The requirements under the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace (APFPCA) are currently applicable only to companies with more than 300 regular employees. However, thanks to a recent revision, they will apply to companies with more than 100 regular employees from 1 April 2022. An amendment to the Child and Family Care Leave Act will also become effective on 1 April 2022. These changes stem from the same root as those made to the APFPCA — the goal of creating working environments that enable employees of both genders to participate and advance equally.
The latest video in Baker McKenzie’s “The Employer Rapport – Quick chats for the US workplace” looks at guidelines for accommodating sincerely held religious beliefs and disabilities for employers mandating vaccinations.
Shelter-in-place or stay-at-home orders have been prevalent throughout the United States since March 2020 as state and local governments have sought to protect their citizens from the spread of the COVID-19 virus while at the same time reopen their economies in accordance with phased reopening plans. Illinois, Iowa and New Mexico extended their state-wide orders and/or the duration of the current phase of their reopening plans. Washington amended its state-wide mask mandate to require facial coverings for large outdoor events with 500 or more individual, regardless of vaccination status.
Due to the pandemic and social distancing measures, employers and employees are making use of communication apps to convey changes in the work routine and even termination of the employment agreement. As a result, many lawsuits have been filed before labor courts challenging the use of communication apps for these purposes.
The Labor Court in South Africa was recently tasked with reviewing the conduct of a CCMA commissioner, whose role was to discern the appropriateness of employment-related conduct during an employment tribunal. The review court had to determine whether the commissioner had committed misconduct by acting in a manner that undermined the integrity of dispute resolution process. Such commissioners have a duty to exercise sound judgement and must behave in a way that is beyond reproach to ensure fair labor practices in South Africa.
Does your workforce include casual employees? Laws relating to casual employment have undergone significant changes due to recent amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (FW Act). Several changes require employers to take action now, by or after 27 September 2021. We set these out below along with some recommended actions.
In this Quick Chat video, Baker McKenzie’s Labour and Employment, Global Immigration and Mobility, and Tax lawyers review the wide variety of legal issues for Canadian employers to consider regarding a temporary or permanent remote work opportunity outside of the province of the employment agreement and provide tips on how employers can offer employees flexibility while remaining compliant with employment, immigration and tax requirements.
In the current pandemic, many employers have been required to rapidly shift to a remote working model. This shift has raised a number of issues that employers have had to consider, including how best to monitor remote workers’ hours of work, how to appropriately supervise and mentor them, and how to appropriately address health and safety obligations outside the usual office environment.
With the tightening of Australia’s border controls restricting the ability of individuals to travel overseas and back again, employers are now also grappling with situations where employees who have traveled outside Australia are requesting the ability to work remotely whilst overseas.
In late July 2021, the UK Government set out a new strategy on disability inclusion with Boris Johnson claiming “Our new National Disability Strategy is a clear plan – from giving disabled people the best start in school to unlocking equal job opportunities, this strategy sets us on a path to improve their everyday lives.” In this article Baker McKenzie associates consider the employment aspects of the strategy and the legal implications of them. They also consider practical steps employers can take to better understand and address disability inclusion within the workplace.
Latin America has been undergoing COVID-19 vaccination developments on many fronts. The news that a vaccine is finally becoming a reality presents organizations with the possibility of returning to business as normal. While governments and health organizations are still pushing forward their vaccination programs, with regulatory approvals still pending in most countries, there is uncertainty about the timing, viability, and availability of a vaccine. All this has been resulting in many issues arising on employer-mandated vaccinations across many industries in their business operations.