23 September 2020
As announced, the decree-law on remote working (28/2020) was officially published on 23 September. This reform aims to provide a single regulation that strikes a balancebetween ‘on the one hand, the use of these new forms of employment provision and the benefits they bring to companies and workers, and on the other hand, a framework of rights that among other things manifests the principles of their voluntary and reversible nature, and of equal treatment in terms of; working conditions, and in particular with...
23 September 2020
As coronavirus is once again threatening the United Kingdom, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has urged employees to recommence working from home, as and when possible. The surprising reversal in government policy that just a few weeks ago was persuading workers back to their offices (c.f. article No.12108) is worrying not only companies but also human resources experts and trade unions who are calling for an extension of short-time working arrangements.
22 September 2020
On 22 September, Spain’s government approved a decree-law on remote working, the major thrusts of which were negotiated with trade union and employers organizations. The text defines remote work and provides a framework for ways in which; businesses can make the means for remote working available, compensation can meet the related expenses incurred, and employees’ working activity can be managed. The text provides for a transition phase as it enters into legal force, so that companies which have already...
22 September 2020
On 22 September, Medef, France’s largest employers’ organization, announced it had agreed to open negotiations on remote working. Following six meetings with the social partners that sought to establish a joint diagnosis on the lessons to be learned from recent developments in remote working (c.f. article No.11989) the employers’ organization has finally agreed to a unanimously trade union organisation backed request to negotiate. There is “room for an agreement” the leader of the...
22 September 2020
EU Directive 2004/37/EC on the protection of workers from the risks related to exposure to carcinogens or mutagens at work is undergoing its fourth revision. This time round, the European Commission is proposing to lower the existing exposure limit for benzene, a substance to which nearly 1 million workers are exposed, and primarily in the petrochemicals, automotive, and metallurgy industries. Additionally, the European Commission is introducing two new exposure limit values, one for acrylonitrile and the...
21 September 2020
On Friday 18 September, Austria’s minister for labour Christine Aschbacher launched efforts to draw up a directive on remote working, which should be ready in March next year. Social partners are closely involved in the process, which involves the establishment of several working groups on the topic. The need for such a directive has arisen due to the period of lockdown following the Covid-19 outbreak, during which the proportion people working remotely – or teleworking – temporarily increased from 10% to...
21 September 2020
The decision – labelled significant by LGBT+ associations – was made by an employment tribunal that ruled in favour of an employee of Jaguar Land Rover, who had worked at the automotive group for 20 years. The person, who decided to identify as gender-fluid in 2017, brought a complaint against her employer for harassment and discrimination, having been subjected to mockery by colleagues when she came to work wearing a dress. After receiving no support from the company’s management on the issue of toilet...
17 September 2020
The 31 August 2020 agreement marks the completion of a process of reflection that commenced in March, during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and that focused on revising the short-time working system. Context related adjustment is thus giving way to a more structural revision that offers more flexibility in terms of arrangements for reduced activity and also broadens the benefits.
17 September 2020
On 16 September Germany’s Federal Council of Ministers (Bundeskabinett) passed the ‘Law on job security in light of the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic” (Gesetz zur Beschäftigungssicherung), which will extend the length of time companies and employees can benefit from the short-time work scheme, ‘adapted to the Covid-19 period’. Two related decrees were also...
16 September 2020
Italy’s Labor Minister Nunzia Catalfo has convened a meeting with the social partners during the week 21 September to reflect on a reform to Law 81 of 2017 (that establishes smart working), in order to make some necessary adjustments in light of the post-Covid context. Rethinking smart working is all the more urgent since the end of the health related state of emergency, set for 15 October will sound the death knell for the exceptional measures that were taken during the country’s lockdown period to...
