EU: Combating illegal employment of non-EEA migrants
Although all EU member states have measures in place to outlaw the employment of non-EEA nationals without work or residence permits, the sanctions lack consistency and many of them fail to act as a strong deterrent to employers. For this reason, the European Commission has drafted a directive to combat illegal immigration by third-country nationals. This puts the onus upon the employer to check all immigration papers before making a recruitment decision. It also applies criminal penalties for repeated and multiple infringements, exploitative working conditions, knowingly employing victims of human trafficking and illegally employing minors.

The latest version of this draft directive has recently been approved by the European Parliament and is expected to be finally adopted by the Council of Ministers this spring. EU member states will then have two years to transpose the directive into national legislation.

Germany: Confusion about time credit transfers
Under an amendment to German flexible working regulations introduced on 1 January 2009, employees may transfer time- credits built up with one employer to a new employer, provided that both employers agree to the transfer. In practice, this has proved difficult to achieve, largely because former employers are unwilling in the present economic climate to make the necessary financial transfers, and also because time-credit agreements differ between enterprises.

Although the latest legislative changes were clearly intended to encourage the creation of life-long time-banking arrangements, many employees find themselves obliged to use up or 'cash in’ their time credits. Their other option is to ask their employers to transfer the value of the credits to the German pension insurance system in order to improve their pension benefits.

Netherlands: Accords only avenue for variable pay
The Dutch finance minister, Wouter Bos, has written to the lower house of parliament setting out government policy on remuneration in financial companies that receive state funding.

With retrospective effect from 1 January 2009, no bonuses may be paid to senior management of banks and insurance companies receiving government support and the only variable remuneration permitted for other staff will be that agreed through collective labour accords. Severance arrangements for senior management will also be subject to a maximum of one year's fixed salary. These limitations will apply until new individual company remuneration policies have been established with the involvement of supervisory board members appointed by the government.

Sweden: Groundbreaking agreement on short-term work

Engineering employers in Sweden have concluded a national short- time agreement with industrial union IF Metall. This will allow companies to reduce the workweek of full-time employees to two days, provided that a further day is provided for training and that employees are guaranteed 80 percent of their normal weekly pay.

This one-year deal is unusual in Sweden, where trade unions have traditionally opposed all temporary lay-off arrangements. Both parties have agreed to monitor its outcome and determine what impact it has on redundancy levels.

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