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EU: Commission consults on second-hand smoke at work
The European Commission launched consultations on 19 December 2008 of EU-level trade union and employers' organisations about possible action to protect workers from the risks related to exposure to environmental tobacco smoke in the workplace. The action might include EU legislation to ban smoking at work.
International: General Motors signs European agreement on short-time work and hours cuts
In January 2009, management and the European Works Council at General Motors Europe signed a Europe-wide framework agreement laying down minimum standards for working time reductions to deal with production cutbacks.
France: Short-time benefit scheme revised
The French Government implemented a number of changes to statutory short-time working benefit in December 2008 and January 2009, with the aim of improving the scheme’s capacity to mitigate the employment consequences of the economic downturn.
Germany: Economic stimulus package gives priority to jobs
A major economic stimulus package, agreed by the conservative-social democrat coalition Government on 13 January 2009 and dubbed the “pact for employment and stability”, gives high priority to measures to sustain employment through the current recession, and particularly encourages employers not to make staff redundant.
Italy: Short-time work and lay-offs doubled during 2008
Statistics published in January 2009 indicate that the use of the public fund that pays benefits to employees temporarily laid off or on short-time working because of production cutbacks nearly doubled in 2008, as the economic downturn deepened.
Spain: Redundancies and temporary lay-offs rise sharply
The number of employees affected by redundancy and temporary lay-off procedures rose by more than 40% between January and October 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, underlining the employment impact of the deepening economic downturn.
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