Category: Remuneration (including bonus and incentive plans)

UK: gender pay gap reporting deadline passes, new guidance published

6 April, 2019

The deadline for the second year's gender pay gap reports has now passed, with roughly the same number of employers as last year's total meeting the deadline (and almost half of them doing so in the last week). Just over… Read more

Compliance Check: China – Social Insurance Obligations

4 April, 2019

Under PRC law, employers are required to pay social insurance premiums for employees. The social insurance premiums cover basic endowment, medical, employment–related injury, unemployment and maternity insurance. Non-compliance with these requirements can result in administrative penalties, claims by employees and… Read more

Australia: Employment Taxes Update – April 2019

3 April, 2019

Our colleagues at Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills have published their latest Employment Taxes Update, including commentary on the recent Federal Budget announcements. Click here to learn more. Read more

UK: ‘bad leaver’ provision triggered by resignation was not a penalty

21 March, 2019

The Employment Appeal Tribunal has ruled that 'Bad Leaver' provisions in Articles of Association requiring forfeiture of shares were not subject to the law on penalty clauses where triggered by an employee voluntarily resigning on notice, as repayment did not… Read more

Australia: Superannuation Guarantee and Annual Leave Loading

18 March, 2019

Our financial services team have posted an update on compliance obligations for annual leave loading and superannuation guarantee obligations. Click here to discover more. In addition, our colleagues at Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills have posted their article Superannuation Guarantee owed… Read more

France: Recent and Upcoming Labour Reforms

14 March, 2019

Several important employment law reforms have come into force recently or will come into force shortly, both at the EU and French level. Below are some of the changes to expect for 2019: ... Read more

UK: pay gap reporting – yet more guidance on gender reports and ethnicity pay gap initiative

3 March, 2019

With the second deadline for gender pay gap reports a month away, more guidance has been published (in addition to that covered here). The Government Equalities Office has published two sets of guidance, Eight ways to understand your gender pay… Read more

UK: Court of Appeal confirms broad approach to permissible equal pay comparators and procedural requirements

7 February, 2019

The Court of Appeal has given two rulings in the long-running equal value claim against Asda, in both cases ruling on preliminary points in favour of the store workers claiming equal pay with distribution depot workers. The claims will now… Read more

UK: revised Code on right to work checks, consultation on national minimum wage rules, age discrimination guide

31 January, 2019

The Home Office has published a revised Code of Practice on preventing illegal working, which reflects the ability for employers to check certain employees' right to work records solely by online check from 28 January 2019 (see here). The Government… Read more

UK: new requirements for payslips for workers from April 2019

25 January, 2019

The rules regarding payslips are due to change on 6 April 2019. Itemised payslips will have to be given to 'workers' as well as employees, and include hours details for the hourly paid. BEIS has published guidance here. Read more

UK: further gender pay gap reporting guidance but no imminent change to requirements

25 January, 2019

As the second deadline for reports approaches, the Equalities and Human Rights Commission has published a report urging employers to accompany their figures with narrative reports and action plans with concrete, time-bound target-driven activities to reduce the gap. The report highlights… Read more

Australia: Victorian State Election update: Labor is re-elected for a second term – what does this mean for industrial relations in Victoria over the next four years?

4 December, 2018

The Victorian state election on Saturday 24 November 2018 was characterised by large swings, with the Liberal party losing several previously safe seats and Premier Daniel Andrews successfully leading the ALP to a clear victory, having significantly increased its majority.… Read more

Hong Kong: Proposed Changes to Laws Impacting Employers

22 November, 2018

In the 2018 Policy Address on 10 October 2018, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR Carrie Lam announced several key proposals in respect of benefits available to employees under Hong Kong law. ... Read more

UK: Government consults on mandatory ethnicity pay gap reporting

16 October, 2018

The Government has published a consultation on ethnicity pay reporting, making clear its position that this should become mandatory (possibly subject to a trial or phased approach with 'early adopters'). The consultation is open until 11 January 2019. The consultation… Read more

Recruitment and protection of talent: a boardroom issue for pharma

12 September, 2018

Our article Recruitment and protection of talent: a boardroom issue for pharma is available on our pharma hub here. Technological advancement is key amongst the forces driving change in the pharmaceutical healthcare sectors, with businesses increasingly partnering with non-traditional players such… Read more

UK: HMRC update on national minimum wage liabilities following a TUPE transfer

6 September, 2018

HMRC has issued an update confirming that, with effect from 2 July 2018, where there has been a TUPE transfer of employees, all national minimum wage liabilities, including the full penalty amount, will now be enforced against the transferee employer,… Read more

UK: parliamentary committee recommends reforms for gender pay gap reporting

8 August, 2018

On 2 August 2018 the House of Commons' Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee published a report on the gender pay gap reporting obligation introduced from April 2017. The report notes that the national median gender pay gap is 18.4%,… Read more

UK: guidance for employers on actions to close the gender pay gap

8 August, 2018

On 1 August 2018 the Government Equalities Office (GEO) confirmed that 100% of employers covered by the new gender pay gap reporting obligation have now published their first report (disclosing data as at April 2017). The Equalities and Human Rights… Read more

UK: revised corporate governance code

8 August, 2018

The FRC has published a new version of the UK Corporate Governance Code applicable to accounting periods beginning on or after 1 January 2019. The changes include a requirement to have a board-monitored whistleblowing mechanism and a mechanism for workforce… Read more

