4 October 2019
Under an amendment to the Equal Pay Act of 2003 in the US state of Illinois, which came into force on 29 September, employers and recruitment firms are now forbidden from asking for the salary history of job candidates. In a statement from 13 August, issued when the amendment was passed, the state’s governor, of the Democratic Party, said: “The idea behind the new prohibition is to help break a cycle where predominantly female and minority workers have received lower pay for performing the same or similar work...
3 October 2019
The Gender Equality Law, modified by the Regional Congress on 27 September 2019 now requires public policy within Mexico’s second wealthiest state to implement gender pay equality in a way that is ‘concrete, viable, and explicit.’
2 October 2019
With an early general election looming, the atmosphere in the UK is increasingly geared to one-upmanship. While the Labour Party has been recently repeating its promise if it wins the election to raise the National Living Wage to £10.00 per hour (€11.24) for all (c.f. article No. 11354), Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party intends to go even further. During the annual Tory party conference in Manchester that closes on 02 October, Chancellor Sajid Javid promised the raise the minimum hourly salary to £10.50...
2 October 2019
On 30 September 2019, South Korea’s Labour Minister announced employees would be able to take 10 days paid paternity leave (instead of 3 previously) when their children are born. This revised legislation comes into force on 01 October 2019. To cushion the financial impact of the reform on the smallest companies, the government intends to finance five of the ten days leave. The government also intends to extend parental leave, taken by fathers and mothers. Currently parents of children aged under 8 can take a...
1 October 2019
Confirmed on 01 October as European Commissioner in charge of Employment, Luxembourg candidate Nicolas Schmit spoke of the need to strengthen social dialogue and especially in terms of the digital transformation process. The new Commissioner also spoke of his intention to work towards a framework for the gig economy while nonetheless remaining somewhat vague and cautious on arrangements...
1 October 2019
The Las Palmas Social Chamber (Canary Islands) has ruled against the objective economic grounds that a hospitality sector business invoked in order to terminate an employee’s contract, some of whose tasks had been replaced by automated administrative software, and if upheld the payment for which would have been 20 days compensation for every career year worked. The ruling found that the termination of employment could not be based on objective economic grounds and that automating tasks in order to lower costs...
27 September 2019
Several judges have objected to the implementation of a scale that caps the level of compensation an employer can be condemned to pay in the event of a dismissal judged to be without actual and serious basis. The measure is one of the most significant contained in French president Emmanuel Macron’s labour reform. The Court of Cassation appeared to have decided the debate, until the decision made by the appeal court in Reims on 25 September, the first of this kind taken by a court of appeal. While accepting the...
25 September 2019
During the annual Labour Party conference that comes to a close on 25 September, Labour Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell stated, “the next Labour government will put in place the changes needed to reduce average full-time hours to 32 a week within the next decade. A shorter working week with no loss of pay.” UK workers currently work an average of 42.5 hours per week. Working 32 hours would be the equivalent of a 4-day week, but how the working hours would be arranged could differ per company. Warmly welcomed...
24 September 2019
Germany’s Federal Cabinet meeting on 18 September adopted draft legislation on ‘lightening the bureaucracy’ facing businesses (Gesetzentwurf zur Bürokratieentlastung III). From among the announced measures, which will in principle allow economic agents secure annual savings of close to €1.5 billion by simplifying several existing procedures, features the digitalization of the Incapacity for Work certificate, the document that testifies to an employer as to an employee’s temporary inability to work and...
24 September 2019
On 20 September 2019, a year after having commenced a nationwide ‘dialogue on the future’ for Labor and the Welfare State that that was undertaken with involvement from the general public, subject matter experts, and social partner representatives, the Labor and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) has used the results of this consultation as the basis upon which to formulate a series of proposals, which, inter alia, include broader partial unemployment provisions coupled with training, an extension to...
