Following the request from the Irish Minister for Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) adopted a Code of Practice on the Right to Request Flexible Working and Remote Working, as per the Workplace Relations Act 2015 and the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2023.
WRC consulted with various stakeholders, including trade unions, employer representative bodies, and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, aiming to provide a practical guide for employers and employees on implementing flexible and remote working arrangements, fostering a more inclusive, adaptable, and satisfying work environment.
The Labour Advisory Board (LAB) in Hong Kong has agreed to relax the "418" requirement, using aggregate working hours of four weeks with a 68-hour threshold.
This review is part of the labour support initiatives from the Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address.
The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) has published the first median gender pay gaps for Australian private sector employers, reflecting the Albanese Government's commitment to remedying inequities in the labour market.
Employers in the public and private sectors who leverage computer programmes and cloud-based services to manage employee emails are now restricted to retaining the metadata of these emails for a maximum of seven days. An extension of up to 48 hours may be granted in cases of proven necessity.
It poses potential challenges for companies in terms of compliance and operational flexibility.
ILO recently published a new report that offers valuable insights into how advanced artificial intelligence (AI), exemplified by GPT-4, compares with human judgment in evaluating occupational roles within the UK labour market.
It explores the perceptions and attitudes of workers towards integrating AI technologies like GPT-4 into their professional environments and forecasts potential shifts in the labour market influenced by the adoption of AI technologies.
Law N°21.645, published on 29 December 2023, amended the Labour Code to strengthen maternity, paternity, and family life protections. It introduces a new regime for remote work and telecommuting under specific conditions.
On 26 January 2024, the National Director of Labour issued Dictamen N°67/1, providing legal interpretation and guidance on the law.
The survey results were compiled in an interesting article published in the Singapore Labour Journal.
The report provides information on the opportunities and challenges of a four-day working week, highlighting potential trade-offs that could be adopted in different industries in Singapore.
On 10 January 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor published a final rule on employee or independent contractor status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
It amends the Regulation for the Constitution, Organization, and Operation of the Bipartite OHS Committees of 2017, aiming to adapt companies to new technological realities, strengthen the prevention of occupational risks, and promote a safe environment.
On 30 October 2023, President Biden issued an executive order on the safe, secure, and trustworthy development and deployment of artificial intelligence (AI), aiming to set out general standards governing the use and development of AI across industries.
It stresses the importance of using AI safely and responsibly and advancing a coordinated, Federal Government-wide approach.
It aims to help employers comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018) and provides practical advice.
In April 2023, the Dutch Cabinet proposed a bill (Clarification of the Evaluation of Employment Relationships and the Legal Presumption) to clarify the legal assessment of employment relationships (when work must be performed as an employee and when it can be performed as a self-employed person).
On 6 October 2023, the Minister of Social Affairs and Labour opened the internet consultation on the legislative Proposal. During this time, interested parties were invited to comment and propose amendments. The consultation ended on 10 November 2023.
The Proposal is expected to enter into force on 1 July 2025.
On 15 September 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection amended the rules governing the city's Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (ESSTA), which requires employers to provide safe and sick leave to eligible employees working in New York City in an amount depending on employer size.
The new rules provide essential clarifications and guidelines to comply with the Act, including how to determine the employer's size and count remote workers in light of increasing digitisation.
The Ontario Workplace Safety and Insurance Board ("WSIB") amended its injury reporting policy to align it with the legislative requirements of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997 ("WSIA").
The updated policy applies to all decisions for all accidents occurring on or after 29 September 2023.
On 9 May 2023, the Minister of Manpower ("MoM") issued Decree No. 88 of 2023 on Guidelines for the Prevention of and Response to Sexual Harassment in the Workplace, updating the previous guidelines in force since 2011 (MOM Decree No. SE.03/MEN/IV/2011).
The Guidelines identify actions employers should take to prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace effectively.
The objective is to support employers in fulfilling their positive duty to eliminate sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and conduct that creates a hostile work environment because of sex and related acts of victimisation in the workplace.
The Canadian government announced the launch of the new Recognised Employer Pilot (REP) programme in September 2023 to ease administrative burdens for Canadian companies to hire foreign workers for specific roles.
It will provide employers with simpler and more predictable access to labour and more flexibility for the labour market.
NOM-037 states the health and safety conditions for employees teleworking across Mexico to prevent accidents and illnesses, as well as to promote a safe and healthy working environment.
It will enter into force 180 calendar days after its publication.
It provides employers with information on assessing the potential adverse impact of artificial intelligence-based selection procedures on protected groups.
On 17 April 2023, UK Government published “Positive action in the workplace: guidance for employers,” explaining how employers can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome specific barriers with positive actions without unfairly disadvantaging other groups as this could amount to an unlawful ‘positive discrimination.’
It covers all protected characteristics, including sex, sexual orientation, age, and ethnicity.
