A new General Labor Law (NGLL) was enacted by Law No. 12/23, of 27 December 2023, which came into force on March 26, 2024.The NGLL repealed the former General Labor Law (approved by Law No. 7/15, of June 15, 2015),...more
Australia’s Senate on Thursday, February 8, 2024, passed a bill that would prevent an employer from contacting employees outside of work hours. The bill gives the employee the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to...more
2/9/2024
/ Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Right to Disconnect ,
Wage and Hour
Under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (known as the Closing Loopholes Act), as of January 1, 2025, intentional underpayment of employees’ wages and certain benefits will be a criminal offense, with a maximum of 10 years’...more
This year’s Women’s World Cup, which kicked off on July 20, 2023, has been drawing record viewers both in person and on television. As viewers watch these teams compete, many wonder whether these athletes receive pay equal to...more
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the gender pay gap in Australia is 22.8%, with women on average earning...more
2/16/2023
/ Australia ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pay Gap ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Wage and Hour
The Global Guide Quarterly (GGQ) is a newsletter Littler publishes on a quarterly basis to provide a general update on global labor and employment (L&E) law developments in key countries in the American, EMEA, and APAC...more
On January 20, 2023, Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) issued an important decision that makes significant amendments to the Professional Employees Award 2020 (Award). Documents known as “modern awards” in Australia are...more
Welcome back to our World Cup series, where we compare various aspects of labor and employment law in some of the participating countries. We kicked off Parts One and Two of this series with vacation and sick leave...more
The World Cup is fast approaching! Over the course of the tournament, we will be publishing our own matchups, comparing various aspects of labor and employment law in some of the participating countries. In Part I of this...more
The World Cup starts November 20, 2022 and will end in mid-December. Soccer fans from around the globe will be tuning in for the matches, or perhaps even attending in person. We thought we’d set up our own employment law...more
Common Law Term of Reasonable Notice Not Displaced by Statutory Minimum Notice Period -
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency -
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court held that the common law...more
2/8/2022
/ Australia ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Work Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Internships ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
Australia -
Wage Theft Investigations. The Australia Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) 2018-2019 Annual Report, published by the government agency on October 20, 2019, found significant wage theft in the country over the past...more
12/5/2019
/ Australia ,
China ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee's Childcare ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hong Kong ,
India ,
International Labor Laws ,
Japan ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Zealand ,
Paternity Leave ,
Pension Funds ,
Political Speech ,
Protests ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retirement Plan ,
Russia ,
Singapore ,
Social Credit System ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
From October 30, 2019, heavy penalties will apply to labor hire providers who operate without a license and to businesses that use unlicensed labor hire providers in Victoria. Similar schemes apply in Queensland (since 2018)...more
10/25/2019
/ Anti-Bullying Laws ,
Australia ,
Fair Work Commission ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legal Representatives ,
Licensing Rules ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Minimum Wage Increase -
New Legislation Enacted -
On July 1, 2019, employees under the national minimum wage and the modern award minimum wage (and in some cases, employees under a registered agreement) are set to...more
Workplace Changes for Workers in the Screen Industry
Proposed Bill or Initiative -
Key changes in New Zealand’s workplace relations for the screen sector workers are set to be implemented soon. The New Zealand government...more
New Zealand employers should be aware that there are several significant legislative changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000 (the Act) taking effect this spring. This article briefly reviews key amendments that recently...more
5/6/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Labor Laws ,
New Zealand ,
Paid Leave ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The new Australian Whistleblowing laws passed in Parliament on February 19, 2019, and will likely take effect in the next couple of months (July 2019) after it receives Royal Assent. The aim of the Whistleblower Act is to...more
4/19/2019
/ Australia ,
Biometric Information ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Retaliation ,
Visas ,
Whistleblowers
As a proposed Privacy Bill works its way through the New Zealand Parliament, key changes aim to strengthen the protection of confidential and personal information....more
In an important update to Australia’s safety laws, the federal government has introduced a definition of “catastrophic injury” in the new Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Catastrophic Injury) Rules 2018 (Rules). ...more
On November 29, 2018, the Australian Government passed the Modern Slavery Act 2018 (the “Act”), which requires all companies operating in Australia and meeting a threshold of AU$100 million in total annual global revenue to...more
12/4/2018
/ Australia ,
Child Labor ,
Cooperative Compliance Regime ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Forced Labor ,
Human Rights ,
Human Trafficking ,
International Labor Laws ,
Modern Slavery Act ,
New Legislation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain
Important amendments to Victoria’s long service leave (LSL) laws are taking effect on November 1, 2018 (Long Service Leave Act 2018 (2018 Act))....more
The New Zealand Government recently introduced the Equal Pay Amendment Bill, which aims to enable women to lodge pay equity claims more easily. If enacted, the new law would impose certain obligations on an employer that...more
10/30/2018
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Discrimination ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
International Labor Laws ,
Legislative Agendas ,
New Zealand ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Wage and Hour
Company Liable for Contract Worker’s Injuries -
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency -
On September 6, 2018, the NSW Supreme Court held that a company (Company A) that used a contracted labor hire...more
10/19/2018
/ Australia ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
International Labor Laws ,
Medical Certification Requests ,
Paid Leave ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Workplace Bullying ,
Workplace Injury
New South Whales Legislation to Combat Modern Slavery -
New Legislation Enacted -
On June 21, 2018, the New South Wales Parliament passed the Modern Slavery Act, requiring corporations to make efforts to eradicate...more
8/3/2018
/ Australia ,
Child Labor ,
Corporate Social Responsibility ,
Forced Labor ,
Hiring & Firing ,
International Labor Laws ,
Minimum Wage ,
New Legislation ,
Slavery ,
Supply Chain ,
Unfair Dismissal ,
Wage and Hour