The law on harassment, discrimination and privacy of workers is well established online and in the office. But applying these rules in the metaverse will still raise some novel risks and challenges For technology enthusiasts, the advent of the metaverse – an expanding 3D virtual universe where you experience a digital life as an avatar … Read more

It is common practice for employers to require departing employees to sign a statutory settlement agreement in order to waive statutory employment claims in return for a compensation sum.  Unfortunately, it has never been possible to guarantee an entirely clean break in this way, as illustrated by a recent EAT ruling in Bathgate v Technip … Read more

Our October update covers the following: an update on equal employment regulations in the PRC, including the recent circular addressing discrimination against employees who recovered from COVID-19. Read the update here. in Singapore, the High Court in Kallivalap Praveen Nair v Glaxosmithkline Consumer Healthcare Pte Ltd [2022] SGHC 261 dismissed an employee’s breach of contract … Read more

The Hong Kong District Court has re-confirmed that ‘internal’ injuries suffered by employees are not compensable under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance (Cap. 282) (ECO) if they are not caused by an accident that happened at work. This issue arose in a recent Hong Kong District Court decision 馮应培 v CHINA STATE – SHUI ON JOINT … Read more

Carrying out a fair redundancy usually involves identifying an appropriate pool from which to provisionally select employees using fair selection criteria, and then consulting with the individual(s) provisionally chosen.  A recent EAT decision has made clear that an employer may need to consult at an earlier stage, prior to the choice of criteria, if the … Read more

A sign of the times or just business as usual? Surveying the current landscape of the financial sector in late 2022, it is hard to avoid the sense of an industry once again facing a severe squeeze. One thing is certain: global finance is currently facing mounting pressure to invest long-term for a low-carbon, high-tech … Read more

Employers should bear in mind that internal grievance investigation reports will usually not be privileged and so will be disclosable at tribunal. A recent EAT ruling held that the original version of an internal report, which was not privileged at the time it was prepared, did not later acquire legal advice privilege simply because comparison … Read more

The recent spate of cyber attacks and data breaches in Australia has renewed focus on the Australian Government’s ongoing review of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act). The new Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, had already promised “sweeping reforms” and a suite of proposals before the end of the year. However, expectations – of both the … Read more