It is a part of the ongoing government’s inclusive strategy to support employers in creating opportunities for underrepresented groups within their workforce.
On 1 May 2023, the U.S. Department of Labour announced that its Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a new National Emphasis Program (NEP) to reduce or eliminate injuries and fatalities associated with falls while working at heights in all industries.
The NEP became effective immediately, and it applies to all industries.
It aims to achieve its goals through enforcement (including hazard-based inspection targeting and optional locally-generated programmed targeting in construction), outreach to employers, and compliance assistance.
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 30 October 2022, the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China adopted the revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests.
Initially passed in 1992, the updated legislation came into force on 1 January 2023.
On 13 January 2023, Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administration implemented the revised Law regulating the administrative punishments from human resources and social security departments in the new "Punishment Benchmark Table."
It has significantly increased the punishment for employers' gender discrimination compared to 2022.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB ) recently held, in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58, that an employer violates Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) with severance agreements containing overly broad non-disparagement and confidentiality of agreement clauses with employees.
The decision states that offering employees such kind of agreement restricts their ability to exercise their rights to self-organisation, join labour organizations, and engage in "other concerted activities" to improve the workplace.
On 23 March 2023, the NLRB General Counsel issued a memorandum (Memorandum GC 23-05) to guide the issue, taking an expansive view of the decision.
On 23 February 2023, the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency reported that the national gender pay gap has dropped to 13.3% and, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), women earn, on average, 87 cents for every $1 made by a man.
The Minister of Employment and Labour, effective from 1 March 2023, increased the minimum earnings threshold of ZAR 241110.59 per annum and the national minimum wage of ZAR 25.42 per hour worked.
They increased, respectively, by 7.6 and 9.6 per cent.
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.
On February 2023, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a report assessing the framework for the impact evaluation of active labour market policies (ALMPs) in Finland.
It covers the whole cycle of evidence-based policymaking from strategy and planning of evaluations, resources, data collection, and evaluation methodologies to disseminating evidence and uses in policymaking.
A technical report accompanies the report on evaluation results.
The Israeli Privacy Protection Authority presented its draft guidance on the privacy aspects of monitoring remote work, offering clarifications and recommendations for the conduct of organisations on this issue.
The Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation issued Ministerial Resolution No. 657, setting out that workplace injuries and illnesses must now be reported in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The resolution sets out the means and obligations of employers to report work-related illnesses and injuries and avoid disciplinary action to ensure workers' safety.
On November 2022, the Federation of Uganda Employers, in partnership with the ILO, launched a new Report that looked at the impact of Covid -19 on Ugandan workplaces.
The research study, based on a survey that covered a wide crosssection of enterprises in many sectors, aimed to understand better the effects of Covid and the plans of enterprises.
It shows that many enterprises have had to significantly alter their operations and production processes, human resource strategies, work modalities, and many other aspects of their enterprises, but also that Covid-19 created a range of new opportunities and challenges for the human resources side of a business.
On 28 November 2022 was published the long-awaited decree of the Minister of Labour, in agreement with the Ministers for Equal Opportunities and for the Economy and Finance, which defines the criteria and modalities for the use of the contribution exemption for private employers who obtain gender equality certification.
The exemption applies only to private companies that have achieved gender equality certification, while public administrations are expressly excluded.
In 2021, the Institute of Directors (IoD) in Ireland and the Diligent Institute conducted the first research to understand how boards address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues and integrate ESG-related risks and opportunities into their strategies.
In 2022 followed, a second research initiative, described in the 2022 report launched last November, covers the importance of ESG, including board oversight and structure, strategy, risk, and boardroom practices, skills, and EU legislation.
On 19 September 2022, during the Singapore Workplace Safety and Health Conference, Dr Tan See Leng, Minister for Manpower, announced the adoption of a Code Of Practice (COP) that clarifies the organisational systems and culture to be implemented by directors of all companies to be compliant with the Workplace Safety and Health Act 2006.
It aims to strengthen ownership of companies’ Chief Executives’ and Board of Directors' workplace safety and health roles and duties.
It had been gazetted with effect from 31 October 2022.
On 28 September 2022, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed into law Act No. 82-2022, that amended Act No. 17-1988 (“Law to Prohibit Sexual Harassment in the Workplace”) and requires employers to implement a protocol to manage sexual harassment incidents in the workplace.
On 8 November 2022, the Puerto Rico Department of Labour (PRDOL) published the Model Protocol that employers have to adapt to investigate sexual harassment allegations.
On 26 August 2022, the Portuguese government released plans to introduce a new digital nomad visa to encourage remote workers to live and work in the country.
This temporary renewable visa, which can be obtained from 30 October 2022, is available to individuals earning at least four times the national minimum wage (the current minimum monthly income is €705 but is increasing to €750 in 2023), that provides a work contract or proof that they are self-employed.
Policy Responses and Strategies
International News
Social Dialogue
Labour Laws and Regulations
Court Decisions
Private Sector Contribution