A selection of the latest European HR news from the Federation of European Employers (FedEE). EU: Demographic trends over the next 20 years

EU: Demographic trends over the next 20 years
Demographic projections carried out by the European Commission's statistical agency 'Eurostat' suggest that the European Union's (EU) population will increase by 5 percent over the period 2008-2030. Most western European states will increase their populations, but declines will occur in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as in many regionswithin Bulgaria, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

The age profile of populations is likely to change significantly in all EU regions. The median population age across the EU as a whole was 40.4 in 2008, but it will rise to 45.4 by 2030 and almost a quarter of regions will have a median age higher than 48 years. The lowest median age (below 38.8 years) will exist in the IIe de France, Brussels, southern and eastern areas of the Irish Republic, and the UK regions of Greater London, Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, West Yorkshire and Northern Ireland.

Germany: Economic growth outstrips the rest of Europe
Business confidence in Germany in July reached its highest point in three years on the back of a 2.2 percent rise in Gross Domestic Product between Q1 and Q2 0f 2010.

Much of Germany's success is based on its strong export markets and its labour market initiatives. Major improvements have been made in labour flexibility during recent years and although the short-time working scheme (Kurzarbeit) has been a costly investment by the state it has helped industry to retain its core workers. Trade unions have also focussed on job security rather than preserving real income levels.

Much uncertainty, however, remains and there is a real danger of the German economy overheating. Much of its export-led growth has been due to strong demand from China and trade unions are now switching their attention to wage demands. Negotiations are due to commence in the steel industry on 27 August and trade unions are unlikely to settle for less than a 3 percent rise over the coming year. A pay demand of 5 percent has recently been submitted ahead of negotiations in the tobacco industry and whatever deal is reached there will have an impact on the entire food and drinks sector.

Netherlands: Fines imposed on individual executives
The Chairman of the Netherlands Competition Authority (NMa) has warned employers that in future company executives may be fined for operating cartels and in other cases where there is an abuse of market power. Hitherto it has only been companies that have been subject to financial penalties, but a facility has existed for some time to impose fines of up to EUR 450,000 on executives found to be responsible for anti-competitive behaviour.

The imposition of criminal penalties upon individual executives is currently being considered by the lower house of the Dutch parliament. However, the NMa chairman would prefer the option of disqualifying errant top executives from holding company directorships and further developing the clemency option to encourage whistleblowers.

Other European news in brief

Croatia
Employees in Croatia were paid, on average, HRK 7,662 (EUR 1,056) gross per month in May 2010. This translates to an average net pay level of HRK 5,277 (EUR 727).

Finland
Agreement has been reached between the Federation of Finnish Technology Industries and The Finnish Metalworkers' Union on minimum sectoral pay increases covering the next two years. The overall increase will be 1 percent, with an additional 0.5 percent payable to individuals on a merit basis. The increase will be payable from October 2010, after which further negotiations will take place during the summer of 2011.

Irish Republic
The Irish High Court has overturned an important Labour Court Judgement on fair wage payments. The case concerned the employment of private-sector employees alongside publicly funded employees. Under the terms of an EU Directive (97/81/EC) part-time workers are entitled to be paid effectively the same hourly rate as full-time workers. However, the court found that the point of comparison for pay purposes were other private sector employees. Thus, the fact that publicly funded employees received higher pay and additional benefits than their privately funded counterparts was not considered a relevant factor for setting the pay, terms and conditions for privately employed part-time workers.

Norway
Growth in the Norwegian job market is reaching 2007 levels in some sectors. During the second quarter of 2010 the number of unfilled vacancies rose by 64 percent in tourism, 47 percent in oil gas and offshore operations and 46 percent in IT and telecoms. However contraction took place in two sectors-- banking and finance (-9 percent) and construction (-3 percent).

Poland
In July 2010 companies in Poland paid their employees an average gross monthly salary of  PLN 3,433.32 (EUR 870). Only  PLN 14  (EUR 4) of this was due to payouts under profit sharing schemes.

Russian Federation
The Russian ministries of health and finance are currently drawing up proposals for raising the state retirement age. The plan to be presented to the government later this autumn will provide a phased increase in the retirement age, bringing the minimum age up to 60 years for women and 65 for men.

United Kingdom
Average weekly earnings in the UK's private sector were GBP 420.00 (EUR 513) in June 2010. This was 1.2 percent higher than in June 2009. Over the last year the biggest increases in weekly earnings were in manufacturing (+3.5 percent) and the public sector (+2.9 percent).

United Kingdom
The number of people registering with the UK's National Apprenticeship Service (NAS) rose from 22,550 in April 2010 to 41,940 in July 2010. The principal driving force for applications has been the high unemployment rate amongst 18-24 year olds. There were 707,000 unemployed people in this age group in May 2010 and their unemployment rate was over twice the national average.


Copyright: FedEE Services Ltd 2010