On 10 October 2023, Barilla, Italian excellence in the production of food products, announced the adoption of a new maternity and paternity leave policy, which will be implemented from 1 January 2024 worldwide.
The policy will guarantee 12 weeks of fully paid leave for each parent, regardless of gender, marital status, and sexual orientation.
On 3 October 2023, Axa announced its new 'We Care' programme, a long-term project to create an inclusive and supportive corporate culture that is attentive to the health and well-being of employees.
It will apply to all of Axa's more than 110,000 employees worldwide across 51 countries.
There is a growing trend that implies that mental health be discussed alongside labour and employment regulation.
In Mexico, for example, the secretary/department of labour is competent to perform audits on working conditions and fine employers when the mental stability or mental health of employees is compromised by certain situations. Furthermore, employers with more than 50 employees are required to perform tests regarding employment conditions and their impact on the mental stability of employees (known as NOM 035). This trend has several implications, only two of which we will touch upon.
On 1 December 2022, Teleperformance and UNI Global Union signed a global agreement with commitments on freedom of association, health and safety, content moderation, and positive relations.
The agreement covers the company’s 440,000 employees in 88 countries worldwide.
The National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) has released advice on mental health and well-being in the heavy vehicle transport industry.
It is relevant for all parties in the chain of responsibility (CoR), especially employers, and outlines practical steps to increase awareness of these and create a mentally healthy workplace.
In a new report, Adecco, in collaboration with Ius Laboris, analysed the wages of Adecco associates from 17 countries compared to national minimum wages.
It shows that agency work can be a model for the flexibility workers and businesses look for in this digital age of rapid economic change, allowing agency workers to make a decent living.
The paper also looks into the concept of wage and wage setting more generally in these times of inflation.
On 8 December 2022, Eurofound published a new report on telework during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
It analyses changes in working conditions experienced by employees and regulations, addressing issues related to this working arrangement, shaping the future of remote working, and identifying challenges and opportunities for the future.
The report analyses how employers promote health and wellbeing at work in ten countries, including G7 countries and OECD countries in the Asia/Pacific region (Australia, Korea and New Zealand), including regulation, financial incentives, guidelines, and certification and award schemes.