Included: Belgium relaxes restriction of free movement ruling for monitoring business visitors from other EU states, Spot fine in Irish Republic for pension act infringements and Poland proposes cap on legal fees.

 Belgium: Relaxation of restriction of free movement

The Belgian government has modified its 'Limosa' procedures for monitoring business visitors from other EU member states.

It has now been agreed to exempt from such declarations all visits to attend 'scientific congresses'. Moreover, employers with staff attending business meetings in Belgium will no longer need to complete Limosa forms, provided the visits by each staff member do not exceed 60 days per year or last for longer than 20 days per meeting.

However, once these changes have been introduced this autumn, there will still be a requirement for employers and end users to have in place internal systems to track staff movements into and out of Belgium.

Irish Republic: Spot fine for pension act infringements

Employers in the Irish Republic now run the risk of summary fines for non-compliance with Pensions Board requirements. New regulations introduced under the Social Welfare Law Reform and Pensions Act came into force on September 1st 2007. These permit the Pensions Board to write to employers notifying them of an alleged offence and ordering them to remedy the offence 'to the satisfaction of the Board' and pay a fine within 21 days or be subject to prosecution.

Infringements covered by the system of spot penalties include failure to register the scheme with the Board, non-payment of annual fees due, or unwillingness to supply information required by the Board. Fines must be paid from personal or general company accounts and not out of pension scheme funds.

Poland: Proposed cap on legal fees

A draft parliamentary bill prepared by the Polish government places a cap on the maximum hourly fees that may be charged by law firms. The proposal, which limits hourly fees to 30% of the Polish monthly minimum wage, is designed to improve access to legal services. However, even after the proposed 20 percent rise in minimum wages next year, the maximum hourly fee would be just 337.8 zlotys (88.12 euros) per hour.

International law firms have carried out repeated lobbying in recent weeks, and a report in the online journal Legalweek indicates that the Polish government may now be having second thoughts. However, a further area of uncertainty arises from the parliamentary election on October 21st and subsequent horse trading if a new coalition government is formed.

Russian Federation: Changes in public holidays 2008

The Russian federal government has exercised its new powers under the labour code to change a number of public holidays next year.

May 4th 2008 has now been declared a working day, even though it is a Sunday. This is to accommodate a three-day holiday from May 1st to May 3rd.

Both Thursday, June 12th 2008 (Constitution Day) and Friday, June 13th will be taken together as public holidays. In exchange, employees will work on Saturday, June 7th.

Both November 3rd and November 4th (People's Unity Day) will form a further two-day public holiday. Once again, this will be achieved by designating the previous Saturday (November 1st) as a normal workday.

Other European news in brief

Baltic States:
The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are on schedule to enter the Schengen border-free zone in December 2007. This will mean that there will normally be no delays due to customs and immigration formalities at country borders. Airport security checks on passengers will remain, but passport examinations will be relaxed from March 2008.

Germany:
Retail employers in the German state of North Rhine- Westphalia have offered a general pay increase of 1.7 percent for the year starting on October 1st 2007. However, the increase would be conditional on cuts in late opening, night-work and Saturday premiums, and would result in a loss of income for many retail workers. As this agreement normally sets the basis for other German regions, negotiations with the trade union ver.di are likely to be protracted this year.

Italy:
The Italian employers' federation Confindustria has announced that it will in future expel any members found to be paying Pizzo (extortion money). In Sicily and southern Italy, payments to the Mafia currently range from 200 euros to 5,000 euros per month, with those who refuse to make these payments receiving regular death threats.

Netherlands:
The Dutch finance minister, Wouter Bos, has announced that if company supervisory boards do not set ceilings for executive remuneration (including variable pay), the government will consider 'possible supplementary measures.'

This announcement follows a meeting about top salaries between the finance ministry and the CEOs of 15 large companies in The Hague last week.

United Kingdom:
Views still differ about which date should be chosen for the proposed 'British National Day'. The Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, favours July 24th, but the Institute for Public Policy Research has argued in favour of the Monday after Remembrance Day in November. Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress is pressing for a bank holiday in October to celebrate and promote British 'community activity and involvement'.

FedEE news

Employment law programme:
Fully-updated audio-visual introductions to employment law in Germany and Sweden are now available in the FedEE law programme. The presentation on German employment law has been prepared and written by Dr Gregor Dornbusch, joint head of Baker & McKenzie's German employment law practice, whilst the presentation on Swedish employment law has been prepared and written by Sten Bauer, a partner at Baker & McKenzie's Stockholm office.

13 September 2007

http://www.fedee.com/enterlaw.shtml

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

 [Copyright: FedEE Services Ltd 2007]