Topic: Europe

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UK Pensions: Are you sure you’re not a Professional Trustee?

Sabrina EnglishLesley HarroldBy Sabrina English and Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
If you are a pension scheme trustee, there is a risk that you might be considered a professional trustee without realising, and be subject to new standards for professional trustees that were published earlier this year. A new system of accreditation for professional trustees is also being introduced. Am I a professional trustee? A professional … Continue reading

Treatment of Gig Economy workers in Italy

Attilio PavoneBy Attilio Pavone on Posted in Europe, Italy
With another summer approaching, the political and legislative debate concerning the need to update and/or clarify employment laws in Italy relating to Gig Economy workers (See Blog post of July 20 2018)  is still hot. In 2018, six people who worked for a food delivery company claimed, before the Court of Turin, that they should … Continue reading

Court holds that it’s not discriminatory to enhance pay during maternity leave, but to pay only statutory shared parental pay during shared parental leave.

Claire Darbourne (UK)By Claire Darbourne (UK) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, UK
In the UK, only female employees are eligible for statutory maternity leave. They are also eligible for statutory maternity pay at a fixed rate during such leave subject to certain conditions – and it is common for employers to pay enhanced maternity pay during periods of maternity leave. Whilst many employers do not pay enhanced … Continue reading

The Balanced Labour Market Act (Wet arbeidsmarkt in balans: WAB) – expected to come into force January 1, 2020

Global Workplace InsiderBy Maartje Govaert on Posted in Europe, The Netherlands
Today the Dutch Senate voted in favour of the legislative proposal. The WAB is therefore likely to enter into force on 1 January 2020. The effect for employers The proposed changes to the current Dutch Labour and Employment Laws are expected to have an impact on many types of employment contracts. The main principle of … Continue reading

UK Pensions Regulator: a new rule-making ability?

Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
On 16 May 2019, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published a periodic, government-conducted review which examines the continuing need, efficiency and good governance of the Pensions Regulator (TPR). This tailored review was conducted between August and November 2018 and led by Jamey Johnson, the former Chief Officer for Pension Wise (which is now … Continue reading

EuGH fordert systematische Arbeitszeiterfassung

Cornelia MarquardtBy Cornelia Marquardt on Posted in Europe, Germany
Unternehmen in der Europäischen Union sollen künftig dazu verpflichtet sein, ein System zur Erfassung der täglichen effektiven Arbeitszeit ihrer Arbeitnehmer einzuführen. Der Europäische Gerichtshof (EuGH) entschied in einem Urteil vom 14.05.2019, dass alle Mitgliedstaaten von Arbeitgebern einfordern müssen, „ein objektives, verlässliches und zugängliches System einzurichten, mit dem die von einem jeden Arbeitnehmer geleistete tägliche Arbeitszeit … Continue reading

BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent

Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, UK
BIC UK Ltd v Burgess [2019] – employer appeal successful: retrospective amendment re-wrote history to an impermissible extent The Court of Appeal (CA) has unanimously ruled that a retrospective amendment to the deed and rules of the BIC UK Pension Scheme (the Scheme) was invalid. Last year, the High Court had ruled that whilst the … Continue reading

UK pensions: Does an employer have a duty to advise a dying employee on the implications of taking ill-health benefits early?

Lesley HarroldBy Lesley Harrold on Posted in Europe, General, UK
The smooth operation of a pension scheme depends on an efficient flow of information between the employer and the member. Frequently, the Pensions Ombudsman is asked to consider scheme trustees’ and employers’ duties on providing benefit information to members. Where the law is silent, this can be a tricky area to navigate and considerable uncertainty … Continue reading

Ethnicity pay gap reporting in the UK

Claire Darbourne (UK)By Claire Darbourne (UK) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, Europe, UK
As reported in an earlier post, the UK Government introduced mandatory gender pay gap reporting in 2017. An independent review conducted in 2017, Race in the workplace, made a number of recommendations for removing the barriers to workplace progression faced by ethnic minorities including the introduction of mandatory reporting of ethnicity pay data. At that … Continue reading

