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No sparklers in new employment law regulatory bonfire proposals (UK)

Of course it could just be coincidence, but scarcely hours after my post last week concerning the dearth of the employment law candidates for the Brexit red-tape bonfire, out pops a Gov.uk policy paper on “Smarter Regulation to Grow the Economy” containing the first five suggested victims. And what a woeful little bunch they are, … Continue Reading

Common sense briefly prevails in UK’s “taking back control of our laws” debate

Things have surely come to a pretty pass when it is front page news twice in two weeks that the Government has decided not to press on with doing something daft.  First, the abandonment of smart motorways and last week, reports that the Government has backed away from its original proposal to wipe all EU-sourced … Continue Reading

Knew this would happen – entirely predictable problems with new working patterns Bill (UK)

Last week the government voiced its support for the new Workers (Predictable Terms and Conditions) Bill, the endeavour of MP Scott Benton to combat “one-sided flexibility”, where “workers are on stand-by for work which never comes”, it says in the BEIS press release.  This is a belated by-product of the Taylor Good Work Report in … Continue Reading

UAE: what next in working week changes

The UAE authorities announced late last year that in Federal Government departments from 1 January 2022 the working week would be reduced to four and a half days, with the weekend running from Friday afternoon to Sunday night. The authorities also confirmed that all schools and universities would operate from Monday to Friday on the … Continue Reading

Belgium takes first steps towards improved work-life balance in new Labour Deal

After the federal majority parties failed to conclude an agreement on Friday on a series of labour market reforms, they finally broke the deadlock overnight on Monday this week. In an early fail on the work:life balance front, the new measures were unveiled at a presumably sparsely-attended press conference at 2.30am. Bleary-eyed Ministers praised the … Continue Reading

Department of Labor Updates (Yet Again) Its Rules on Paying Tipped Workers (US)

On October 28, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its Final Rule on tipped wages. As Presidential administrations have changed through the years, so too has the DOL’s view regarding the circumstances under which employers can pay tipped workers less than the federal minimum wage. [See this 2019 post for the immediately prior … Continue Reading

Proposed right to disconnect lacks joined-up thinking (UK)

BBC News Online reported last week a call by trade union Prospect for the Government to legislate to “ban out of hours emails from bosses” or, beneath the headline, to “ban bosses from routinely emailing or calling outside set working hours“.  This looks like the proposed introduction into English law of the “right to disconnect” … Continue Reading

Belgium: paid time off takes pain out of employee vaccinations

In order to ensure that as many people as possible are vaccinated, the trade unions and the employers’ organisations in the National Labour Council have agreed that employees will be allowed to take the necessary time off to be vaccinated. If enough vaccines are available, at-risk patients will be vaccinated from April onwards and the … Continue Reading

Proposals to amend working time protections denied – “public unconvinced” shock (UK)

On Friday last week the Financial Times reported on proposals from the Business Department to “rip up worker protections” under the current Working Time Regulations.  But simultaneously on BBC News online, look, it’s the Business Secretary himself denying on twitter any notion that his department is planning to dilute UK workers’ rights.  The very idea. … Continue Reading

Wardrobe Malfunctions, Zoombombing, and Other Torrid Tales from the Home Front (US)

With more of us working from home than ever during the COVID-19 public health crisis, employers and employees face unique challenges. Videoconferences have replaced in-person meetings, and our pets, kids, and partners are now our temporary “coworkers.” From the occasional mild annoyances, like barking dogs and ringing doorbells, to the truly humiliating examples trending on … Continue Reading

WEBINAR 16 March 2020: Addressing Coronavirus Practically and Legally: What US Employers Need to Know

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), commonly known as the “coronavirus,” is now impacting employers all across the US.  Every organization should have a plan of action in place concerning the coronavirus as the threat of an outbreak at your workplace cannot be ignored. Please join us for a live webinar on Monday, March 16, 2020 … Continue Reading

Belgian social partners reach agreement on employment conditions for the next two years. Or do they?

Group of 10 reaches agreement on employment conditions In the very early morning of 26 February, the Belgian social partners in the so-called Group of 10 (the main representatives of employers’ federations and trade unions) reached the bones of an agreement on employment conditions for 2019-2020. In this draft agreement, the margin for increases in … Continue Reading

Sleepovers and the NMW – clarity at last for the UK care sector

The Court of Appeal handed down its much anticipated judgment on Friday last week in the joined cases of Royal Mencap v Thompson Blake and John Shannon v Jakishan and Prithee Rampersad (t/a Clifton House Residential Home). The decision provides much-needed clarity on whether workers are entitled to the national minimum wage for each hour during … Continue Reading

Federal Court Clarifies When Employers Must Pay Employees For Pre- or Post-Shift Activities

A federal court recently provided guidance on an issue that still vexes some employers, i.e., when they must pay employees for time spent on tasks immediately before or after a shift. Many employers require employees to take certain steps immediately before or after they start their actual shifts. For example, an employer might require an … Continue Reading

The form labor agreement that’s making headlines in Japan

Last week, Japanese newspapers reported that a national medical research center in the suburbs of Osaka had entered into a so-called “36 agreement” with its doctors and nurses in 2012, allowing these employees to work up to 300 hours of overtime per month and up to 2,070 hours of overtime per year. (To be clear, … Continue Reading

New Acas guidance on holiday pay and accrual during sickness

The Acas National Newsletter for June, out earlier this week, contains some slightly updated advice on the eternal question of how you calculate holiday pay, plus an existential poser on the relationship between sickness and holiday accrual. On the holiday pay front, there remains no steer as to how commission or overtime earnings should be … Continue Reading

NLRB Will Not Hack Into Prior Decision Regarding Employee Email Use During Non-Work Time

Network security and protection of confidential information are among the reasons many companies place limits on how and when employees may use company-provided email.  However, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB or Board) has largely ignored if not outright rejected these legitimate concerns, finding that under certain circumstances, they are outweighed by employees’ right to … Continue Reading

A cynic’s guide to the draft Gender Pay Gap Regulations

So here they are, out yesterday, a strange parallel universe where months last 30.44 days and years 365.25, and where you don’t include pay for periods of leave except when you do. In past blogs here we have criticised Government Regulations and statutory Guidance as too vague, leaving employers unclear whether they are caught by … Continue Reading
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