On 13 September 2024, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress announced its “Decision on Implementing the Gradual Extension of the Statutory Retirement Age”. On the same date, the State Council issued its “Measures on the Gradual Extension of the Statutory Retirement Age”, which go into more detail on how the new retirement policy will be implemented.
In today’s working world, transparency is not a box to tick but a new and very real workforce reality. Evolving reporting requirements, intensifying stakeholder pressure (both internally and externally) and increasing recognition of what it means to be a responsible business are shaping how organizations disclose information about – and subsequently respond to – their workforce priorities.
If the US Federal Trade Commission’s final rule on noncompetes comes into effect (despite ongoing legal challenges), it will impose a nationwide, nearly complete ban on worker noncompete agreements. This ties in with a broader trend which sees global antitrust regulators closely monitoring HR practices. Specifically, antitrust regulators are now looking beyond competition among companies offering similar products and services, to the competition between employers as they vie to attract and retain employees.
It has become clear that flexibility is currency in the new working world and legal frameworks are evolving to catch up with the changing working culture. Four-day work-weeks, flexible working arrangements and the right to disconnect are all on offer to employees, giving the opportunity for better work-life balance, and giving employers a competitive edge in talent retention.
Baker McKenzie’s Asia Pacific Employers’ Forum took place in Singapore on Thursday, 27 April 2023. You can access a number of related resources relating to employment issues and trends.
• Government further strengthens enforcement measures against social insurance fraud
• Guangdong province issues detailed implementing rules for parental leave and elder care leave
• National authorities publish guideline cases dealing with protection of women’s rights
• Guangdong High People’s Court publishes guideline case on ex-employee theft of trade secrets
• Shanghai non-compete case shows courts may look at circumstantial evidence to prove breach by employees engaged in covert competition
• Henan court case shows importance of using correct terminology in an employment termination notice
Join us for a four-part webinar series as our US moderators welcome colleagues from around the globe to share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends. US-based multinational employers with business operations in Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Americas regions will hear directly from local practitioners on the major developments they need to know, and come away with practical tips and takeaways to implement.
The newly amended Law on the Protection of the Rights and Interests of Women takes effect on 1 January 2023; Shanghai amends rules related to parental leave; the Supreme People’s Court issues a guiding case on how employers should handle sexual harassment in the workplace; an employee’s unsupported accusation of sexual harassment could constitute infringement of the right to reputation; the first equal opportunity case judgment in Guangdong Province is issued; and a Guangzhou court rules that a company’s internal disclosure of an employees’ information violates their privacy.
The newly revised Shanghai Labor Union Regulations came into effect on 1 June 2022. The recent round of revisions to the Regulations place emphasis on the democratic management of companies, though the revisions are stated in the form of general principles and provide little concrete guidance. The added provisions regarding gig workers are in line with recent national guidance over the past couple of years focusing on the rights and interests of gig workers. Companies with a labor union should pay particular attention to the obligation to notify the union of their unilateral termination of employment contracts.
Our Asia Pacific Employment & Compensation Team is pleased to provide you with our second quarterly update for 2022 highlighting key employment law changes across the Asia Pacific region.