Labour law

An act on health and safety in the workplace was passed by Croatia’s parliament on 30 May 2014. It establishes a new governing body and builds on the previous 1996 act, now allowing employers to use audio and video monitoring devices. The act also introduces measures to help combat stress at work.

A draft bill aimed at simplifying existing employment contracts in Italy is expected to become law in the next few weeks.

There is growing concern in Slovenia about the government’s use of unpaid interns at the same time as a bill is going through parliament to ban this type of work.

Three measures to improve the working environment in Denmark have been agreed by parliament.

The number of open-ended contracts in Spain has increased by more than 17% in the past year.

In November 2014, a UK court ruled that non-guaranteed overtime should be taken into account when holiday pay is calculated. The Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition government established a taskforce of business representatives to look at the issue. Trade unions have criticised legislative

The new law empowers the government to take a range of measures to simplify social legislation by way of executive orders.

The draft regulations prevent the employment of workers on a fixed-term basis for more than three years and set notice periods based on the length of time employed.