Loi Pacte : Que faut-il en attendre dans les relations employeurs / salariés ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France, General
La loi « Pacte » (Loi relative à la croissance et la transformation des entreprises) a été adoptée en lecture définitive par l’Assemblée Nationale le 11 avril dernier, après de longs mois de débats devant l’Assemblée Nationale et le Sénat. Elle a fait l’objet d’un recours devant le Conseil Constitutionnel, saisi le 16 avril dernier. Les commentaires … Continue reading

UK Employment law changes April 2019

Global Workplace InsiderBy Amanda Sanders on Posted in General, UK, Uncategorized
Despite Brexit dominating the headlines there are several key changes to employment law coming into force in April 2019. Extension of itemised pay statements to workers, not just employees – 6 April 2019   Currently, only employees are required to be given an itemised pay statement. From 6 April the Employment Rights Act (Itemised Pay … Continue reading

German court: Protection of whistle-blower confidentiality does not generally override the data subject access right

Cornelia MarquardtBy Cornelia Marquardt on Posted in Europe, Germany
On the scope of subject access requests under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GRPR) in the context of compliance and whistle-blowing regimes, the Regional Labour Court (Landesarbeitsgericht) of Stuttgart decided that an employer was required not only to provide an employee with the records containing performance and behavioural data, but also to disclose information … Continue reading

What to expect in 2019

Claire Darbourne (UK)By Claire Darbourne (UK) on Posted in Contracts, Europe, General, UK
Following a Government-commissioned review of employment working practices in the UK which was published in 2017, a number of developments in employment law reform are expected over the coming months. The Government published its latest proposals in December, covering a number of areas for change, some intended to improve the enforcement of employment rights, some … Continue reading

Key developments expected for 2019

Global Workplace InsiderBy Olivia Reinke on Posted in Europe, Germany
At the beginning of 2019, some important key changes to German labor law came into force. In particular, there were significant changes to the Part-Time and Fixed-Term Work Act, which are described in more detail in the following article. On 1 January 2019, section 9a was newly inserted into the Part-Time Work and Fixed-Term Employment … Continue reading

Religious discrimination claim – whose religion?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Amanda Sanders on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, UK
The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has held that where an employer (or individuals on behalf of the employer) acts because of their own religion or belief, this may not lead to an employee bringing a successful claim for direct discrimination on grounds of religion or belief. The EAT upheld the employer’s appeal, overturning the Employment … Continue reading

Fairness als neue Arbeitgeberpflicht

Cornelia MarquardtBy Cornelia Marquardt on Posted in Germany
Arbeitgeber sehen sich in Deutschland mit einer neuen Rechtspflicht konfrontiert: Laut Bundesarbeitsgericht müssen Verträge mit Arbeitnehmern „fair verhandelt“ werden, um wirksam zu sein. Im entschiedenen Fall hatte eine Reinigungskraft in ihrer Privatwohnung einen Aufhebungsvertrag mit ihrem Arbeitgeber abgeschlossen – darin wurde die sofortige Beendigung ihres Arbeitsverhältnisses ohne Zahlung einer Abfindung vereinbart. Im Nachhinein focht die … Continue reading

Generalanwalt am EuGH fordert allgemeine Arbeitszeiterfassung

Cornelia MarquardtBy Cornelia Marquardt on Posted in Germany
Nach den Schlussanträgen des Generalanwalts am Europäischen Gerichtshof (EuGH) sollen Unternehmen künftig verpflichtet sein, ein System zur Erfassung der täglichen Arbeitszeit ihrer Mitarbeiter einzuführen (Schlussanträge v. 31.01.2019, Az. C-55/18). Die dabei gemeinte Arbeitszeit umfasst den Zeitraum der tatsächlichen Verrichtung der Arbeitsleistung ohne Ruhepausen. Schon jetzt müssen Unternehmen aufgrund des Arbeitszeitgesetzes jede Arbeitszeit erfassen, die die … Continue reading

The beginning of a revolution (by the French lower courts) ?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron implemented a significant reform of the French employment code in late 2017, with the intention of providing employers greater flexibility and predictability in managing labour relations. One of the most controversial measures was the creation of a grid applicable to the amount of indemnities due to employees for unfair dismissal, setting … Continue reading
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