Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Employers’ Forum took place in Singapore on Thursday, 27 April 2023. You can access a number of related resources relating to employment issues and trends.
On 17 March 2023, the government published an update on its progress in delivering its Inclusive Britain action plan that it published in March 2022. As part of that update, the government has published guidance for employers on how to take positive action to help people with protected characteristics overcome certain barriers and improve representation in their workforce without falling foul of the unlawful discrimination rules.
It’s common practice for companies to collect diversity data and use it to assist in analyzing the concrete benefits of current inclusion, diversity and equity efforts in the workplace, and for recalibrating ID&E goals. However, collecting and managing diversity data can be fraught with risk. In this ID&E IMPACT video, Employment knowledge lawyer Autumn Sharp is joined by Director, ID&E of the Americas, Marredia Crawford and Labor and Employment lawyer Goli Rahimi to discuss what employers should be concerned about when collecting and managing diversity data, as well as some practical tips to help companies navigate this important but complex exercise.
Undertakings that habitually employ on average at least 50 employees will have to hold so-called ‘social elections’ in May 2024. The preparatory procedure for this year will begin in December 2023. The average headcount is determined over a reference period of one year running from Q4 2022 through Q3 2023. The specific category of interim agency workers is also taken into account for determining the average headcount, be it only in function of their employment in Q2 2023. To that effect, employers in Belgium need to keep a special register.
On 11 April 2023, Congress approved the law that reduces the working schedule from 45 to 40 hours per week. Its publication in the Official Gazette is pending, but this should occur within the next few days. The law will mostly come into force gradually at different times.
In March 2023, the government issued a draft of the Revised Law on Social Insurance for public comments. The Draft Law will be available for public comments until 30 April 2023. The Draft Law presents a number of notable changes to the currently applicable regulations that may bring about a significant impact if they are eventually approved in the final version of the Draft Law.
With a surge in layoffs taking place over the past year, many of those originally hired to diversify the workplace have been impacted, and studies show that inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) professionals have been affected by layoffs at a higher rate than others. The harm? Other than potentially hurting employee morale and sidelining efforts to improve ID&E in the workplace, employers risk exposing themselves to litigation.
The European Parliament has now formally adopted the Pay Transparency Directive having reached political agreement on its provisions with the Council of the EU at the end of 2022. Its provisions are likely to enter into force in most EU member states in 2026. The measures in the Directive are significant and touch on many aspects of the employment lifecycle.
• Government further strengthens enforcement measures against social insurance fraud
• Guangdong province issues detailed implementing rules for parental leave and elder care leave
• National authorities publish guideline cases dealing with protection of women’s rights
• Guangdong High People’s Court publishes guideline case on ex-employee theft of trade secrets
• Shanghai non-compete case shows courts may look at circumstantial evidence to prove breach by employees engaged in covert competition
• Henan court case shows importance of using correct terminology in an employment termination notice
We provided an overview perspective on EU Whistleblowing Directive: Local Implementation which includes updates on the latest EU employment and compliance developments.
The European Whistleblowing Directive was supposed to be implemented by the European Union’s 27 member states by no later than 17 December 2021, impacting employers with operations in those jurisdictions.