Argentina • Allende & Brea

Argentina: Is the employer entitled to change the employee’s working hours? The Argentine Labour Court recently decided that the change of the employee’s working hours breached labour laws, since the working hours are an essential term of the employment contract and there was a change from a night shift to a day shift, and considering that the employee had worked the night shift for the last 17 years, the change therefore was to his detriment » Read More

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Australia • Harmers Workplace Lawyers

Australia: Timesheets for lawyers under the new annualised salary provisions New changes to the Legal Services Award 2010 will have significant implications for graduate lawyers, law clerks, and clerical and administrative employees in law firms who receive an annualised salary. These changes will require employers to keep records of the hours worked by these employees in order to ensure that the employees are not disadvantaged under an annualised salary compared to what they would have received under the Award rate. This will ensure greater transparency and accountability for employees and marks a shift away from graduate lawyers being required to work long ‘reasonable additional hours’ without overtime pay » Read More
Australia: Employment Legislative Updates (Dec 2019-Feb 2020) The Federal upper house and Victorian lower house have both passed noteworthy Bills that mark significant changes to the employment law space. The first bill tightens the laws around unions by expanding the situations in which a person may be disqualified from office of a registered organisation, and expanding the grounds under which the registration of a registered organisation can be cancelled. The second bill establishes obligations for public sector employers in the State of Victoria to take positive action towards achieving gender equality and creates the role of a Public Service Gender Equality Commissioner » Read More

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « Australia: Work in the Time of Coronavirus Along with the humanitarian, health and economic concerns created, a public health epidemic offers unique challenges for employers managing workers returning from at-risk areas. Amongst the panic and concern, it is important that employers act rationally and in full view of their legal obligations, in contract, statute and common law, in dealing with this growing health risk » Read More

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Belgium • Van Olmen & Wynant

Belgium: Gender Act will include paternity and other new protected grounds of discrimination The amendment on combating discrimination between women and men was recently approved. In addition to the previously protected grounds of gender, pregnancy, childbirth, maternity, gender change, gender identity and gender expression, the amendments will further expand the list to include the grounds of paternity, co-motherhood, breastfeeding, gender characteristics, adoption and medically assisted reproduction » Read More

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Canada • Filion Wakely Thorup Angeletti

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « Canada: Coronavirus – Proactive Guidance for Employers 2019 Novel coronavirus (coronavirus or 2019-nCoV) has arrived in Canada. While it is not yet known whether the virus will evolve to become a global pandemic, employers in Canada are nevertheless concerned about meeting their obligations to provide workers with a safe and healthy workplace. It is critical for employers to be aware of their legal obligations and to develop a proactive plan to manage feelings of panic and fear – whether irrational or well-founded – which will inevitably ensue. We outline some of the potential issues relating to the coronavirus and provide employers with practical guidance on how to respond to questions and concerns that may arise in the workplace » Read More

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Chile • Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos

Chile: Supreme Court rules on constitutional remedy to guarantee fundamental constitutional rights The removal of a pregnant replacement employee can only be obtained through the procedure provided by law, even if her employment agreement has already expired according to the terms established within the agreement » Read More

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China • Zhong Lun Law Firm

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « China: Different Provincial and Municipal Governments Announce Policies to Support Employers during Epidemic Period The outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia has caused financial difficulty to numerous employers in China. To support employers and help them to pull through during the epidemic period, different provincial and municipal governments have announced policies that help ease the burden on employers with respect to individual-employee costs that continue to become payable on a regular basis, such as salary and contributions for social insurance » Read More
» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « China: Judicial Opinions on Civil Disputes Concerning Coronavirus Outbreak Prove Relevant for Employment Disputes The High People’s Court of Zhejiang Province recently issued judicial opinions on hearing civil disputes related to the novel coronavirus pneumonia, which shall serve as a reference for employers to deal with employment disputes caused by the coronavirus outbreak » Read More

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Colombia • López & Asociados

Colombia: Summary of Recent Labour and Employment Law Developments In the past month, there have been several labour and employment law developments, chief among them: i) increase in the apprentices’ monthly support and ii) new permanence permit will allow Venezuelans to work in Colombia » Read More

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European Union • Van Olmen & Wynant

European Union: Restricting the grant of a benefit introduced for top-level athletes to citizens of that Member State is a violation of the freedom of movement for workers The freedom of movement for workers, which provides that a worker who is a national of one Member State should be able to enjoy the same social advantages as national workers in another Member State, precludes legislation which makes receipt of an additional benefit paid to certain high-level athletes, who have represented that Member State or its legal predecessors in international sporting competitions, conditional upon the person applying for the benefit having the nationality of that Member State. The Court esteems that such a benefit has attributes of the integration of the migrant worker into the Member State, and therefore achieves the objective for the freedom of movement for workers » Read More

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France • Flichy Grangé Avocats

France: The Loi Pacte’s staff thresholds are now law The loi pacte has created new rules regarding thresholds in terms of staff headcount in companies. This much anticipated reform offers greater clarity as to which obligations concern which size businesses. There is a simplification via the reduction in the number of different thresholds and only the companies that have crossed a threshold sustainably will be subject to the obligations » Read More
France: Limits to the freedom of expression of trade union representatives Though public officials who perform trade union functions benefit from the particular freedom of expression required for the exercise of their mandate and for the defence of the interests of the staff they represent, this freedom is not unlimited and must be reconciled with their ethical obligations. In particular, aggressive words or behaviour towards a superior or other staff member may, even though they do not constitute a criminal offence, be characterised as misconduct of such a nature as to justify a disciplinary sanction » Read More

