5 December 2019
On 04 December, Switzerland’s second legislature house, the Council of States, followed the example of its first, the National Council that on 23 September adopted draft legislation to ‘improve the balance between professional life and caring for loved ones’. The text adopted by Council of States intends for two separate leave periods for caregivers. The first period consists of 14 weeks of paid leave to look after seriously ill or injured children. This leave has to be taken within 18 months of the first...
3 December 2019
On 02 December in the run-up to the general election, the Conservative party, which continues to be well ahead in the polls, announced that should it win on 12 December, it intended to create a visa-waiver entry system for EU nationals seeking entry to the UK, along the lines of the US ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) for tourists entering from visa exempt countries. The online document called the Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) would need to be completed three days in advance of arrival in...
3 December 2019
On 18 November, three Republican US House of Representatives members from the conservative states of South Dakota, North Carolina, and Tennessee, presented their Worker’s Choice Act that aims to amend the National Labor Relations Act. The text has been published (here) and is entitled: ‘To amend the National Labor Relations Act to repeal exclusive representation (Ed. Note: by a...
2 December 2019
Several US states and large cities in the country are taking action in a bid to regulate the legal Wild West that is the so-called gig economy. California, Seattle and New York City are on the front-line in efforts to protect Uber drivers.
29 November 2019
The UK Supreme Court has ruled (here) in favour of a former employee of the Royal Mail postal group who felt that she was dismissed for reporting poor practice on the part of a colleague. For human resources experts in the UK, this unprecedented decision extends the protection of so-called ‘whistleblowers’ and will require companies to be more vigilant.
28 November 2019
Mexico’s government will need to allocate MXN 1.4 billion (€65 million) in order to implement the labor reforms required in exchange for the successful conclusion of the USMCA, the NAFTA replacement free-trade agreement. Furthermore, the number of labor inspectors operating in the country will have to increase by 2020. With just months to go before the Democrat primary elections, the US Congress seems as stuck as ever on the issue of ratifying the USMCA. Across the southern border, Mexico is keeping up its...
28 November 2019
On 19 November, Chile’s parliamentarians overwhelmingly approved (142 votes for and 3 abstentions) draft legislation instigating the ‘right to digitally disconnect’. The initiative will require altering both the Labor Code (for private sector workers) and the Administrative Statute (Estatuto Administrativo for public sector workers), by way of the addition of the ‘right to digitally disconnect’ for all workers in Chile, both public and private sector employees and including those working under...
27 November 2019
As of 01 January 2020, Hungary’s labor courts currently dealing with private sector employee cases will cease to exist. Legislation adopted at the end of 2018 on labor tribunals (21 December 2018, text in English) enacted the end of these courts that had specifically addressed labor disputes. They will now see their prerogatives taken up by two different bodies: the administrative tribunal that will address issues pertaining to the public sector, and the currently operating general regional tribunals (roughly...
26 November 2019
According to ruling 29423 of 13 November (here in Italian), a collective convention cannot prohibit a company using intermittent employment contracts. The judges explained that Law 2003, one article of which was called into question in the case in question has been included in the Jobs Act 2015 and it, ‘limits itself to delegating to the collective bargaining process the identification of ‘requirements’ for which an intermittent or casual work employment contract is allowed without explicitly recognizing the...
26 November 2019
At the end of October, the U.K.’s government agency responsible for workplace health, safety and welfare, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), reported that in fiscal year 2018-2019, 12.8 million sick days were taken due to stress, anxiety, or depression, marking a slight increase from fiscal year 2014-2015, albeit not significantly so. Indeed the proportion of employees suffering mental illness was reported at 1,800 per 100,000, and has remained stable since the previous fiscal period. Employees in the 35-44...
