Local courts in Beijing and Shanghai have recently issued whitepapers setting out their observations of employment cases and their positions regarding certain common employment legal issues for the year of 2015. Given Beijing and Shanghai are two of the biggest… Read more

Organisations in the European Union with operations in the United States have, for over a decade now, taken comfort that the transfer of personal data to the United States would be lawful if the recipient had subscribed to the US… Read more

In the recent case of Eastern Athletic Association Football Team Ltd v Alessandro Ferreira Leonardo (HCA 2383/2015), the High Court refused to grant an interlocutory injunction to a football club, Eastern Athletic Association ("EAA"), to restrain one of its players… Read more

On 26 October, the Court of Appeal handed down its long-awaited judgment regarding bribery charges against former TVB general manager and TV presenter, Stephen Chan and his assistant, Tseng Pei-kun. The men had twice been acquitted but now face jail… Read more

The Thai Civil Procedure Code has been amended to allow for class action suits to be brought by large groups of plaintiffs for breach of civil wrongs, including breach of tort, breach of contract and breach of labour rights. The… Read more

Our London ADR team has launched the seventh guide in their series of ADR Practical Guides, designed to provide clients with essential practical guidance on various processes falling under the banner of alternative dispute resolution (ADR), with a particular focus on… Read more

On 16 January 2015, the Chief Executive in Council gazetted a legal notice to increase the statutory minimum wage in Hong Kong for the second time. Hong Kong's minimum wage is therefore set to increase from its current rate of… Read more

The Hong Kong Legislative Council has finally introduced laws to entitle private sector male employees to paternity leave.  From 27 February 2015, male employees will be entitled to take up to three days of paternity leave in recognition of the… Read more

The Administration of Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Ordinance 2014 (the "Ordinance") was gazetted and came into effect on 24 December 2014.  Part 6 – Division 1 makes a number of changes to the Labour Tribunal Ordinance (the "LTO"), the most significant… Read more

The Sex Discrimination (Amendment) Ordinance 2014—Ordinance No. 19 of 2014 came into force on 12 December 2014. The amended ordinance can be found here. The amended Ordinance provides that it is unlawful for anyone to sexually harass a woman who… Read more

A recent Hong Kong case has highlighted the important point that the Labour Tribunal's exclusive jurisdiction does not extend to dealing with matters which arise outside of an employee's contract of employment and beyond the scope of the Employment Ordinance.… Read more

In the recent decision of Wee Kim San Lawrence Bernard v Robinson & Co (Singapore) Pte Ltd [2014] SGCA 43 the Court of Appeal considered the measure of damages that may be granted where there has been a constructive dismissal… Read more

We have previously written about a decision of the English High Court which upheld the terms of a restrictive covenant despite certain deficiencies in its drafting.  That decision has now been overturned on appeal in Prophet plc v Huggett [2014]… Read more

Given the growing popularity of social media websites and applications in China, employees are increasingly releasing employment-related photographs and posts onto social media networks. Employers are in turn increasingly relying on social media posts made by their employees as evidence… Read more

Hong Kong's discrimination laws have once again come under the spotlight following the commencement of a three month Discrimination Law Review of the current anti-discrimination laws by the Equal Opportunities Commission ("EOC") as well as the recent introduction of the… Read more

Recent developments clarify that managers may not be able to claim compensation from their employers in the same way as other employees. Employers in China must enter into a written labour contract with each employee within the employee’s first month… Read more

The High Court of Singapore recently handed down its judgment in the case of  Trident Pharm Pte Ltd v Yong Pei Pei Tracey and another [2014] SGHC 59, dismissing the Plaintiff’s claim for breach of duty of fidelity. ... Read more

Confidential information and trade secrets are increasingly valuable assets for any business in today's market. A recent judgment of the Hong Kong Court of First Instance, Dextra China Limited v Lam Wing Kit, highlights the difficulty employers face when trying… Read more

The Fair Work Commission has recently upheld the dismissal of a manager due to inappropriate content on his personal Facebook page. The decision is particularly interesting because the case involves an employee using social media in a personal capacity. Lisa… Read more

In Prophet plc v Huggett [2014] EWHC 615 (Ch) the Court took a highly flexible approach  to the construction of a non-compete clause which, when read literally in its original form, gave the employer no protection at all.  The decision… Read more

The Guide contains a summary of the key employment laws and principles in 21 jurisdictions across the Asia Pacific and has become the 'go to' resource for HR managers and in-house counsel with employment-related responsibilities in the region. ... Read more

The Employment (Amendment) Bill 2014, proposing to legislate paternity leave in Hong Kong, has been gazetted today, 28 February 2014. The Bill proposes that working fathers be entitled to three days paid statutory paternity leave mirroring the arrangements applicable to… Read more

New Provisional Regulations on Labour Dispatch were issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security on 24 January 2014. Labour dispatch practices, which involve a business choosing to outsource workers from third-party dispatch agencies rather than directly employing… Read more

On 28 January 2014, the Standard Working Hours Committee launched a public consultation exercise on working hours in Hong Kong. The introduction of standard working hours has the potential to benefit employees in a number of ways including (i) better… Read more

The English High Court recently considered the test to be applied when deciding whether to grant an interim injunction against a former employee to prevent them from using their former employer's trade secrets. Given that the Hong Kong law on confidential… Read more

A new Enforcement Division has been set up by the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA) with effect from 2 January 2014.  The new Division's focus is on handling trustee-related complaints, investigating breaches of trustee obligations set out in the… Read more

Given the absence in Hong Kong of an 'unfair dismissal' regime similar to that which exists, for example, in the UK and Australia, the termination of an employment contract in Hong Kong is considered by many to be relatively straightforward.… Read more

Following the recent election in Japan, the government is examining ways of introducing more flexibility in employment contracts. Steven Harwood looks at the various government proposals in this post. ... Read more

At the end of September 2013, it was announced that the UK Government had launched a legal challenge in the Court of Justice of the European Union against the cap on variable remuneration introduced by the new capital requirements directive… Read more

Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently announced that it will introduce new rules requiring firms to advertise job vacancies on a new ‘jobs bank’ administered by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency (SWDA) before a firm can apply for an Employment… Read more