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « France: Coronavirus Outbreak in France and Obligations for Employers Employers are urged to consider implementing measures to prevent and respond to a host of potential scenarios stemming from, or linked to, the Coronavirus 2019-nCoV epidemic » Read More

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Germany • Pusch Wahlig Workplace Law

Germany: Consultation of representative body for severely disabled employees prior to transfer The representative body for severely disabled employees must only be involved in transferring disabled employees, if they have already been recognised as severely disabled. If the recognition of severe disability has only been applied for, the representative body does not need to be involved. This applies even if the employer knows that the employee has applied for recognition of their severe disability, which is then recognised retroactively » Read More
Germany: Failure to invite severely disabled applicant can result in compensation risk If an employer does not invite a severely disabled applicant for an interview, a discrimination has not necessarily occurred. However, not inviting a severely disabled applicant indicates a discriminatory treatment. Therefore, the applicant is entitled to compensation if the employer cannot prove that a discrimination has not occurred » Read More

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « Germany: Workplace impact of pandemics like the coronavirus In this still young decade, the new coronavirus, which has now also appeared in various countries outside China, is dominating the global news presenting various questions of practical relevance arise in terms of labour law » Read More

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India • IndusLaw

India: New Guidelines for conducting inquiries concerning the application of provident fund benefits for employees Guidelines have been issued for initiating and conducting inquiries against employers; ascertaining the applicability of provident fund benefits to employees; and for determining sums due from the employer » Read More

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Mexico • De La Vega & Martinez Rojas S.C.

Mexico: Transitional Regime for Retirement Allowance Plans between the Social Security Law of 1973 (Abrogated) and the Amended Version (in force) On 24 January 2020, the decision of Mexico's Supreme Court was released concerning the upper limit that should apply to retirement allowance plans of employees who are listed under the now abrogated Social Security Law of 1973 and the amended version of this law currently in force » Read More

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The Netherlands • Palthe Oberman

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « The Netherlands: Coronavirus 2019-nCoV and the possible impact on the workplace Measures Dutch employers are obliged to take and/or should consider taking » Read More

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Poland • A. Sobczyk & Wspolpracownicy

Poland: The ban on trade and trade-related activities on Sundays entered into force as of January 2020 From 2018, the ban on trade and trade-related activities on Sundays, as well as the ban on entrusting employees and workers with trade and trade-related activities on Sundays was gradually introduced. At the beginning of 2020, the ban came into full force, and those who break the ban by entrusting employees and workers with trade and trade-related activities on Sundays might be subject to a fine between PLN 1,000.00 and PLN 100,000.00 » Read More

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Qatar • Clyde & Co

Qatar: Entry visa introduced for temporary work A new resolution facilitates the ability to obtain an entry visa for undertaking temporary work by foreign nationals » Read More

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Saudi Arabia • Clyde & Co

Saudi Arabia: New Resolution Regulating Nighttime Work is Issued The resolution, which came into effect on 1 January 2020, outlines various minimum requirements by employers who require their employees to work between the hours of 11pm and 6am. » Read More

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Spain • Suárez de Vivero

Spain: Tax benefits for flexible remuneration plans Labour and tax planning allows companies, resident in Spain, and their employees to promote internationalisation and competitiveness abroad. In this sense, the Spanish tax system allows companies to promote Specific Remuneration Plans for those employees who travel abroad in exchange of tax benefits » Read More

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Sweden • Cederquist

Sweden: There are no formal requirements on redeployment investigations made by employers prior to an employment termination due to redundancy The Labour Court ruled that smaller employers can fulfill their obligation to investigate redeployment options prior to an employment termination due to redundancy, by providing a statement from the management saying that there are no vacant positions within the company. If the number of employees within the company is low enough that it can be assumed that the employer has a clear overview of the workforce, there is no requirement to draw up a written investigation of redeployment options » Read More

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United Arab Emirates • Clyde & Co

UAE: Administrative circular clarifies approach labour courts are required to take in matters concerning the calculation of commission in employment cases The new administrative circular clarifies the approach labour courts are required to take, in particular towards the calculation of commission within employment cases » Read More

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United Kingdom • Clyde & Co

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « UK: Corona virus – key points for employers The outbreak poses a threat to many organisations and presents a number of employment issues for UK employers. This article addresses some of the immediate issues which UK employers are facing » Read More

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United States • Jackson Lewis

USA: Time to Start Planning for H-1B Cap Season It is time to start preparing for the upcoming H-1B visa lottery, which begins 1 April 2020, and will be the first one to require an electronic registration for each case » Read More
USA: Compliance with Changing State and Local Laws is Nonstop In 2019, as in previous years, most of the new labour and employment law legislation was enacted at the state and local level » Read More

» CORONAVIRUS IN A FLASH « USA: Coronavirus Concerns in the Workplace News of an outbreak of a new coronavirus first identified in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China raises issues for employers and employees about the appropriate workplace responses. Jackson Lewis has just published a special report on the labour and employment law implications facing employers worldwide, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak » Read More

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