Archive

Keith Nuthall
THE GREEKS may be champions in European football, but they are bottom of the league for tax honesty, a European Commission report has concluded, with more than 20% of work by value being undeclared. The paper ‘Undeclared work in an enlarged Union’ shows that Britain is much more honest, with only 2% of its GDP being concealed from the tax authorities, second only to Austria (1.5%).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
ONE of the largest European Union cooperative research projects has started work to create a computerised resource centre helping companies improve their in-house staff training programmes. The EU-funded ProLearn Network of Excellence says it intends to “revolutionise the way that individuals learn, both in the workplace and in a university context”.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Labour Organisation (ILO) has started updating global health and safety standards for the fishing industry that have not been updated since 1966, some of which date back to 1920. ILO’s committee on work in the fishing sector has now concluded preliminary discussions on revising these guidelines which would better take into account working conditions in the whole sector from smaller coastal vessels to larger deep-sea ships.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A COMPILATION of online resources have been compiled by the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EASHW) to advise employers on improving work health and safety for female workers. It includes examples of practical guidelines and relevant legislation, as well as best practice notes and research from European Union (EU) member countries and further abroad.…

BY MONICA DOBIE
LAWSUITS accusing American companies of failing to pay owed overtime to white-collar workers have tripled since 1997, according to data from the Administrative Office of the US Courts. The bureau, which tracks federal litigation cases, said white-collar workers filed 102 overtime class-action suits in 2003 compared with 31 in 1997.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
MOROCCO has approved new labour regulations, and the United States is claiming its recent trade agreement with the north African country encouraged its government to pass the reforms. They raise the minimum employment age from 12 to 15, reduced the standard work week from 48 to 44 hours, (with overtime rates payable for additional hours), and insist upon regular reviews of the Morocco minimum wage, which rose by 10% on July 1.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE GREEKS may be European football champions, but they are bottom of the league for tax honesty, said a European Commission report, with more than 20% of work by value being undeclared. ‘Undeclared work in an enlarged Union’ shows Britain is much more honest, with only 2% of its GDP concealed from the tax authorities, second only to Austria (1.5%).…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
A COMPREHENSIVE European Union (EU) CV system, helping EU workers and students gain recognition for their qualifications across the continent has been approved in principal by the EU Council of Ministers and the European Parliament. This Europass is a sheaf of personal documents in a common format (in a major European language), with each EU country creating a Europass National Agency (ENA) managing the system, which should be launched next year.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
EMPLOYEE-elected company board members can pass confidential information learned from meetings to trade union chiefs and expert advisors, although they must demonstrate this disclosure helps them carry out their job, a European Court of Justice (ECJ) advocate general has advised.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission and the Pacific island Federated States of Micronesia have agreed a new bilateral tuna fisheries agreement allowing six European Union 6 tuna seiners and 12 surface long-liners to the archipelago’s vast territorial waters. Agreed in the USA-associated state’s capital of Palikir, the three-year deal involves Brussels compensating its government with Euro 559,000 for an annual tuna catch of 8,600 tonnes.…