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German ruling
15th of September 2010Germany's Federal Labour Court has issued a ruling that ends decades of monopolistic rights to union representation and collective bargaining in German companies.
The court's decision will mean duplication and overlapping collective bargaining units may operate concurrently. It also undermines the practice of extending in-house wage deals made
EU firms still wary of China regulations
15th of September 2010European firms remain optimistic about China's economic growth prospects, but are less confident about the near-term outlook for profits and are very concerned about regulatory unpredictability, according to a survey.
The annual survey of 500 EU companies in China showed that 78 per cent of respondents were optimistic overall about the growth
Bad for your health?
15th of June 2010
Today, one in five workers in Europe is employed on shift work involving night work and the cleaning sector is significantly affected. Research has shown, however, that regular night work can have detrimental effects for the employee in terms of health and wellbeing. ECJ takes a closer look at the issue.
Across Europe, cleaners are working in
Estonia to join euro in 2011
15th of June 2010
The Baltic republic of Estonia is on course to adopt the euro in January 2011, the European Commission has said. The recommendation still requires the approval of all 27 EU member states however, 16 of which are in the eurozone.
The Commission assessed the potential of nine EU countries to adopt the euro, and found "Estonia stands out...
Language training for Dutch
15th of June 2010The Dutch government has established an interim fund under the Delta Project for post-secondary education costs to encourage employers to provide Dutch language training in the workplace for immigrant employees.
The courses must be established in conjunction with a junior college and grants are up to a maximum of 1,000 euros per employee and
Elena is 'burden on administration'
15th of June 2010The Elena database introduced in Germany at the beginning of this year - where employers must submit information about their employees on a monthly basis by law - has proved to be an administrative burden.
Although the system was designed to reduce bureaucracy, small and medium size businesses in particular are finding it "intrusive and
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