Taylor-made solutions for UK employment law?

A major, independent review of UK employment law, commissioned by the prime minister in October 2016, has published its long awaited report – the “Review of Modern Working Practices”, chaired by Matthew Taylor. Media coverage has focused on its implications for the “gig economy”, but the recommendations – if carried forward into legislation – will have profound implications for all employers in the UK. This…

Germany: Pay Transparency Act - Does it work?

  Germany has introduced the Pay Transparency Act which came into force on 6 July. The Act is intended to reduce the gender pay gap, but whether it turns out to be a “bureaucratic monster” as some predict, or a “breakthrough for fair pay for women”, as the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth is calling it, remains to be seen….

Luxembourg: New obligations on record of working time

The legislator has recently changed article L. 211-29 of the Labour Code regarding keeping a special record of working time. The new article now stipulates the obligation for any employer to add to “a special record or file the start time, end time and hours worked each day”, as well as the usual information required, namely: any extensions to normal working hours, hours worked on…

Italy: New law on smart working

The Italian Law on Smart Working provides for increased flexibility to ensure a better work-life balance for employees, as well as increasing employers’ competitiveness. It defines ‘smart working’ as an agreement between the parties „with no precise constraints in terms of working hours or workplace and with the possible use of technology to enable the work to be performed. The work is carried out partly…

U.S.A.: New statutes in Florida for ride-sharing industry

Florida lawmakers recently addressed the issue of how to classify transportation workers by enacting a law (Florida Statute § 627.748) that will permit transportation network companies (TNCs) (commonly referred to as ‘ride sharing’ companies) to classify their drivers as independent contractors under Florida law if they meet the law’s requirements. The new law could have a significant impact on ride-sharing companies and their drivers, because…

Russia: double burden data protection

The GDPR applies to the entities having establishments within the EU, as well as to those that do not have a physical presence in the EU where their processing activities, either as a data controller or processor, are related to the ofering of goods or services to data subjects in the EU, or to the monitoring of data subjects’ behaviour taking place within the EU….

Mexico: New labour courts

In Mexico, a new labour law came into force at the end of February 2017, which will transform the labour court system and procedures. The Federal Congress and State Legislatures now have a transitional period lasting until February 2018 to make the necessary legal adjustments to implement the changes. All types of labour and employment disputes used to be dealt with by the labour boards,…

Sweden: Midwife case now at European Court of Human Rights

  In 2014 a midwife sued the County Council of Jönköping for discrimination. It had refused to give her work in three different clinics after she told it that she would not carry out abortions on grounds of her Christian beliefs. The clinics said that their reluctance to employ her was not based on her faith but because she did not intend to carry out…

Belgium: Shareholders' right directive

The Directive amends the so-called Shareholders’ Rights Directive (EU Directive 2007/36 as regards the encouragement of long-term shareholder engagement). The stated objective is to overcome certain corporate governance shortcomings in European listed companies and to promote the long-term engagement of shareholders. The Directive deals with a wide range of corporate law and governance issues, such as identifying shareholders, providing information about shareholders, facilitating voting, making…

Belgium: Employment law review

Belgium has introduced some new legislation on agile and flexi-working as well as wage moderation. Below you will find the most important aspects. Agile and Flexi-working The long-awaited Act on agile and flexible work was published on 15 March 2017 and it provides a legal framework that meets employers’ requests for more flexibility in the organisation of work and working time while it is also…