On 5 May 2022, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) announced its endorsement of the Guidelines on the Mandatory Reference Checking Scheme (respectively, Guidelines and MRC Scheme) issued by the Hong Kong Association of Banks and the DTC Association – just one year after issuing the Consultation Conclusions Paper (covered in our previous bulletin). The MRC Scheme has been launched as an effort … 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

Our September update covers the following: an update of the visa and travel policies in the PRC. As businesses re-commence international travel, read the latest requirements here.  in Indonesia, we look at the new data protection bill, and what employers need to be grappling with. Click here for that update. in Singapore, we provide an … Read more

An employer agrees to a clause in an employment contract requiring it to pay an employee two years’ salary if it terminates the employee’s employment within the first three years of the contract. Can that employer later terminate the employee and seek to avoid paying the two years’ salary by claiming that the clause is … Read more

Our August update covers the following: our review of a recent Hong Kong case, Tan Shaun Zhi Ming v Euromoney Institutional Investor (Jersey) Ltd [2022] HKDC 622, where a male employee accused of sexual harassment by a co-worker succeeded in arguing that his termination of employment amounted to sex discrimination due to the employer’s pro-female … Read more

Since the onset of the pandemic, our global employment team has been monitoring the level and changing nature of risks around the world.  Whilst some trends have accelerated i.e. whistleblowing regulations, there are some new and important developments that pose significant employment risks. We have mapped these across the major financial centers using an interactive … Read more

The Hong Kong District Court has provided a timely reminder to employers of the importance of ensuring that fair and proper processes are followed in the handling of sexual harassment complaints. In this recent case,1 a male employee accused by a co-worker of sexual harassment succeeded in arguing that his termination by the employer amounted … Read more