One of the most thought-provoking discussions at the recent International Employment Lawyer (IEL) Global Summit in New York was Two Worlds of Work: Global Trends vs US Direction of Travel, a session that explored an increasingly pressing challenge for multinational organisations – how to maintain a coherent workforce strategy when employment laws are moving in … Continue Reading
For years, the UK and US have approached whistleblowing from slightly different starting points. The UK’s regime has primarily focused on preventing those who speak up from being subject to any detriment for having done so. The US has gone a step further, using financial incentives to encourage whistleblowers to bring information directly to regulators. … Continue Reading
Under Belgium’s Private Investigations Act (the “PIA”), an employer may only investigate its employees if the detailed rules governing such investigations are laid down expressly and transparently in a set of internal regulations. Employers were given a transitional period of two years from the PIA’s entry into force to put these regulations in place. That … Continue Reading
In part one of this series, we established that the scope of the Private Investigations Act (the “PIA”) is considerably broader than one might assume: if you carry out a workplace investigation internally within a company, you are in principle caught by the stringent provisions of the PIA. In this blog, we zoom in on … Continue Reading
On 16 December 2024, Belgium’s Private Investigations Act (the “PIA”) entered into force, replacing the Private Detectives Act of 1991. While this may sound like news for the detective industry only, the scope of the PIA is considerably wider. In fact, the most significant innovation in the PIA does not concern private detectives at all, … Continue Reading
Most readers of this blog will be familiar with the concept of “restraint of trade” and the public policy reasons why the law regulates it so closely, namely that individuals should be free to use their skills and earn a living without unnecessary restrictions. The doctrine applies around the world to a greater or a … Continue Reading
Over the summer, the European Commission published some frequently asked questions (FAQs) on the European Pay Transparency Directive. By way of reminder, the Directive had to be transposed into national law by 7 June of this year, but only a few Member States met this deadline. Are the 13 pages of FAQs worth your time? … Continue Reading
Out of the blue last week came a formal consultation in relation to a proposed re-write of the ACAS Code of Practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures, the first major look at it in nearly 20 years. The new Code contains 95 paragraphs to its predecessor’s 47, but just the last six of them usher … Continue Reading
A couple of years ago I read a quite serious piece on whether it was sensible or necessary to say please and thank you when interacting with AI platforms. This was not because Skynet might be a little less inclined to destroy humanity if we all had lovely manners. Instead, ran the argument, if we … Continue Reading
The UK government has launched a consultation on the use of workplace monitoring technologies (WMT), including surveillance tools, algorithmic management systems and AI-enabled decision-making. The consultation forms part of the wider Make Work Pay agenda and seeks views on whether additional regulation is needed to improve transparency, worker engagement and accountability when employers monitor workers. … Continue Reading
When workplace investigations hit the headlines, the risks can escalate quickly. Suddenly, employers are dealing with media attention, social media commentary, employee concerns and potentially serious reputational risk – all while trying to conduct a fair and effective investigation. We were recently privileged to host the International Employment Lawyer’s Workplace Investigations Masterclass, which included three … Continue Reading
When workplace investigations hit the headlines, the risks can escalate quickly. Suddenly, employers are dealing with media attention, social media commentary, employee concerns and potentially serious reputational risk – all while trying to conduct a fair and effective investigation. We were recently privileged to host the International Employment Lawyer’s Workplace Investigations Masterclass, which included three … Continue Reading
The most common themes for grumbling at all the recent employment law events I have attended have been the same: the youth of today; why the UK’s railway infrastructure is seemingly made of chocolate; and the tide of AI-assisted employee grievances. Can’t help you with the first two, sorry, but somebody will have to do … Continue Reading
When workplace investigations hit the headlines, the risks can escalate quickly. Suddenly, employers are dealing with media attention, social media commentary, employee concerns and potentially serious reputational risk – all while trying to conduct a fair and effective investigation. We were recently privileged to host the International Employment Lawyer’s Workplace Investigations Masterclass, which included three … Continue Reading
Based on a Privacy World blog by David Naylor, Robert Lister & Dan Fara, adapted for Employment Law Worldview by David Whincup The UK’s data protection framework continues to evolve following the enactment of the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025. One of the more operationally significant developments for employers is the introduction of a … Continue Reading
Italy recently introduced Decree-Law No.62/2026 which seeks to address three key areas: (i) the definition of “fair wages”; (ii) the restructuring of social security contribution exemptions as part of efforts to boost employment levels; and (iii) the protection of workers engaged through digital platforms. The most significant change is the introduction of a new concept … Continue Reading
We know that with only a few days to go until the Pay Transparency Directive comes into force in Continental Europe, many companies are wondering what is going to happen, bearing in mind that only two EU member states have published final legislation implementing the full provisions of the Directive. Members of our Labour & … Continue Reading
By: Marga Caproni, Chelsea Gunning, Lisa Shannon, Annette Demmel, Marmare Barekati, Malgorzata Grzelak, Floriane Essling and Marion Cavalier Following on from our blog earlier in the week concerning the ECJ’s recent decision on data subject access requests (DSARs), we take a brief look at different European countries and the role that DSARs have come to … Continue Reading
In response to questions formulated by the German Amtsgericht of Arnsberg, the ECJ ruled that a first DSAR may be regarded as ‘excessive’, within the meaning of Article 12(5) GDPR, where the data controller demonstrates that, despite formal observance of the conditions governing DSARs, the request was made by the data subject:… Continue Reading
Recently we were catching up with some clients in our London office and discussing the potential implications of the Employment Rights Act (ERA) 2025. What became clear from our conversations was that many businesses are grappling with similar issues as they prepare for implementation of this very significant new piece of employment legislation. Below is … Continue Reading
The Home Office has issued a consultation on a draft Code of practice for employers on avoiding unlawful discrimination while preventing illegal working. The draft Code is not materially different from the current version (last updated in 2022) except in relation to one key area (which we expand on below). In our view, many employers … Continue Reading
From 1 December, the Acas early conciliation period was extended from six to twelve weeks. The intention was clear: to ease growing administrative pressures on Acas at a time of rising demand. But while the extension may give Acas more breathing space, it raises a broader question for employers and employees alike – does more time … Continue Reading
Last week, in the wake of International Women’s Day, the Flemish government approved a – very partial – implementation of the Pay Transparency Directive. The bulk of the transposition work is still to be done by the federal government and the social partners in the National Labour Council, and on these fronts, things are still … Continue Reading
You’d think that, now that we’re less than four months away from the official implementation date of the Pay Transparency Directive, we’d be bombarding you with updates on national implementation initiatives, right? And yet no, things are still fairly quiet on the pay transparency front. There are, however, some developments to report, for example in … Continue Reading
