On 31 May 2023, the German Federal Labour (Bundesarbeitsgericht) rejected the claim of a German agency worker. It confirmed that the German collective labour agreement aligns with the EU Directive on temporary agency work.
It follows the preliminary ruling of the European Court of Justice of 22 December 2022 case C-311/21.
A Beijing court ruling ordered an employer to compensate an employee for sending WeChat work messages after working hours.
This recent lawsuit, related to working overtime through the use of WeChat, opened a great discussion in China.
It is an important reminder that to establish a system of non-fixed working hours for an employee, the local labour administration requires written authorization.
On 15 May 2023, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted preliminary proposal approval for one of the largest discrimination settlements in US history.
The lawsuit accuses Goldman of hindering women's career advancement, as the company's performance appraisal process allegedly favored men with promotions and higher salaries.
Goldman Sachs will pay $215 million to settle the class action lawsuit, covering approximately 2,800 females.
On 13 April 2023, the Labour Court of San José stated that an employment relationship existed between Uber and a driver who provided his services for Uber from February 2017 to December 2022.
Uber has to pay the driver the corresponding sums for vacations, Christmas bonuses, and social security during employment.
The judge rejected the driver's claim on the right to overtime compensation, as Uber did not impose the hours, which were decided by the driver.
Last March, the South Australian district court rendered the first decision under Australia's whistleblowing laws, stating that a former civil servant could not be protected for alleged wrongdoing while collecting evidence to support his revelations about the Australian Taxation Office's unethical and aggressive pursuit of debts.
The judgment that caused considerable debate in the country is based on the Court's narrow interpretation of the scope of whistleblower protections, which would apply only to whistleblowing and not to the preceding preparatory conduct.
On 17 March 2023, the Irish Labour Court overturned a €7,500 award to a former Aldi employee dismissed for gross misconduct, as he had taken products without paying for them from the employer's store on seven different dates from 25 November 2020 to 14 January 2021.
On 24 March 2023, the long-awaited decision in the Deliveroo case in the Netherlands was published, upholding an earlier decision by the Amsterdam Court of Appeal that Deliveroo riders qualify as employees.
The Supreme Court confirmed that between Deliveroo and its riders, there is not an agreement for services but an employment agreement.
On 14 February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights clarified the criteria for assessing whether disclosure of confidential information obtained in the workplace is protected by freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
It stated that the State that convicts a former employee of an auditing firm for disclosing confidential information obtained in the workplace violates Article 10 of the ECHR on freedom of expression if that information is of particular interest to the public.