News
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Emergency rescue plan for Denmark’s long-term unemployed
The debate over Danish unemployment benefit rules carries on despite political action.
3 minutes -
Nordic opposition to minimum wage shows lack of solidarity?
Should we have a statutory minimum wage? Absolutely not say Nordic trade unions, and they’re usually backed by employers’ organisations. It’s an attitude people elsewhere in Europe find difficult to understand.
5 minutes -
No female quotas for new Danish equality model
The Danish government wants businesses to get more women into boardrooms but not by using female quotas.
2 minutes -
Danes must tighten their belts
Danes must work for longer to create new jobs and to secure a balanced budget by 2020. That’s the main conclusion of the Government’s 2020 plan for the Danish economy.
2 minutes -
How about a personal trainer – for your brain?
The Nordic Labour Journal can now add another job to the list of new occupations: ‘personal brainer’. The title holder is Finnish Reidar Wasenius. He recently made a 20 years old dream come true and opened a training centre for brains – BRIIM Center – in Helsinki.
2 minutes
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Wide support for early retirement and flexjob reform
There’s an increased drive in Denmark to stop young people ending up in benefit traps. Meanwhile there are cuts in subsidies to the flexjob scheme and early retirement.
1 minute -
Unemployment can be defined away
The definition of employment and unemployment differs from country to country. A comparative historical perspective shows the political context – how the problem is presented and how its constituent parts change – steers our understanding. The standard views of employment are no longer relevant in countries like the US or France, according to social historian…
5 minutes -
OECD: Norway trumps sick leave costs of all industrial countries
Norway’s unemployment is low and employment is high. But the costs related to sick leave and early retirement are double that of the OECD country average based on GDP according to the OECD Economic Survey of Norway.
3 minutes
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The Commission wants to exclude small businesses from working environment rules
In the Nordic countries small businesses must follow the same working environment rules as big businesses. Now the EU Commission wants to ease the regulations for smaller businesses.
3 minutes -
OECD: health sector Finland’s problem
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s economic survey of Finland shows the country has done well during the debt crisis which has hit many Eurozone members. The country is not facing any imminent crisis, but needs a comprehensive reform of the state health sector.
2 minutes