On 20 September 2021, the Indian Federation of App-based Transport Workers (IFAT) filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) before the Indian Supreme Court seeking to classify gig workers as ‘wage workers’ with better social security and employment benefits.
The petition demands that gig workers be declared as unorganised workers and be entitled to social security benefits under the Unorganised Workers Act 2008, that provides social security and welfare to unorganized workers with no employment contracts.
On 16 September 2021, the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report on “Fair working conditions, rights and social protection for platform workers — New forms of employment linked to digital development.”
The report highlights the legal uncertainty around the term ‘worker’ and ‘self-employed’ and calls for a reversal of the burden of proof for workers claiming employment status, pleading for a minimum set of rights for platform workers regardless of their employment status.
The research report has been produced in the context of a project entitled ‘The definition of worker in the platform economy’ (CES/FSA/09/2020) commissioned by the workers’ group of the European Economic and Social Committee.
The final report aims to contribute to the debate on platform workers’ risk and regulatory solutions.
New Ways of Working is a new comparative reference tool developed by International Employment Lawyer,providing information on key employment and compliance topics (such as vaccinations, legislation on remote work and social relations) in 20 countries around the world.
It enables multinational employers to compare different legal systems and their approach to the pandemic and new ways of working that recently developed.
A Swedish and Danish proposal on a ‘social partners option’ to the minimum-wage directive to unblock negotiations while protecting well-functioning collective bargaining systems.
On 5 May 2021, the New York Health and Essential Rights Act (‘NY Hero Act’) was passed, which requires private employers to adopt workplace health and safety measures to protect employees against exposure and infection during a declared airborne disease outbreak.
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.
Law no. 125 of 16 September 2021, converting the Law Decree n. 103/2021, introduced a series of urgent provisions for job protection.
For 2021, ten million euros have been allocated to the activation of services for the professional outplacement of employees of companies that have been placed in bankruptcy proceedings, in extraordinary administration, or of workers who have been placed in redundancy fund for dismissal.
It ensures hourly wages for California’s garment workers in lieu of piece-rate pay, which often amounts to wages well below the state’s $14 minimum wage.
The new law makes California the first state to require hourly wages for garment workers.
On 9 June 2021 Japan promulgated the "Act for Partial Amendments to the Act on Child Care Leave, Family Care Leave, and Other Measures for the Welfare of Workers Caring for Children or Other Family Members and the Employment Insurance Act.
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.
The Council of Ministers agreed to refer to Parliament the approval of two International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions: Convention n. 177, on home work, and Convention 190, on the elimination of violence and harassment in the world of work.
Accession to both conventions means further protection of the labour rights of workers, regardless of where they carry out their professional activity, and respect for fundamental rights in the workplace.
The Bombay High Court issued guidelines for cases under the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act and Rules (POSH Act).
The aim is the preservation of anonymity in sexual harassment cases and to protect the identities of the parties from even accidental disclosure.
On September 2021, the Government released for consultation its proposals (“Making Flexible Working the Default”) for strengthening flexible working rights.
There will be 11.9 million new jobs created from 2020 to 2030 with an overall growth rate of 7.7%, According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
Renewable energy and healthcare are the sectors with the fastest growing jobs, while the declining jobs are mainly in office and administrative support.
The Australian Federal government introduced broad changes to laws relating to casual employment, which included a requirement for employers to offer permanent employment to eligible employees.
As part of these new provisions, by 27 September 2021, employers had to identify all casual employees who have been employed since before 27 March 2021 and assess whether they were eligible for casual conversion.
The Brief focuses on tripartite and bipartite social dialogue initiatives between governments and employers' and workers' organisations at national or sectoral level, which have been instrumental in shaping countries' responses to the crisis from 1 February 2020 to 31 January 2021.
It follows an earlier ILO Research Brief which provided an initial mapping and structured analysis of national social dialogue instances and outcomes aimed to address the impacts of the covid-19 pandemic and to boost the resilience of the world of work, during the first three months of the crisis – the “emergency period” from 15 March to 10 June 2020.
What does the future of work hold and what transformations await us? It is with the aim of answering this question that the Adecco Group in 2020 has carried out the study "Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work".
The survey aims to determine changes in the expectations and attitudes of managers and workers on the future of work.
On 2 September 2021, the Adecco Group released the second edition of the global study, "Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work 2021."
From 6 to 8 September 2021, the World Employment Conference held its first online event with more than 300 participants from all over the world.
More than 70 speakers spoke on the developments transforming labour markets and covered topics such as blockchain, artificial intelligence, career guidance, hybrid workplaces, skilling or diversity and inclusion.
On 25 August 2021, Sierra Leone ratified eight ILO Conventions and one Protocol, bringing to the total number of 44 of ratified instruments on forced labour, domestic workers, safety and health, migrant workers and labour administration.
These nine instruments will enter into force on 25 August 2022.
It was a significant move towards recognizing, promoting and implementing decent work for women and men in the country.
