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Germany: Agreed pay rates increased in real terms in 2009
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 14/01/2010
Largely because of low inflation, collectively agreed pay rates rose substantially in real terms in Germany in 2009, according to a preliminary analysis of the bargaining round issued by the trade union-linked Economic and Social Research Institute (WSI) in December.
UK 2009 pay rises among lowest in the world
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 29/05/2009
Salary increases for UK workers in 2009 will be among the lowest in the world, with the median basic salary increase expected to be worth only 1%, according to a study carried out by global management consultancy Hay Group. This is significantly below the median global projected pay rise of 2.8%.
Germany: Trade union institute highlights danger of German export bias
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 15/01/2009
Germany's success in holding down labour-cost growth in recent years has boosted export competitiveness, but raised the risks of an increased exposure to fluctuations in world trade, according to a November 2008 analysis of labour costs by a trade union-linked research institute.
Germany: Pay settlements rose in 2007 bargaining round
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 17/01/2008
In December, the trade union-linked Economic and Social Research Institute (Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliche Institut, WSI) published its assessment of collective bargaining on pay in 2007. It concludes that settlements were higher than in 2006, but that rising inflation prompted “an increase in the severity of bargaining conflicts, as evidenced in strikes at Deutsche Telekom and in the construction sector”, in the words of Reinhard Bispinck, the head of WSI’s collective bargaining monitoring and analysis division.
International: Call centre employment and HR practices examined
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 12/07/2007
Research published in May 2007 analyses employment and HR management in call centres in 17 countries worldwide. It finds that the widespread view of call centres as “electronic sweatshops” with low pay, poor quality of work and little collective representation of workers is not true in all countries and types of call centre.
Germany: Metalworking settlement increases pay by 4.1%
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 06/06/2007
Following a "pilot" regional settlement for the metalworking industry in Baden-Württemberg, minimum pay rates across the sector, which employs some 3.4 million workers throughout Germany, will rise by 4.1% from 1 June 2007 in a 19-month deal, with scope for a variable non-consolidated bonus.
Average £90,678 a year for HR directors
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 18/05/2007
Salaries for HR directors continue to lag behind those for finance and marketing directors in most countries, according to the 2007 Global Pay Summary published by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Germany: Pay settlement reached in construction sector
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 09/05/2007
Basic pay for the 680,000 employees in the construction industry will rise by 3.1% with effect from 1 May 2007, following a “pay pause” for April, under an agreement that runs until 31 March 2008.
Germany: Chemicals industry settlement opens pay round
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 11/04/2007
In the first of the major industry settlements for 2007, negotiators in the chemicals sector have reached a 14-month deal that provides for a 3.6% increase in agreed pay rates.
Germany: Bargaining study highlights pay settlement upturn
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 11/04/2007
Germany’s trade unions have long argued that years of pay moderation have been a factor in holding back economic growth. While declining real wage costs have boosted export competitiveness, the domestic economy has been slower to take off - held back, unions claim, by stagnating living standards. Against this background, the annual bargaining overview conducted by the WSI institute notes an upturn in settlements in 2006.
Germany: IG Metall demands 6.5% pay rise
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 01/03/2007
On 26 February 2007, the executive committee of the IG Metall metalworkers' trade union recommended that its regional negotiators pursue a claim for a 6.5% pay increase in this year's bargaining round in the engineering and electrical industry.
Train to stay
Source: Training & Coaching Today
Date: 01/02/2007
Training and development is the best way to retain top performers, according to an international survey.
European Union: Flexicurity in the spotlight
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2006
With "flexicurity" - a balance between flexibility and security on the labour market - high on the EU agenda at present, the European Commission has recently published research examining the extent to which flexicurity currently exists in the member states.
Employee engagement is "low" in the UK
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/12/2006
A recent survey carried out by the global research and consultancy firm, ISR, indicates that more employees in the UK are thinking about leaving their jobs than in other major European economies.
Commitment matters
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 01/12/2006
British employees are more likely to be disaffected with their work life than their counterparts in mainland Europe, according to a study by research and consultancy business ISR.
TUC calls for flexible hours for over-50s
Source: Personnel Today
Date: 28/11/2006
The TUC is calling on the government to extend flexible working rights to the over-50s after new figures revealed more than one-third of UK workers believe they will be unable to do their job at 60 years old.
European Union: Employing an ageing workforce
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/11/2006
Increasing the employment of "older workers" has been a focus of European Union policy for many years. A new study examines national policies and looks at company practice on this issue across Europe in a series of case studies.
Case studies
International: Volkswagen agrees worldwide participation rights
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 17/12/2009
Volkswagen, the Germany-based automotive multinational, signed an agreement in October 2009 that guarantees employee participation rights in its sites around the world. The rights include information, consultation and German-style co-determination.
International: ArcelorMittal signs Europe-wide restructuring deal
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 10/12/2009
ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel producer, signed a European agreement with trade unions in November 2009 on managing and anticipating change. The accord provides for no plant closures or compulsory redundancies during the current economic downturn, and puts in place long-term training and skills policies, along with commitments to dialogue with employee representatives and unions.
