Asia Employment Law Update
Proposed Regulations May Complicate Reductions in Force in China
On December 31st, 2014, Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (“MOHRSS”) issued a notice to solicit public opinions on the draft Regulations on Personnel Cutbacks by Enterprises (“Draft Regulations”). The Draft Regulations set out detailed implementing rules for “mass layoffs” (defined under the Labor Contract Law as being a layoff of more than 10% of the workforce or more than 20 employees) and, if adopted in their current form, will further complicate the process for conducting reductions in force in China.
Revision of Part-Time Employment Act in Japan
The revised Act on Improvement, etc. of the Employment Management for Part-Time Workers (the so-called “Part-Time Employment Act”) went into effect on April 1st this year as a measure to treat part-time employees equally with full-time regular employees.
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France Employment Law Update
Bill for Growth and Activity: The Axes of Reform in Employment Law
At this stage, the Bill for Economic Growth and Activity provides a set of measures aimed at significantly renewing Sunday rest (I). Some other parts of employment and labor law are also being reformed (II).
I. EXEMPTIONS TO SUNDAY REST
The Bill for Economic Growth and Activity only reforms temporary exemptions. Permanent and conventional exemptions remain unchanged.
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Germany Employment Law Update
Sick or Not Sick, That is the Question: Employer’s Spying on Employee Found Illegal
In a verdict on February 19th, 2015 (8 AZR 1007/13), the Federal Labour Court in Germany (Bundesarbeitsgericht) decided that the covert observation of an employee by a private investigator is illegal if the employer has no “legitimate reasons” for carrying out such observation.
New Legislation: Germany Introduces Quota for Women in Top-level Management
On March 27th, 2015, the German legislator finally passed the Bill on Equal Participation of Women and Men in Leadership Positions (Gesetz für die gleichberechtigte Teilhabe von Frauen und Männern an Führungspositionen). This Bill attempts, to increase the number of women in top-level management for certain companies.
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Italy Employment Law Update
Recent Developments in Italy: New Decrees Implementing the Jobs Act
On March 6th, 2015, the Italian Parliament conclusively approved a legislative decree concerning permanent employment agreements (“a tempo indeterminate”), which provides additional protective measures (“tutele crescenti”) according to the employee’s seniority. On the same day, the Council of Ministers also approved, on a preliminary basis (“in esame preliminare”): (i) a legislative decree which envisages a simplified summary of the employment agreements forms and the revision of employees’ duties; and (ii) a legislative decree focused on day-life and working times.
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Russia Employment Law Update
Personnel Leasing to be Prohibited in Russia Beginning January 1st, 2016
Russian companies and international companies doing business in Russia frequently use the services of personnel leasing agencies or contractors. The agency enters into an employment agreement with employees and then provides the employees to a client company for an agreed period. Normally the employees work on the client’s premises as if they were actually employed by the client. Such arrangements have been used for many years in Russia but they have no basis whatsoever in Russian law.
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UK Employment Law Update
The Long Arm of the British Employment Tribunal
A recent UK case has seen the Employment Tribunal take the unusual step of reaching into Australia and granting one of its residents the right to claim unfair dismissal in the UK.
The individual in question worked exclusively in Australia, having relocated voluntarily (for family reasons) from the UK, was subject to the Australian tax and pensions regimes (paying no British taxes at all), and came back to London to work perhaps once or twice a year for short duration. Yet because that employee was employed by two British organizations, she was found to have employment rights in the UK.
Everyone Benefits
We face two quite significant changes in the law in the UK in relation to employees in 2015.
The first is the introduction of Shared Parental Leave (SPL). This comes into effect for babies born in April this year and puts in place a system to encourage men to take an active role in caring for their child in the first year of its life.
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United States Employment Law Update
Obama Proposes Legislation That Would Broaden the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and End a Circuit Split
As part of his cybersecurity and privacy initiatives, President Obama proposed new legislation in January that would strengthen the federal anti-hacking provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). In particular, the bill would create federal civil and criminal liability for employees who steal their employers’ trade secrets through the use of the employer’s computer systems. Importantly, the law would resolve a circuit split between the First, Fifth, Eighth, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuits, on the one hand, and the Ninth and Fourth Circuits, on the other.
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