Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives Update: December 2022

Our December update covers the following: An update on the draft law to regulate remote working in Thailand. See here for an overview of the proposed changes. In Hong Kong, the Court of Appeal recently confirmed that standby days are not rest days; employees on standby must still be granted proper rest days even if … Read more

Hong Kong: Court of Appeal confirms that standby days are not days off

The holiday season is soon approaching and excitement is bubbling with many in Hong Kong planning to travel and celebrate with loved ones. Many employers are putting in place logistical arrangements and coordinating work cover over the holidays which involve putting employees on standby to work if needed – read on for our discussion about … Read more

UK: Government to review SMCR rules as part of Edinburgh Reforms

Our Financial Services Regulatory team have prepared a series of webcasts examining the sweeping reforms to the UK financial services sector recently announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt – known as “the Edinburgh Reforms.” The webcasts explain: • what the key proposals are; • who they might impact; • next steps and … Read more

US: A High-Profile Year for the WARN Act

Before COVID-19 and the recent layoffs at Twitter Inc., the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN, Act maintained a low profile; the act did not garner significant media attention, and cases alleging violations of the act were limited and largely routine. An explanation for this, at least in part, is that the WARN Act … Read more

UK: employers may need to consider adjustments to redundancy selection process for disabled employees, but can take into account impact on other at-risk employees

Employers may need to consider adjustments for employees with mental impairments when using interviews to select for redundancy, but this will not necessarily require the employee simply to be slotted into an available alternative role without interview, where this would impact on other at-risk employees. In Hilaire v Luton Borough Council, the EAT ruled that … Read more

Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives Update: November 2022

Our November update covers the following: an update on the new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 in India. As the name suggests, the bill only covers processing of digital personal data. Consider the implications of the bill on employee data here. in Mainland China, we take a look at some examples of non-compete clauses which … Read more

Hong Kong: Authorised institutions to implement the new Mandatory Reference Checking Scheme by May 2023

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

UK legislation update: Government supports various Private Members’ Bills; national minimum wage increase from April 2023

The Government recently announced its support in second readings of a number of Private Members’ Bills proposing reforms originally slated for the elusive Employment Bill.  Most provide for the detail of the changes to be made by regulation and are therefore light on detail, but they do increase the likelihood of proposals actually coming into … Read more

UK: workplace challenges in the metaverse

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