1 July 2020
On 30 June, the Minimum Salary Commission announced that the universal minimum salary would increase from the current €9.35 to €10.45 per hour by 01 July 2022. Debate continued right to the wire on how to change the minimum salary level at a time when the German economy is suffering violent aftershocks from the health crisis lockdown. A four-step increase was finally agreed upon.
29 June 2020
In a decision passed on 25 June, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) grants the right to a worker reinstated after their unfair dismissal has been overturned, to paid leave for the entire period from their dismissal to their reinstatement. The ruling, passed in relation to two cases, one regarding Italian law and the other regarding Bulgarian law, comes in light of...
29 June 2020
Germany’s Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled in favour of freelance political journalist Birte Meier on Thursday 25 June, when she demanded the right to know the salary levels of her male colleagues on permanent contracts (case Az. 8 AZR 145/19). Since 2007, the journalist has been working for an investigative programme on Germany’s second largest public TV station, ZDF, as a freelance journalist but under conditions similar to those of employees on permanent contracts. In 2014, Ms Meier discovered that her...
29 June 2020
One of the main achievements of the last International Labour Conference, which took place in Geneva in June 2019, the Violence and Harassment Convention (C190) obliges the ratifying states to equip themselves with the appropriate judicial means to prohibit and sanction violence and harassment at work. In particular they must ask employers to adopt, after consultation with employees and their representatives, a policy addressing all forms of violence and harassment (see article n°11188). To establish the date of...
26 June 2020
On 25 June, the Spanish government and social partners reached an agreement on the conditions for extending the short time working arrangements that were implemented when the state of alert was declared in the country and economic activity was paralysed by the Covid-19 pandemic. This second ‘social agreement in defence of employment’ comes after weeks of tense negotiations between Spain’s labour ministry, the CEOE and Cepyme employer confederations, and the CCOO and UGT trade unions. The agreement will be...
25 June 2020
Already in the European Parliament pipeline since the end of 2019, the right to disconnect (from work) has received an additional fillip amid the coronavirus pandemic. On 22 June, the social partners adopted a framework agreement on digitalization, which refers in broad terms to ‘arrangements for connection and disconnection’ (c.f. article No. 12016). However for the trade unions, the EU needs to go further and adopt new rules. The European Parliament is expected to adopt a non-legislative resolution on the...
25 June 2020
On 24 June, French President, Emmanuel Macron gave a presentation to the social partners outlining the contours of the future short time working provisions that were formulated following a process of social consultations. In addition to the long-term measures already announced as an emergency bill (c.f. article No. 11981), there will be a new common law measure with enhanced protection as compared to that prior to the health crisis, the new arrangements for which will take effect on 1 October, and will replace the...
25 June 2020
With the 01 July entry into force of the USMCA looming, (the new trade related United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement), the issue of compliance with working conditions in Mexican factories is becoming increasingly urgent on both sides of the border. As the US udnergoes a rise in protectionism and with US Presidential electoral tactics feeding this dynamic, Mexican economic sectors fear that labor law issues could become a costly ‘Achilles heel’, and that the many delays in implementing labor reform,...
24 June 2020
Once drafted by the Congress Labor Committee, the text (the necessity for which both government and opposition parties agree) could be examined during the next parliamentary session (still to be set). This initiative has government support and has seen its scheduling being fast-tracked due to the coronavirus crisis. As such the parliamentary committee has organized several hearings with the social partners to exchange on arrangements for framing this form of professional activity (working) and with the hope of...
24 June 2020
Since it can be observed that ‘the health situation is improving significantly’, it is possible ‘to envisage a further easing of activity-related health conditions’ outlined the new protocol published on 24 June (for details of the earlier protocol c.f. article No. 11906). The new protocol provides that except for persons at serious risk of SARS-CoV-2, ‘teleworking is no longer the norm, but remains a solution that is to be favored in the context of a gradual return to physical face-to-face activities,...
