ‘Seize the Moment: How Can Business Transform the UK Economy?’ estimates that an economic strategy consistent with the country’s 2050 carbon neutrality target could lead to the creation of 240,000 jobs within ten years.
20 May 2021
The new council of ‘independent’ experts, set up in 2020 by the Ministry of Labour to advise the federal government on issues relating to the world of work, presented its first report on 18 May. Its proposals immediately sparked anger among Germany’s employers. Among other things, the council recommends introducing new rules to control teleworking, eliminating mini-jobs, improving care workers’ working conditions, and significantly more lifelong training and education.
11 May 2021
On 08 May, the UK government published fresh guidance with good practices for employers to better combat employee loneliness. The report urges companies to automatically include the issue of loneliness into their workplace well-being policies and warns that employee isolation, which has been exacerbated due to the pandemic and the upsurge in remote working can have unwelcome financial repercussions.
27 April 2021
The Chinese megalopolis of Shenzen has adopted a ‘Guide to the prevention of sexual harassment’ that several detailed guidelines for dealing with the topic. In it is a precise definition of the criminal act, along with concrete examples, and a whole set of specific measures to be taken depending on the severity of the behavior. Noteworthy is the fact that companies that do not have a system in place to combat sexual harassment in the workplace will be held responsible in the event of a complaint.
22 April 2021
The agreement, entitled “Compromiso Nacional por la Prevención y Erradicación del Trabajo Infantil y la Protección Integral al Adolescente Trabajador” (National Commitment for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor and the Integral Protection of Adolescent Workers) and signed on 19 April by several Colombian institutions (Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education, and the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare) and the Federation of Colombian Municipalities and Departments, aims to eradicate...
15 April 2021
Nine leading insurance sector groups have signed up to an innovative program to help employees return to work after extended breaks, most of whom, studies have shown, are female.* Developed by the UK consultancy firm, Inclusivity Partners, successful candidates for this scheme will embark on 6-month paid contracts in one of the companies supporting the project.
13 April 2021
Legal mechanisms that are trying to remove corporate impunity in terms of human rights? At the beginning of April, three NGOs, the anti-corruption group Sherpa, the NGO Ethique (the French branch of the Clean Clothes Campaign), the Uyghur Institute of Europe as well as a female Uyghur victim filed a complaint with a Paris court against four companies (clothing companies Uniqlo, Inditex, and SMCP, and footwear manufacturer Skechers) for concealment of forced labor. The Paris prosecutor’s office will decide in...