The first two complaints using the RRLM were filed in May of this year. The American Federation of Labour and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) filed a complaint against Tridonex on 10 May 2021 and the United States Trade Representative filed a complaint against General Motors (GM) on 12 May 2021.
On 10 August 2021, the Tridonex case ended with an agreement between the Company and the US Government.
On 17 August 2021, workers at General Motors plant, after an initial vote in April marred by spoiled ballots, voted to scrap their collective contract under the supervision of independent observers to guarantee a fair vote.
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.
Decree 493/21, published in the Official Gazette on 6 August 2021, provides for a benefit of reduction of an employer's social security contributions for the case of new hiring of personnel who participate, or have participated, in Educational, Vocational Training or Labour Intermediation Programs of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security.
The decree became effective on 1 September 2021, applying to labour relationships that begin during the following 12 months.
On 2 September 2021, Australian Parliament approved the Bill, introducing changes to the Fair Work Act (FW Act), the Sex Discrimination Act (SD Act) and the Australian Human Rights Commission Act, which seeks to give effect to some of the key recommendations of the landmark Respect@Work Report in relation to workplace sexual harassment.
The Bill expands the scope of existing sexual harassment prohibitions in Australia, promotes clarity for employers and workers and reduces procedural barriers for sexual harassment complaints.
On 28 June 2021, the Labour Court of Appeal in Antwerp ruled that a candidate who was discriminated against on the grounds of both her disability and pregnancy during the recruitment process was entitled to two cumulative compensation awards.
The decision stated for the first time that the violation of several criteria may give rise to multiple compensation awards.
On 19 August 2021, the European Court of Human Rights received a request for interim measures from 672 members of the French fire service to suspend the requirement to be vaccinated as set out in section 12 of the French Law of 5 August 2021.
On 24 August 2021, the Court rejected the requests.
In the same way, on 7 September 2021, the Court refused requests for interim measures submitted in two applications lodged against Greece concerning the compulsory vaccination of health-sector professionals against Covid-19.
On 15 July 2021, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) stated that the provision on the application of the minimum wages of the country in which the work is habitually carried out cannot be waived, regardless of the existence of a transnational posting.
The decision delimits the perimeter within which the parties to an employment contract can freely choose the law to be applied.
On 29 July 2021, the U.S. Department of Labour announced a final rule to rescind the previous on, “Joint Employer Status under the Fair Labour Standards Act” (FLSA), that took effect in March 2020.
Rescinding that rule on assessing who can be jointly liable as an employer will increase the risk of liability when using independent contractors.
The final rule becomes effective on 28 September 2021.
Talenteum is a Pan African platform designed to help companies source and employ remote-working teams, mainly in Africa.
It is the first social bridging platform matching and recruiting talent on behalf of its clients or customers, offering services that communities and partners may require.
It handles local employment compliance, payroll, human resource support, and benefits for international teams, enabling clients to productively hire and manage full-time personnel internationally.
Employers Confederation of Philippines (ECOP)’s 42nd National Conference of Employers, launches “REFORM. REBOUND. RECOVER: ONE MILLION JOBS FOR 2021” (1MJ Project).
ECOP partnered with key government agencies and business and employer groups to implement this project.
Aside from creating new jobs, the private sector has vowed to help the government in the vaccination program by inoculating its own employees.
G20 Labour Ministerial meeting took place in Sicily on 23 June 2021 and focused on three main areas: more, better, and equally paid jobs for women; social protection systems in a changing world of work; and working patterns, business organisation and production process in the digitalisation era.
The B20, the Business at OECD (BIAC) and the IOE have published a joint paper calling on G20 leaders to promote and facilitate access to trade finance to boost the economic recovery post COVID19 pandemic.
Many EU Member States such as Estonia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain, have yet to publish a draft legislation to implement the EU Whistleblowing Directive
A minority of Member States have progressed with implementation including the Czech Republic, Finland, Netherlands, Romania and Sweden, with some differences in their approach
Member States must implement the Whistleblowing Directive by 17 December 2021.
A legal framework for telework does not exist in Morocco yet.
The General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises (Confederation Générale des Entreprises du Maroc, CGEM) announced to have finalised a draft law on teleworking to be shared with the two most representative trade unions in the private sector.
Once discussed with the unions, the copy will be given to the Minister of Employment to start the dialogue.
The project will support the transition from the informal to the formal economy through tripartite social dialogue in Arab States
The move to formality is a way to increase access to decent work and reduce poverty, foster sustainable and productive enterprises that compete in fair domestic and international markets and increase the power of government.
On 24 July, Law no. 106/2021 was published in the Official Gazette, turning into Law, with amendments, Decree Law no. 73(the so-called Support Decree-bis), which also includes the text of Decree Law no. 99 of 30 June 2021.
art. 41-bis, the legislator has made significant changes to the discipline of the fixed-term contract.
International News
Social Dialogue
Labour Laws and Regulations
Court Decisions
Policy Responses and Strategies
Private Sector Contribution