On 10 August 2021, Colombia issued Law n. 2141, establishing the paternity protection against dismissal and amending Article 239 and 240 of the Colombian Labour Code.
Law 2121, enacted on 3 August 2021, is the first Law in Colombia regarding remote work.
On 9 September 2021, the Labour Appeal Court of South Africa, Johannesburg, rules over fairness of dismissal of employees embarking on an unprotected strike.
The decision is based on the serious and dangerous circumstances of the strike.
The Court of Appeal reformed the decision of the Labour Court (Lagrange J) delivered on 17 September 2019, which had found the dismissal of the respondent employees to be substantively unfair and ordered their reinstatement.
Instead, the sanction of dismissal, according to the Court of Appeal, was fair, given the circumstances of the case and considering their decision to embark on an unprotected strike action at a critical business period and their persistent refusal, without bona fide reason provided, to comply with the ultimatum.
The New Zealand Employment Relations Authority has recently ruled that the Customs Service acted reasonably in dismissing an employee who refused to be vaccinated against covid-19.
On 1 October 2021, the Employment Relations Authority declined to grant interim reinstatement to four employees dismissed because employer considered their roles were covered by the Public Health Response (Vaccinations) Order 2021, but they refused to be vaccinated.
Employment law amendment cover minimum wage, working hours, protections for employees against wrongful disciplinary actions, new penalties for failure to adequately handle workplace harassment, new claim procedure and remedies for gender-discrimination and sexual-harassment claims, use of childcare leave during pregnancy and right to request working-hours adjustment during pregnancy.
These measures will go into effect later in 2021 and 2022.
On 19 June 2021, Government Gazette A’ 101 publish the Law 4808/2021 (), which introduces crucial reforms on individual employment relationships in compliance with ILO Conventions 190 and 187, and transposes Directive (EU) 2019/1158.
According to some Italian Court, the employer can suspend an employee from work and pay, based on the judgment, by the competent doctor, of her temporary unfitness due to refusal to undergo the vaccine Covid, or if the vaccinations she refused are an essential requirement for exercising the profession.
According to the Trento Labour Court, it is lawful to dismissal of an employee, who repeatedly refuses to wear a face mask in the workplace.
The German Federal Labour Court (No. 9 AZR 102/201, 1 December 2020) re-classified the crowdworker as an employee
It determined also that for remuneration purposes, the company shall not be bound by pre-established fees that the worker received as a self-employed worker.