A selection of the latest European HR news from the Federation of European Employers (FedEE).

Belgium: Short-time measure to deal with employment crisis

A new Belgian law, the 'Crisis Employment (Miscellaneous
Provisions) Act' has now come into force and will operate until the end of 2009 - with a probable second phase running to June 2010.This measure provides for companies to introduce, via a collective bargaining agreement, two possible approaches to the reduction in working time

* Companies may reduce working time for all or part of their workforce by between 20 percent and 25 percent. The resulting saving in wage costs will be further enhanced by a flat-rate reduction in social security contributions of between 600 and EUR 750 per quarter, which is further enhanced by EUR 400 if companies transfer to a 4-day week. 75 percent of the saving in contributions must, however, be passed on to employees.

* Companies experiencing a fall in orders of at least 20 percent in any quarter during the last twelve months (or facing an imminent drop in demand in the requirements for manual workers) may also negotiate a temporary reduction in working time of between 20 percent and 50 percent for a maximum period of 6 months. During the period of reduced working time, the employee may claim unemployment benefit on a pro-rata basis.

In addition, a company may unilaterally introduce a special scheme for white-collar employees. This involves the suspension of work contracts for up to 16 weeks or the reduction of weekly working time by a minimum of two days per week for up to 26 weeks in any calendar year. During the temporary layoff period, employees will be treated as part-time workers and qualify for partial salary top-ups through the unemployment benefit system.

In companies operating short-term work arrangements for manual workers, a supplementary allowance will also be payable by the company.

European Union: Extension of parental leave

A revised framework agreement on parental leave has now been signed by a number of EU employers' groups and the European Trade Union Congress. The agreement increases the duration of parental leave from three to four months and gives employees returning to work the right to request changes in their working hours, or other working conditions. It also guarantees that employees will not be subject to unfavourable treatment because they exercise their parental leave rights.

The European Commission will now move ahead with a proposal to incorporate these changes into EU law through an amendment to the Parental Leave Directive (96/34/EC).

Germany: Changes in workplace protection data

The upper house of the German parliament (Bundesrat) has approved a set of regulations on the protection of employee data.

Probably the most important change is in the employment security of a company's data protection officer (commissioner). In future, dismissal of a commissioner will only be possible for an 'important reason' and after obtaining the consent of a company's works council. This special protection will also exist for one year after they have left their commissioner post.

Employers are now also free to use personal data for a wide range of human resource management purposes and it is immaterial whether the processing of data is automatic or manual. This additional scope is set out in the regulations as
follows:

'Personal data about employees may be acquired, processed or used for the purposes of employment, provided this is necessary for execution or completion of decisions relating to conditions of employment or the administration of those conditions.' (S32
BDSG)

Furthermore, employers may gather and utilise personal data when investigating a possible 'criminal offence', provided there is a justifiable suspicion that an offence has been committed and the processing required is not disproportionate to the nature of the offence.

Irish Republic: EUR 1BN job subsidy scheme

The Irish government has achieved broad agreement from both sides of industry to a job subsidy scheme aimed primarily at export-led companies who have been worst hit by the downturn.

Another funding scheme for ailing companies, the Enterprise Stabilisation Fund (ESF), has already run short of funding only weeks after it was launched. Under the ESF scheme export companies may receive support up to the value of EUR 500,000 provided they have established a suitable business plan to deal with the downturn and that the decline in trading activity has taken place after July 1st 2008.

Other European news in brief

Belgium
A royal decree has come into force in Belgium that requires employers to notify a collective redundancy to the Federal Public Service: Employment, Labour and Social Dialogue.
The forms required to complete the notification procedure are available online.

http://tinyurl.com/notify1
http://tinyurl.com/notify2

France

The French minimum wage (SMIC) rose on July 1st 2009 by 1.3 percent to EUR 8.82 an hour (EUR 1,337.70 a month).

Hungary

The Hungarian government is planning to introduce a currency adequacy rule for private pension funds. Draft regulations state that funds must keep at least 70 percent of their portfolios in forint assets. However, to avoid losses resulting from the sale of foreign assets in depressed market conditions, the new rules will only apply to funds held by new members joining after August 2009.

Irish Republic

The Irish government has now published the Employment Agency Regulation Bill. This requires that employment agencies offering a service in the Irish Republic (even if based abroad) must be licensed in Ireland unless otherwise licensed or regulated in another member state of the European Economic Area (EEA). A last-minute amendment to the bill also prohibits the use of agency workers to provide cover during an official strike or lock-out. Once approved, the new law will operate alongside an agency sector code of practice currently being drawn up by Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Italy

With effect from August 16th 2009, Italian employers will be obliged to notify the name of their health and safety workers' representative to the National Institute for Insurance Against Occupational Accidents (INAIL).

Netherlands

he rise in Dutch collectively agreed hourly pay rates averaged 3.0 percent during the second quarter of 2009. This compares to a rise of 3.7 percent during the year to Q1 2009.

Netherlands

The Dutch social affairs minister, Piet Hein Donner, has informed the cabinet that the budget for the short-time support scheme (part-time WW) has been raised from 550 million to EUR one billion. It has not yet been decided what new conditions will have to be met by companies in order to qualify for support. However, Donner has proposed that companies with 60 percent or more employees on part-time WW should be restricted to a maximum of nine months support and that only companies with less than 30 percent of employees on the scheme should continue to enjoy the current maximum support period of 15 months.

Poland

Parental leave is being introduced in Poland from January 1st 2010. Mothers and fathers will be able to take such leave after maternity leave has been completed and fathers will also be able to commence parental leave if the mother returns to work after 14 weeks of maternity leave. The amount of leave will gradually increase until 2014, when entitlement will reach six weeks for single births and eight weeks for multiple births.

Romania

If both parents in Romania leave the country to work abroad they must now notify the welfare authorities of their intention 40 days before they depart. Their children must be left in the care of another family member and schools have a duty to inform the authorities if children with absent parents are experiencing any problems. Workers who fail to meet these requirements will be subject to a fine ranging from 2,500 to 10,000 lei (EUR 594 to 2378).

Sweden

The Swedish trade union IF Metall has proposed the introduction of a special wage rate for young workers to help combat youth unemployment. In return for receiving wages at 75 percent of the full rate, young workers would be guaranteed a certain level of vocational training. Sweden does not operate a minimum statutory wage system, so any changes will have to be established through sectoral and company wage agreements.

United Kingdom

In the UK, 60,000 plumbers have voted to accept a new two-year collective agreement reached within the joint industry board for plumbing mechanical engineering services.
The deal freezes current pay rates in 2010 and maintains them in line with consumer price changes during 2011. However, annual paid leave has increased from 22 to 30 days and remuneration during leave days will include the average value of bonus payments.

United Kingdom

More than 90 percent of pilots working for British Airways (BA) have voted to accept a pay cut of 2.6 percent and a 20 percent reduction in certain allowances. In return, BA has undertaken to minimise redundancies and pilots will each receive company shares in three years' time.

Copyright: FedEE Services Ltd 2009