Articles by Niko Nurmentaus
Mexico's minimum wage rises every January: what that does to payroll
On 1 January 2026 Mexico's statutory minimum wage rose. The first pay run of the year is the most common place for the mistake that follows: if the payroll configuration still holds December's figure, a worker who…
Remote Work in Germany: The Protections, the Allowances, and the Truth About the Right to Disconnect
In Germany, "working from home" is not one legal status but three, and which one a worker is on decides both the protections they receive and the obligations the employer takes on, from who pays for the desk to whether…
How Sectoral Extension Works in France: Near-Universal Coverage From a Single Order
France is the country that pushes sectoral bargaining to its logical extreme. Union membership is among the lowest in the developed world, around one worker in ten, and yet roughly 98 percent of private-sector employees…
What Workers in the UK Are Entitled To: A Guide to Leave
The UK's leave system has three things worth knowing up front: the paid annual leave is generous and calculated in an unusual way, the family leaves are long but mostly paid at a modest flat rate, and the system is in…
The Real Cost of a German Hire: Employer Contributions and the True Cost of Employment
Countries divide the cost of a worker between the employer and the employee in different ways, and Germany's rules split it more evenly than most. The gross salary you agree with a worker is not the full cost of…
Guides by Niko Nurmentaus
How Collective Agreements Work in Spain: Automatic Coverage, Provincial Wage Tables
Spain has one of the most far-reaching collective-agreement systems in Europe. A properly negotiated and registered sector agreement binds every employer and worker in its scope automatically, whether or not they are…
How Collective Agreements Become Binding in Germany: Five Routes, Not One
If you have run payroll in France, Portugal, or Spain, you carry an instinct that quietly breaks the moment you cross into Germany. A German collective agreement, a Tarifvertrag, binds almost no one automatically, and yet Germany still reaches roughly 70 percent effective coverage...
Sectoral Extension of Union Agreements in Portugal: How It Works and Why the Rules Vary by Region
Picture two retail cashiers. Same chain, same job description, same cash register. One works in a shop in Oeiras, just outside Lisbon. The other works in Santarém, about an hour up the road. Neither...
