Tag: Germany

Express couriers launch fresh online services

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Several leading global and national express companies operating in Asian markets have begun 2008 by introducing new electronic/online service enhancements for customers. On the international front, that group includes TNT, FedEx and DHL, while at a national level, one recent example of such a development involves Indian operator Elbee Express.
Netherlands-based TNT last month announced its intention to offer secured electronic invoices with digital signature in over 30 countries, including several key Asian markets, by the end of March.

TNT explained that the new service, called Express Invoicing, was due to be made available to customers in most European countries, Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, South Africa, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, adding that the web-based e-invoicing solution would be free of charge.

TNT said it already offered e-invoices in 37 countries around the world, with another 10 countries preparing to introduce the paperless invoice this year. The company estimated it could eventually eliminate up to one million paper invoices per month.

For customers, claimed TNT, the e-invoicing service reduced paper processing costs and improved the accounts payable management process.

The latest electronic enhancement announced by US-based FedEx, also in February, involves providing users of e-mail application Microsoft Office Outlook with the ability to connect directly to FedEx shipping services.

This year has also seen DHL Express, part of German group Deutsche Post World Net, unveil DHL Ship Now, an online programme offering “a fast and seamless method for sending parcels to any destination inside or outside the country”. DHL said that facility enabled shipments to be booked directly over the internet without a DHL account number.

Meanwhile, Elbee Express claims to have become the first Indian express delivery company to offer customers the facility to access business information relating to their consignments and the ability to generate reports based on that data customised to their own needs.

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Deutsche Post launches pilot scheme to enter mail-order pharmacy market

Posted by | Mar 10, 2008 | |

Deutsche Post AG said it will start offering pharmaceuticals through its partner, German discount pharmacy Easy-Apotheke, at selected post offices this week as it mulls entering the drug mail-order market, Financial Times Deutschland said.

‘We see the project as a good opportunity to expand the usability of our branches,’ the paper quoted a Deutsche Post spokesman as saying.

Customers will be able to fill in order forms at post offices and get their delivery within two working days.

Oliver Blume, managing director at Easy-Apotheke, which had sales of about 50 mln eur in 2007, says the offer looks to be the fastest pharmaceuticals delivery service on the market.

Eighteen post offices in the German cities of Stuttgart, Hanover and Hildesheim are participating in the pilot scheme, which will last for six months.

German retailers including DM and Schlecker have recently introduced drug delivery services via mail-order pharmacies, a move that is seen by many as a prearrangement to launching own drug retail operations.

German regulations currently restrict ownership of pharmacies to certified pharmacists and limit the number outlets in a pharmacy chain, but companies expect a ruling by the European Court of Justice to quash these restrictions.

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Berlin Administrative Court confirms: minimum wage not binding for TNT Post

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

In its decision in the case against the postal minimum wage, the Berlin Administrative Court today confirmed TNT Post’s interpretation of the law. The court ruled that the postal minimum wage of EUR 9.80 violates the German constitution. In November 2007, this wage was concluded between trade union ver.di and the Deutsche Post-dominated Employers’ association for postal services. In the opinion of the court the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs was not allowed to declare this wage generally binding.

The decision means that TNT Post is not obliged to pay the too high minimum wage under the ordinance passed by the government. However, the decision today is the important first step as the German State has, as expected already, filed an appeal against the decision of the court. The appeal process may take at least six months.
TNT Post will continue to pay the minimum wage to which it is bound under the collective labour agreement for value added services, as agreed by the Employers’ association for new postal and delivery services. At EUR 7.50, TNT Post is paying exactly the minimum wage demanded by ver.di, the Federation of German Trade Unions (DGB) and the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) for many years.

TNT has always been in favour of a minimum wage.

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Court opposes minimum wage in German postal sector

Posted by | Mar 7, 2008 | |

A German administrative court said on Friday a minimum wage introduced in the country’s postal service did not conform with the law, handing a victory to competitors of Deutsche Post

The court said the minimum wage violated the basic rights of the plaintiffs, who are competitors of Germany’s main postal delivery firm and former state monopoly Deutsche Post.

Dutch mail company TNT NV and Germany’s mail services group PIN had taken legal action over Germany’s minimum wage, arguing it should not have been declared universally binding.

Europe’s largest economy introduced a minimum wage of up to 9.80 euros per hour for the country’s roughly 220,000 postal workers in January.

The German Labour Ministry said it would appeal the ruling.

“The government and Bundestag (lower house of parliament) decided last year to accompany the full opening of the letter market with a minimum wage,” it said about the introduction of the pay floor, which coincided with the end of Deutsche Post’s remaining monopoly for letters up to 50 grams.

Supporters of the minimum wage say public discontent about income inequality in Germany is growing, arguing that domestic demand needs a boost and that Deutsche Post’s competitors should not base their business models on workers earning a pittance.

But business lobbies say the minimum wage level favours Deutsche Post, which handles over 90 percent of letter deliveries in Germany and thus has huge advantages of scale.

Germany does not have a nationwide minimum wage. It is opposed by Chancellor Angela Merkel on the grounds that it would create new problems and could put jobs at risk.

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