International: DNV sets up global employee forum
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 15/10/2009
DNV, a risk-management services multinational based in Norway, has set up a global employee information and consultation forum. We look at the DNV case and at other companies that have established "world works councils".
International: UniCredit signs transnational equality agreement
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 17/09/2009
UniCredit, an Italy-based banking multinational, announced in August 2009 that it had signed a joint declaration on equal opportunities and non-discrimination with its European Works Council, setting out principles and commitments to apply across all its operations.
International: Post-merger EWC agreed at GDF Suez
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 18/06/2009
An agreement signed in May 2009 to create a European Works Council (EWC) at GDF Suez, the newly merged energy multinational, has been hailed as a "benchmark" by trade unions, not least because it reflects some of the changes recently made to the EWCs Directive.
International: Gaz de France signs Europe-wide CSR agreement
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 31/07/2008
In July 2008, Gaz de France, a French energy multinational, signed a Europe-wide agreement on corporate social responsibility (CSR) with European and national trade union organisations, which includes commitments in areas such as training, health and safety, skills management, diversity and employment conditions.
Germany: Audi adapts workplaces for older employees
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 17/01/2008
Official policy in Germany aims to promote a higher labour market participation rate for older workers. This is creating new challenges for employers, workers and their representatives, especially in manufacturing, given the wear-and-tear of assembly-line work.
International: Europe-wide restructuring agreement signed at RWE Energy
Source: European Employment Review
Date: 06/06/2007
RWE Energy, the sales and grid division of the Germany-based utilities multinational RWE, has concluded an agreement with its European Works Council on minimum standards to be observed in the event of restructuring. The agreement aims to provide comparable levels of information and consultation on restructuring to employee representatives across Europe, and it lays down principles for mitigating the employment consequences.
International: SE employee involvement deal at Allianz
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2006
An agreement has been signed on the transnational employee involvement arrangements to apply when Allianz, the insurance and financial services multinational, becomes a European Company (Societas Europaea, SE) incorporated at European level on the basis of the EU's European Company Statute.
Germany: Employment security accord at ThyssenKrupp Steel
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/08/2006
An agreement recently concluded at ThyssenKrupp Steel will cut the working week by one hour, with a corresponding reduction in pay, in return for a guarantee that no compulsory redundancies will be made for seven years.
From poor productivity to high performance
Source: IRS Employment Review
Date: 16/09/2005
Continuing our series on the people management practices that can help close the productivity gap and build high-performance workplaces, we look in detail at the NHS, a sector currently benefiting from record investment.
France: 35-hour week under pressure
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/09/2004
The conclusion of an agreement to increase working time at one of the Bosch sites in France follows in the wake of similar agreements in neighbouring Germany, and has ensured that the working time debate remains at the top of the agenda.
Germany: Lifelong working accounts at Bosch
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/11/2003
An innovative working time flexibility scheme is in place for engineers at Bosch's Schwieberdingen research facility in south Germany. We look at the detail of the scheme, based on an exclusive interview with the plant's works council.
Germany: Responding to restructuring at Deutsche Bank
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2003
Deutsche Bank, one of Germany's largest banks, has recently put into place a range of options to help employees whose jobs are being cut or are at risk as a result of restructuring. In addition, it hopes to use this model to improve employability and increase internal job market flexibility.
International: Restructuring in the European steel industry
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/05/2003
The new steel giant Arcelor was created out of a merger of French, Luxembourg and Spanish iron- and steel-producing organisations in February 2002. Part of a sector that has undergone significant restructuring over the past 20 years, Arcelor is embarking on a process of reorganisation, which has been met with heavy criticism from trade unions, over the coming decade.
Good planning by HR team helped smooth Hewlett-Packard's merger
Source: Personnel Today
Date: 18/02/2003
As vice-president for HR at Hewlett-Packard, Hugo Bague was a key figure in the company's merger with Compaq last May. He was responsible for bringing together two cultures and more than 42,000 staff from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Here he answers questions on how to handle mergers and acquisitions. By Ross Wigham.
Germany: Innovative accord reached at Volkswagen
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/10/2001
New provisions on pay, working time and training have been agreed between IG Metall and Volkswagen in order to enable the opening of new production facilities, employing 3,500 people in the start-up phase. The new accord is both innovative and controversial in that it contains a number of departures from sectorally agreed provisions. However, it is also being hailed as a success in securing new manufacturing jobs in Germany.
Vorsprung durch Arbeitsschutz
Source: Health and Safety Bulletin
Date: 01/11/1998
In the third in our series on health and safety systems in the EU, Anthony Whitfield looks at safety, German-style.
Germany: Job security deal at Opel
Source: European Industrial Relations Review
Date: 01/03/1998
A new deal guaranteeing the jobs of workers at the car manufacturer Opel's western German plants has been agreed by management and the company's group works council.
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