Equality between men and women has been declared in France a “great national cause” of Emmanuel Macron’s Presidency in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
In March 2018, the French government unveiled an action plan for gender equality in the workplace consisting of ten measures aiming at reducing the gender pay gap and five measures to fight sexual and gender based violence. READ MORE
Further to the reclassification of the service agreement between an independent deliveryman and Deliveroo, ordered by a Spanish lower Court, French jurisdictions recently shifted position, considering that several independent workers should be deemed employees of the platform that they were working for. READ MORE
In June 2017, the French government unveiled its plan to renew French social model, such program includes notably reforming employment law, French pension and unemployment insurance systems.
As a first step of this comprehensive reform strategy, five ordinances reforming French labor laws were adopted on 22 September 2017 and issued on 23 September 2017 (the Reform).
Unless specifically provided otherwise, the measures introduced by the Reform will enter into force on the day after the publication of the required implementation decrees (expected as from end of October 2017 onwards), and at the latest on 1 January 2018. By exception, certain measures are applicable since publication of the ordinances (e.g. regarding dismissals, temporary work and teleworking). In addition, transitional arrangements may allow existing employee representation to remain in place for the duration of the current mandate but until no later than 31 December 2019. READ MORE
The French government has presented before Parliament the “El Khomri” bill which, if passed, should modify a significant part of the employment law framework in France.
Among various provisions, the bill mentions the right, for the employees, to disconnect.
Indeed article 25 of the bill states that the employer has to regulate the employees’ use of digital tools in order to protect their private and family life as well as resting periods.
More specifically, it is provided that the terms and conditions related to the right to disconnect are part of the topics which must be discussed on an annual basis between the employer and the employees’ representatives, during the mandatory negotiations related to the quality of work life. The purpose of it is to ensure the respect of rest time provisions and minimum leave.
This does not entail an absolute obligation to stop all email exchanges during weekends or out of working hours. Instead, it should help employers defining new rules within the company in order to achieve a good work/private life balance.
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.
You know how you wait for ages for a bus to come (well, we do in Europe) and then three come along at once? Well it’s a little like that in the data privacy arena right now, as far as transfer of international personal data is concerned, anyhow. For years, there has been a reasonably steady and fairly consistent position from the various bodies responsible for this complicated and often confusing area of law, but in the last few weeks we have been hit with a significant change overnight and we are all left wondering where to get off.
Welcome to the Winter 2013 edition of Orrick World: A Quarterly Report of Global Employment Law Issues for Multinationals. We have designed this newsletter to provide our multinational clients with quarterly updates on important employment law issues across the globe.
