On 2 November 2023, the Norwegian Supreme Court stated that offshore workers’ so-called “available time” - when the employee is available for the employer - pursuant to their CBA does not correspond to “working hours” under the Working Environment Act (“WEA”).
On 19 October 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union, in Case C-660/20, stressed that only objective reasons can justify treating part-time and full-time workers differently.
The Court ruled that domestic legislation that requires part-time employees to work an extra number of hours equal to that required of full-time employees to obtain a pay supplement is contrary to EU law.
That provision is discriminatory as it unfavourably treats part-time employees, who must perform more extra hours of service than their full-time colleagues to receive the same additional remuneration.
Amazon recently launched a new term-time contract to boost employees' flexibility, offering parents, grandparents, and guardians of school-age children the choice to work term-time only. The contract guarantees employees’ time off during the summer, Easter and Christmas holidays to spend more time with their children.
Amazon also announced a new flexible part-time contract introduced following employee feedback.
Sodexo is launching a new employee benefits programme, Vita by Sodexo, to retain talent and avoid resignations.
It provides all its eligible employees across the globe with a minimum benefits package of Parental and Care Leave, Life Insurance Benefits, and an Assistance phone line.
The programme will apply to Sodexo employees in the 53 countries where the company operates, although the platform providing the benefits will be introduced gradually.
Since December 2022, employees in Viseo can define their place of work, either face-to-face or remotely (at VISEO or clients' premises), according to their operational and personal constraints, without any imposed limit of days.
Ford Motor Company has launched the JobShare Connect app in Europe to help employees find potential partners for job shares.
Employees now have the opportunity to find someone to share their job with – either internally or externally – by using a web-based matchmaking tool, creating a profile, searching for suitable colleagues, and then contacting potential partners.
President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has issued the Federal Decree - Law No.33 of 2021 - on the regulation of labour relations in the private sector.
It repeals Federal Labour Law No. 8 of 1980 and will take effect from 2 February 2022.
Social partners requested the government to extend the short-term working allowance scheme until the end of 2020.
They also suggested that businesses paying the wage differences between short-term and normal wages should be provided more incentives and exemption of income tax