EU court rules against unscrupulous bosses

"European court puts paid to sharp dealing employers" headlines De Volkskrant. The European Court of Justice has ruled that companies purchasing businesses and re-employing existing staff to perform the same job, in the same workplace, cannot cut wages or impose less preferential working conditions. The court found in favour of a former Heineken team manager whose "gross salary was reduced from 46,000 euros to 20,000 euros" when his employer sold the canteen where he worked to another company. In an attempt to take advantage of a legal loophole, Heineken created a special company to employ staff concerned by the change. De Volkskrant reports that "labour law specialists believe the verdict could result in a wave of claims from employees who have fallen victim" to this type of practice.