UK: sleep-in carers not entitled to national minimum wage while asleep

31 July, 2018

The Court of Appeal has ruled that on-call employees who have to remain available for work at a particular location but are expected to sleep will only be eligible for the national minimum wage in respect of hours when they… Read more

UK: Diversity Developments – presentation of pay gap data, proposals on parental leave and dress code guidance

9 July, 2018

The Government Equalities Office has published the findings of a commissioned study (here) concluding that the clearest and most accessible way of presenting gender pay gap figures is to display them visually as coins or as the amount which women… Read more

UK: Compensation – impact of flexible PHI options on loss of earnings claim

9 July, 2018

Employers should be aware that, where they provide different levels of PHI benefit through a flexible benefits scheme, this may mean that only part of the PHI benefits being paid to an employee can be offset against a loss of… Read more

UK: HMRC and HM Treasury Publish Consultation to Extend Recent IR35 Public Sector Reforms to the Private Sector

6 June, 2018

On 18 May 2018, HMRC published a consultation document entitled "Off-payroll working in the private sector" with the aim of tackling what it perceives as high levels of non-compliance in the private sector with the existing off-payroll working regime (HMRC… Read more

Australia: Key employment tax changes announced in the Federal Budget

14 May, 2018

Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills have highlighted the above key changes employers should be aware of following the Federal Budget announcement in May 2018. ... Read more

Hong Kong: Warning on Potentially Anti-Competitive Employment Practices

8 May, 2018

The Hong Kong Competition Commission (the "Commission") recently released an advisory bulletin indicating that it has encountered a number of situations where businesses have engaged in employment-related practices which may give rise to competition concerns. Our employment and competition teams… Read more

Asia: Using Incentives to Effectively Retain Key Employees

26 April, 2018

Effective remuneration and incentive models are crucial to ensuring that management teams and key personnel are incentivised to stay with the business and contribute to its on-going success. This is a particular concern for investors following an acquisition. There are… Read more

Japan: Differing Conditions Between Permanent and Fixed Term Employees

26 April, 2018

On 14 September 2017, the Tokyo District Court interpreted and applied the meaning of "unreasonable differences" to the benefits enjoyed by permanent and fixed term employees at Japan Post. The decision provides guidance on which benefits are exclusively available to… Read more

UK: The gender pay gap deadline has passed – what next for employers?

23 April, 2018

The deadline for larger employers to publish their gender pay gap reports passed on 4 April 2018, with around 1500 employers in default. The Equality and Human Rights Commission published its finalised enforcement strategy at the end of March and… Read more

Australia: Employment Taxes Update – April 2018

11 April, 2018

Our colleagues at Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills have published their April update on Employment Taxes. Click here to discover more. Read more

UK: EAT rules that clustering of women at low end of a pay grade was insufficient to establish indirect discrimination

5 March, 2018

The use of length of service as a criterion for pay may indirectly discriminate against women and therefore require objective justification to be lawful (particularly long pay scales are likely to face more of a challenge). However the mere fact that… Read more

Hong Kong: Labour Department Enforcement Actions in 2017

27 February, 2018

The Legislative Council Panel on Manpower has released a report on enforcement actions taken by the Labour Department during 2017 (Paper) which shows an increase in the number of convictions for breaches of the Employment Ordinance (EO) and other labour… Read more

UK: Gender pay gap reporting – EHRC threatens enforcement action for non-compliance

7 February, 2018

The 4th April 2018 deadline for publication of employers' first year of gender pay gap data is looming, yet over 90% of employers covered by the new statutory duty have still not reported. Many may have deliberately chosen to publish… Read more

Australia: Employment taxes update

12 January, 2018

Our colleagues at Greenwoods + Herbert Smith Freehills have published an excellent update on Employment Taxes. Click here to discover more. Read more

Australia: Latest data on enterprise bargaining wages trends – September 2017 quarter

11 January, 2018

The ‘Trends in Federal Enterprise Bargaining’ report for July-September 2017 was released by the Department of Employment on 10 January 2018. If you have enterprise agreement negotiations coming up in 2018, this data can be useful for benchmarking. ... Read more

UK: Government, investor and media focus on gender pay gap reporting

7 December, 2017

Large private sector employers are required to publish their gender pay gap data by 4 April 2018. However, in the last couple of months pressure has been put on employers to publish early, a call endorsed by the Prime Minister… Read more

Indonesia: Minimum wage – compliance check

30 November, 2017

On 16 November 2017, the recently elected Governor of Jakarta stipulated the new provincial minimum wage of DKI Jakarta for 2018 in the amount of IDR 3,648,035.82 (or equivalent to approximately USD 270) through Governor Regulation No. 182 of 2017… Read more

Australia: Latest data on enterprise bargaining wages trends – June 2017 Quarter

24 October, 2017

The ‘Trends in Federal Enterprise Bargaining’ report for April-June 2017 was released by the Department of Employment on Friday. This data is a valuable tool for benchmarking during any enterprise agreement negotiations you have coming up. ... Read more

France: Obligations in relation to private health insurance

5 October, 2017

An employer must give to each employee (in French) at the commencement of their employment contract an explanatory note (notice d’information) clarifying their rights to private health insurance for health expenses (additional reimbursement coverage including for medical expenses, hospital expenses,… Read more

View more posts

Key contacts