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
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,...
24 June 2020
On 22 June, the government announced the imminent end to lockdown arrangements for those most vulnerable (most at risk of suffering from Covid-19). From 06 July those deemed vulnerable to coronavirus will be able to start leaving their homes and will be able to return to their workplaces from 01 August. However, if these employees are able to telework, they should to continue to do so as working from home is still being recommended. Since 21 March, some 2.2 million Britons had been asked to confine themselves on...
24 June 2020
Employers, who would have liked to see this happen sooner, applauded the government announcement on 23 June that it would no longer be recommending telework as of 01 August. The government believes that the July summer holiday period allows for a gradual and flexible transition to normal working conditions.
22 June 2020
In mid-March, at the beginning of lockdown in Greece, which led to the majority of companies in the country closing, the government decided to grant an allowance of €800, paid from April onwards, to all workers whose contracts were not renewed or who were placed on partial unemployment. The Greek state also committed to providing such workers with social security cover for sickness and retirement and to pay their social security contributions (see article n°11734). Given the impact of the lockdown, the Greek government has extended some of these measures, particularly for the tourism, culture and sports sectors, which are still being...
18 June 2020
The ruling on 17 June by a French court of first instance (lower court), came about from what ostensibly appeared as a classic dispute between works council (WC) and company management over the provision of the information necessary for the WC to be able to provide an reasoned opinion as part of a consultation procedure. In fact, the issue grew beyond the scope of a company dispute, because trade unions, expert and lawyers groups joined in to question the shortening of the information and consultation periods,...
17 June 2020
On 12 June, Japan’s Diet parliament, approved a second record budget of almost 32 trillion yen (€262 billion) to ‘improve the government’s measures designed to protect lives and livelihoods from Covid-19 and to accelerate economic recovery.’ Included in the budget’s categories are several provisions concerning support for maintaining employment, which although largely intended for enterprises also include direct payments to employees.
