23 July 2019
Germany’s law on remuneration transparency (c.f. article No. 10143) that came into force in July 2017 sought to narrow the country’s gender pay gap, which at 21%, is one of the highest in Europe (the EU average is 16%). Driving this legislation is a requirement on employers to be completely transparent, with women able to compel them to align their salaries with those of their male counterparts. At the time the legislation was designed it faced a great deal of resistance across business and even within...
23 July 2019
In the closing moments of Theresa May’s tenure as UK Prime Minister before her successor is announced on Tuesday 23 July and prior to her departure on Wednesday 24 July, the government has announced two new pieces of draft legislation. Riding on the #MeToo wave, the first piece of fresh legislation looks to prohibit NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) being used to prevent individuals from disclosing workplace sexual harassment information. The second piece of legislation concerns parents whose employment cannot be...
23 July 2019
In a legally binding opinion that was published in the Official Journal on 07 July 2019, the National Office for Private Data Protection (UODO) details the types data treatment that will now be subject to an impact evaluation, or risk hefty fines. Several types of data treatment related to employment contracts are impacted.
19 July 2019
The CCOO and UGT trade unions and the management of Spanish telecommunications giant Telefónica have reached an agreement that will guarantee workers’ right to digitally disconnect and a second agreement on the way in which a daily working time register will be set up, both of which are in keeping with measures recently introduced into Spain’s employment law. The two agreements will apply to all Spanish subsidiaries of the group.
18 July 2019
On 16 July the UK government launched a public consultation on the establishment of a new single enforcement body to ensure national minimum and legal wages are paid and that the right to paid leave is upheld. The goal of this element of the Good Work Plan (c.f. article No. 10943) is to streamline and harmonize oversight as well as to become more efficient in offering better protection to workers at a time when the UK only has about half the number of labor inspectors recommended by the ILO International Labour...
17 July 2019
One of the key measures of the recent labor reform (c.f. article No. 10330) was the compensation scale that sets ceiling and floor limits, which the labor tribunal can require employers to pay to employees in compensation for unjustified employment termination. However this measure has been highlighted on several occasions when the first instance courts set it aside and invoked in particular article 10 of the ILO Convention 158 on Termination of Employment, as well as article 24 of the European Social Charter that...
17 July 2019
Following a series of several negative economic indicators as well as some significant difficulties facing several of the nation’s larger corporates, Germans are increasingly concerned over the state of the domestic economy, and consequently over the situation in the labor market. Even if the outlook for the labor market is positive, experts expect that the rate of jobs creations, which has been particularly buoyant in recent years, will slow down.
16 July 2019
More than two months after the most ambitious labor reform in Mexico’s history was promulgated, concerns are growing. The question now is if this reform, which is dedicated to both making trade unions more democratic and to ending the system of ‘employer protection’ collective agreements, and which is the de facto precursor to the US and Canadian ratification of a new free-trade agreement, can go beyond the paper it is written on? In addition the question is also being asked over where the funding will come...
16 July 2019
According to data published by the independent advisory firm Compensation Partner, more than half of Germany’s employees (54%) are working overtime, amounting to an average three hours per week. More males than females are working extra hours, as are more senior staff compared with regular employees, and higher paid cohorts vis-à-vis those on more modest salaries. Compensation Partner analyzed more than 200,000 pieces of working time data within Germany. Since 2009 when employees were working 6.5 hours extra...
15 July 2019
On 11 July, the government published a bill confirming that it plans to extend the IR35 tax legislation to small and large private companies. As of 6 April 2020, the groups concerned will have to indicate whether their service providers will have to pay income tax and social contributions and will be held responsible for any error. The aim of this change – announced during the most recent budget (see article n°10877) – is to discourage illegal recourse to independent workers. In the public sector, this law...
