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
Feb
22
2020
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
Feb
22
2020
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
Feb
22
2020
Australia: Employment Legislative Updates (Dec 2019-Feb 2020)
The Federal 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. Both Bills have yet to pass the respective upper houses
Feb
21
2020
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
Jan
31
2020
Luxembourg: Indexation of wages, salaries and pensions
New indexation of wages, salaries and pensions as of 1 January 2020
Jan
29
2020
UK: IR35 – Government to review the proposed changes to the off-payroll working rules
Three months before the new rules are due to come into effect, the government has launched a review into changes to the off-payroll working rules for the private sector to address concerns about how they will be implemented
Jan
29
2020
UK: Employment Reforms and Brexit
The revised Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which paves the way for the UK’s exit from the EU, contains some changes which may have an impact on future employment law
Jan
29
2020
UK: Discrimination – “no beards” policy is religious discrimination
An employment tribunal rules that a recruitment agency had indirectly discriminated against a practising Sikh when it refused to keep him on its books because he would not shave his beard for religious reasons
Jan
29
2020
UK: TUPE – An employment tribunal considers whether workers qualify for protection under TUPE
In a potentially significant decision for service providers and other employers acquiring businesses, an employment tribunal decides for the first time that “workers”, rather than just traditional employees, qualify for protection under the Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE)