Our fortnightly human resources management news roundup from across Europe from the Federation of European Employers (FedEE).

Latest news from the Federation of European Employers

Belgium: New law aimed at foreign employers

Belgium's new law on the employment of foreign nationals (LIMOSA) has recently been published. Decrees implementing the law are expected to follow before the legislation comes into force on April 1st 2007.

One of the most controversial aspects of the new law is a requirement for foreign-based companies posting workers to Belgium to notify the Belgian federal social security authority before the posting takes place. The law applies to postings of any duration, although exemptions are possible for some circumstances, such as the installation and assembly of goods (up to 8 days duration), the posting of sales representatives who normally work for a Belgian employer in another country, and 'meetings in a closed circle' - which is understood to mean contractual negotiations with customers, evaluation interviews and other 'strategic meetings' limited to a total of not more than 5 days per month.

In order to comply with the new rules, foreign employers will need to notify the Belgian federal social security authority prior to any posting. This may be achieved using the on-line facility at http://www.limosa.be. The authority will then issue a certificate, which must be copied to the Belgian entity where the worker will be posted. Once the certificate has been received, the posting may go ahead.

Poland: Employment reforms in the pipeline

Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita has reported that government intends to spend 17.5bn zlotys (4.4bn euros) over the next seven years on measures to encourage families to have more children. These include special tax breaks and an extension of paid maternity leave to 26 weeks. Poland's population has been declining by around 100,000 each year due to emigration and a low birth rate.

The Polish parliament (Sejm) is currently considering two draft bills aimed at reducing the number of Polish workers engaged on self-employment contracts who carry out the normal duties of employees. The proposed measures effectively give employment rights to such workers and introduce increased additional penalties for companies that misuse self-employment contracts in this way.

Finally, Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska has announced plans to reduce accident insurance payments. These will be cut from 6.5 percent to 4.5 percent for employers and 6.5 percent to 1.5 percent for employees.

Sweden: Non-unionised employees exempt from union fee

The Swedish building industry association Sveriges Byggindustrier (BI) will advise its members to stop deducting trade union fees from the remuneration of non-unionised employees. This follows a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights against the practice of charging such employees 'inspection fees' equal to 1.5 percent of their earnings, instead of membership dues.

According to Byggnads, the construction industry trade union, the European Court ruling only relates to the way inspection fees are administered in union accounts. However, the Swedish labour minister, Sven Otto Littorin, has told the union he does not accept their interpretation and has warned them that they must solve the problem through the renegotiation of established collective agreements.

Other European news in brief

Cyprus:
The first European works council agreements to be concluded by Cypriot companies were signed last month. The two agreements, made by the Cypriot Union of Bank Employees
(ETYK) with both the Bank of Cyprus and Marfin Popular Bank, cover employees located in Cyprus, Greece and the United Kingdom.

France:
New minimum pay rates have been established in the French pharmaceutical sector. The deal between Les Entreprises du Médicament and six industry unions has established a revised grade pricing formula, which will be applied in retrospect to January 1st 2007. The new minimum rates for working 151.67 hours per month range from 1281.12 euros for an entry level grade 1A worker, to 5103.01 euros for a senior professional/middle management grade 11 employee.

Germany:
42,000 ground and cabin crew working for the German airline Lufthansa are each to receive an immediate one-off payment of 525 euros and an increase in basic salary worth 3.4 percent with effect from May 31st 2007.

Latvia:
According to Latvia's Central Statistical Bureau, average gross monthly earnings increased by 27.9 percent between Q4 2005 and Q4 2006. The biggest rises were in education (41.1 percent) and construction (35.8 percent), whilst the smallest rise was in transport, storage and communication (4.9 percent). 14.1 percent of average earnings resulted from incentives, year-end bonus payments and holiday allowances. These variable income elements were particularly important in public administration and defence, where they accounted for around one-third of total remuneration.

Spain:
The Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs (MTAS) has reported that 4,324 collective agreements were registered in Spain during 2006. These covered 8.9 million of Spain's 20 million employed population and brought into effect an average increase of 3.22 percent in basic wage and salary rates. 54.7 percent of agreements included a wage guarantee clause linked to the cost of living, 21.6 percent included an undertaking to reduce normal daily working hours and 21 percent contained a commitment to ensure equal treatment between men and women.

22 March 2007

Source: The Federation of European Employers (FedEE) http://www.fedee.com

[Copyright: FedEE Services 2007]