16 April 2020
Spanish clothing giant Inditex, which owns the retailer Zara, does not plan to make use of the extraordinary temporary lay-off measure (ERTE) that would allow it to claim special aid from the Spanish state, as it deals with the decline in business volumes amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The group’s management has announced to employee representatives that, during the month of April, it alone will bear the cost of closing its 1,580 stores in Spain and the halt to sales. It will therefore pay all salaries during this...
10 April 2020
With demand for telecommunications services having skyrocketed during the Covid-19 pandemic, giant of the UK sector BT has expressed its gratitude to staff by handing a 1.5% pay rise to the majority of its workforce, effective from 1 July. The pay rise goes to 58,000 non-management employees, particularly technicians and call centre workers. Furthermore, BT has promised that none of its employees will lose their jobs over the next three months and that all staff members will still get 100% of their pay, even if...
8 April 2020
In order to lessen the financial impact of the health crisis, audit and consulting firms are looking into the idea of the sabbatical leave option. Thus, professional services firm Grant Thornton has invited its employees to voluntarily choose between one of these two options by April 10, (i) take sabbatical leave until the end of June, during which they will receive 30% of their salary, or (ii) opt for a 40% reduction in their hours and pay until the end of May. Grant Thornton UK said, “These are clearly...
3 April 2020
UK companies are finding themselves having to improvise in the face of the unprecedented Covid-19 health emergency, with some handing bonuses to overburdened staff and others opting to cut executive pay. Across the industries of supermarkets, retail or even financial services, a range of approaches can be observed.
2 April 2020
In a press statement released on 02 April, French food services and facilities management company Sodexo announced, ‘Despite all our efforts, we know that this once-in-a-lifetime crisis currently confronting us will regrettably mean lay-offs for some of our on-site staff in some countries, while strictly adhering to local employment legislation. As a result, we have decided to establish a global Sodexo Employee Relief Program to help on-site staff, who face layoffs.’ The global program will be administered...
1 April 2020
On 26 March 2020, Italian energy company, Enel Group announced an agreement was signed with the professional services and financial risk-mitigation firm Aon SpA to provide a “Covid-19 Insurance Policy” for all its 68,000 employees worldwide. In the press release, it specified that this insurance was specifically designed to meet Enel Group’s needs and that it represented a pioneering initiative aimed at guaranteeing transnational support against the ongoing global health emergency. The policy...
13 September 2019
According to a study conducted by recruitment company Trenkwalder, based on the pay data of some 7,000 job candidates, the average gross hourly wage of manual and trained manual workers increased by more than 16% in the second quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2018. In the second quarter of 2018, the rise was only 14% compared to 2017. The average gross hourly wage of manual and trained manual workers was HUF 1,165 (€3.50) in the second quarter. The average hourly wage is well above HUF 1,100...
18 March 2019
Launched in January 2018, the Wagestream application allows employees to receive a percentage of their earned wages when they want, before their routine pay date. The creators of the application say that, in February 2019, more than 40,000 people in the UK had access to the so-called ‘Get-Paid-As-You-Go’ system. Its aim is to alleviate end-of-the-month stress for workers and to provide support for when they take a financial hit, at a time when monthly payment of wages is commonplace. These are plus points that...
19 February 2019
According to the latest quarterly Labour Market Outlook study (LMO) by the Professional HR association, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and the interim employment specialist firm Adecco, private sector businesses intend to raise 2019 annual salaries by on average 2.5%. 2018 salaries rose by just 2%, an increase that has become commonplace in recent years and indeed a rise of 2.5% hasn’t been seen since the LMO was established in 2012. The extra fillip is down to a skills shortage as...
19 February 2019
Spain’s ‘sick leave’ benefits have reached their highest ever level and the country’s social security office now has a record budget of €8.6 billion to allocate to sick leave benefits. The budget announcement also includes hiring some one hundred additional doctors to tackle benefits fraud. Trade unions view the benefits budget as a ‘return to normal’ after many years of fiscal and economic crisis. “Workers haven’t dared to take up these rights for fear of losing their jobs,” holds a CCOO...
