According to Eurostat data the unemployment rate went up to 6.8% in April, the month that was most affected by anti-pandemic measures. In other EU countries, unemployment increased from 6.4% in March to 6.6% in April; the Slovakian figures were 5.6% and 6.8%, respectively.
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[close]According to the Ministry of Employment’s new guidance, employees who are affected by illness as a result of COVID-19 can have that illness recognised as an occupational injury (either as an occupational disease or a work accident). In the assessment, it is important to establish whether the employee forms part of the groups of persons who are exposed to severe risk of infection in connection with their daily work. The employer must notify the authorities if an employee has become ill with COVID-19.
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[close]According to Eurostat, 14,079 million men and women in the EU were unemployed in April 2020, the second month of the implementation of the coronavirus measures. Of these, 11,919 million lived in the euro area. Compared with March 2020, the number of unemployed increased by 397,000 in the EU and by 211,000 in the euro area. Unemployment percentages for the EU were 6.6% in April 2020, up from 6.4% in March 2020.
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[close]Spain’s temporary layoff scheme, known as ERTE, is shoring up the labour market during the corona crisis, new figures show. Employment grew in May, as measured by new social security registrations, which rose by an average of 97,462 new contributors and a total of €18.5 million. ERTE is preventing the kind of debacle experienced during the last two weeks of March, when around 900,000 people lost their jobs in the wake of the lockdown introduced by the government on March 14. Although 450,000 furloughed workers have gone back to their jobs, there are still nearly three million people on ERTEs across Spain.
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[close]The CCOO and UGT unions want members at Lidl supermarkets in Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca to strike for 24 hours after failing to reach an arbitration agreement over safety rules as ‘state of alarm’ rules are eased. Unions are upset over the lack of anti-coronavirus protocols implemented by Lidl bosses. The CCOO said that Lidl’s labour relations are based on mistrust and conflict.
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[close]Rolls-Royce confirmed plans to shed thousands of jobs across its global workforce due to a downturn in the aviation industry caused by the coronavirus crisis. The company announced that it was looking to cut 9,000 positions from its global workforce of 52,000.
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[close]Renault has presented its restructuring programme. Among other things, savings will be made in personnel. Specifically, 4,600 jobs are to be cut in France and more than 10,000 jobs in the rest of the world, but Renault wants to avoid layoffs for operational reasons. This is to be achieved through retraining, internal mobility and voluntary redundancies.
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[close]Seasonal employees in tourism and transport, who were forced out of a job due to COVID-19, will have the right to be re-hired for the current period, according to a revised bill presented by the Greek labour ministry. Under the new legislation, seasonal operations will be able to suspend contracts for their employees between June 1 and September 9, 2020. Their wages will be covered by the government’s subsidy programme on the condition that they are re-hired. Employees in the programme will be entitled to a benefit of €534 and insurance contributions will be covered by the state.
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[close]The government announced a package of measures amounting to €115 million to support the country’s air transport sector, hit hard by the lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus. The government will also replace the income tax on pilot, cabin crew and technical staff pay with a permanent 15% tax rate, which will lower the wage cost for companies in the sector by about €7.7 million annually.
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[close]After two earlier cases of corona outbreaks in meat-processing plants, new tests forced authorities to close down another plant. This time, 21 out of 130 workers in a random trial tested positively. Some 80% of workers in the meat industry are from eastern Europe and are employed via staffing agencies on minimum wages. They often depend on their employer for accommodation, which is frequently overcrowded.
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