Collective Bargaining

The drop in non-regular wages continues, so wage growth remained in the single-digit territory in February. The data is still unaffected by the coronavirus epidemic. The Hungarian average gross and net wages rose by 9.1% year-on-year in February, showing a 0.1 percentage point slowdown compared to January.

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Job protection and wage subsidy

28 April 2020

The Employment Protection Wage Subsidy will support employees on reduced working hours. An employee may receive support on the basis of an application submitted jointly with the employer to the county government office. In the programme, the employer undertakes not to terminate the employee’s employment and pays wages for the employee’s working hours and personal development time. The employee agrees to perform work and is available to the employer during the personal development time.

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Some 11 million workers are currently temporarily or partially unemployed during the lockdown. With much of France’s economy at a standstill as a result of COVID-19 measures, millions of people are unable to work and 337,000 companies – many in the tourism and leisure sectors – have halted work entirely. France has unveiled a package of measures that offer support to self-employed people and small businesses. For employees who either cannot work at all or who have had their hours drastically cut, ‘chômage partiel’ (partial unemployment) is available.

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The average daily pay and monthly wages for full-time workers came to €50.55 and € 1,153.57, respectively, in October 2019, official figures showed. For part-time workers, average daily pay and monthly wages were €24.52 and €402.80, respectively.

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) has monitored the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on the world’s labour markets over the past weeks. In the report, the labour organisation stresses the need to uphold labour rights and strengthen health protection but also the need for fiscal and monetary responses to support the most affected sectors and vulnerable people, including financial assistance for enterprises.

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Workers employed by five municipalities in the capital area and south Iceland will resume striking on 5 May. Members of trade union Efling working for the municipalities voted overwhelmingly in support of strike action. The union’s negotiation committee postponed strike action during the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, but announced that the strike would be voted on again.

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The Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (COVID-19) Act 2020 (the Emergency Act) was signed into law. It includes the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme. The aim of the scheme is to help employers experiencing significant economic disruption as a result of COVID-19 to maintain their relationship with their employees so that they are in a position to get up and running again as soon as the crisis passes.

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Icelandair announced the layoffs of more than 2,000 out of its 3,400 employees by the end of the month. This is the largest mass layoff in Iceland’s history, announced the director of the Directorate of Labour. The company had already laid off 240 people a month ago. Most of the remaining 1,300 employees are working at a reduced employment ratio, while full-time employees have taken a pay cut. Last year, the company employed on average 4,715 people.

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A growing number of governments are stepping up their assistance to self-employed workers by providing unemployment benefits to minimise the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. In order to salvage their coronavirus-hit economy, countries like the UK and France are offering unemployment benefits for gig workers affected by the pandemic. Gig workers, including freelancers, independent contractors, and temporary or part-time hires, are part of the labour market that now makes up a third of the global workforce, according to estimates from the International Labour Organization.

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A study on the effects of union density found that tax subsidies for Norwegian unions led to ‘substantial increases’ in firm productivity and wages, increases that grew even larger the more productive a firm was or the more bargaining power a union had. Researchers established a correlation between union density and productivity by first looking at how tax subsidies affect union membership.

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On 28 April 2020, the Emergency Powers Decree No. 14 was published in the Belgian Official Journal in order to guarantee an adequate work organisation during the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, the Decree adopts several employment law-related measures in order to address staff shortages in certain vital sectors. This newsflash provides an overview of the most important measures which may be relevant for certain employers.

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