Germany: No tax-free wages for pregnant workers
The German Federal Finance Court has found that a rule prohibiting pregnant workers from working at night, on Sundays and on public holidays—and therefore not being able to claim pay for these additional hours tax-free—is not discriminatory.

The current rules applicable to workers in general allow these hours to be paid tax-free as long as they do not exceed a certain percentage of the employee's basic wage. As pregnant workers are prohibited for health and safety reasons from working these hours, it was alleged that the policy was discriminatory. However, the court ruled that the policy is not discriminatory as it is in force to protect pregnant women.

Lithuania: Labour code amendments
On 23 July 2009, the Lithuanian government adopted several amendments to the Labour Code. The principal changes are as follows.

• The notice period for dismissal of employees covered by a collective agreement is shortened to one or two months and the period for making changes to remuneration and terms and conditions is shortened to two weeks.
• Greater employment protection has been introduced for employees who have served three years or more, up to the point when they reach retirement age.
• Fixed-term employment contracts may now be terminated before the expiry of their full term, upon granting one month's severance pay.
• Employees who have been dismissed and are serving a notice period do not have to be paid their normal salary if they take time out during their notice period to look for other jobs. Their employer is only legally responsible for paying the minimum wage during this period.
• The maximum amount of overtime allowed has been increased to four hours a day,  up to a limit of 180 hours a year.

These amendments have been introduced to ease employment pressures during the current economic downturn. Many are temporary and are only valid up to 1 January  2011.

 1 2 3 4 Next >