The first COVID-19 cases appeared in France a few weeks ago and French people have been in lockdown since March 17. The repercussions of this pandemic are significant, and the Government has been authorized, by Emergency Act No. 2020-290 of 23 March 2020, to take measures through ordinances (which means that no debate is required … Continue reading
Le COVID-19 a fait son apparition en France il y a quelques semaines déjà et les Français sont confinés depuis le 17 mars dernier. Les répercussions de cette pandémie sont importantes, et le Gouvernement a été autorisé, par la loi n° 2020-290 du 23 mars 2020 d’urgence pour faire face à l’épidémie de covid-19, à … Continue reading
Since January 2020, Coronavirus COVID-19 has spread rapidly around the world, causing massive disruption to business and everyday life as well as thousands of deaths. The French Government has reacted in several stages. After issuing recommendations for barrier measures, it decided to close schools and more recently, it ordered the general confinement of French people … Continue reading
The basic working time arrangement in France is 35 hours per week, and although there are a number of alternative working time arrangements potentially available, this is still the one that applies to the majority of French employees. However, this is not a maximum working week – employees working beyond that amount are entitled to … Continue reading
Digitization and technological advances are accelerating the flexibility of working conditions leading to a changed understanding of leadership. A key topic of debate is the “home office” which is currently used by approximately 12 per cent of employees in Germany for all or part of their working time. On this topic, the German government is … Continue reading
A suite of changes to Part III of the Canada Labour Code (the Code) are coming into force on September 1, 2019, that will confer new rights to employees. For many federally regulated employers, these amendments, brought under Bills C-86 and C-63, will have a significant impact on their workplaces and businesses. To assist employers … Continue reading
Une série de nouvelles modifications apportées à la partie III du Code canadien du travail (Code), qui entreront en vigueur le 1er septembre 2019, conféreront de nouveaux droits aux employés. Ces modifications, adoptées en vertu des projets de loi C-86 et C-63, auront des répercussions importantes sur le milieu de travail et l’entreprise de nombreux employeurs … Continue reading
Singapore’s employment laws are set to undergo watershed changes come April 2019. In summary, a greater number of employees – in particular, professionals, managers and executives (“PMEs”) – will soon be able to avail themselves of the statutory protections contained in Singapore’s Employment Act, the key employment legislation in Singapore. The single most significant legislative … Continue reading
The Court of Appeal has held that carers who carry out overnight “sleep-in” shifts are not entitled to be paid the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for the full duration of the shift, only when they are actually performing work. The UK National Minimum Wage Act 1998 creates the right for workers in the UK to … Continue reading
La détermination du temps de travail effectif des salariés est un sujet complexe, et l’enjeu est considérable pour les salariés dans la mesure où ce temps de travail effectif a un impact direct sur leur rémunération. C’est encore plus vrai pour les salariés itinérants, dont les fonctions impliquent des temps de trajet importants (notamment entre … Continue reading
This post was also contributed by Sebastian Kutzner, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). Due to increasing demands for a work life balance, uncertainty as to employees’ rights to rest periods, in particular, is widespread. German law distinguishes between two types of rest periods: Rest breaks (to be granted during working time); and Resting time … Continue reading
Article 167 of the Labor Colombian Code, establishes that “working hours during a work day, must be distributed in two sections, with at least one break or intermediate period, that rationally suit the nature of the work and the employee’s needs. Such resting time is not part of the working day”. In this sense, Colombian … Continue reading
Despite the fact that the U.S. Department of Labor’s new overtime regulations were set to go into effect on December 1st, the validity of the regulations remains unsettled. We previously reported that on November 22nd, Judge Amos Mazzant of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas granted a nationwide injunction precluding … Continue reading
This post was also contributed by Dimitri Schaff, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). Currently, about one quarter of all employment relationships in Germany are based on part-time models, the proportion of part-time to full-time employees having increased by about 12 per cent since 2001. Furthermore, as a result of the implementation of the EU Part-time Workers … Continue reading
With just about 90 days to go before the U.S. Department of Labor’s final rule dramatically updating overtime regulations is scheduled to go into effect, small business owners have petitioned the DOL’s Wage and Hour Division seeking more time to prepare for and implement changes to the way they operate their businesses so that they … Continue reading
Unlike in the U.K. and other EU member states, zero hours contracts are not (yet) common practice in Germany. To date, other arrangements aimed at achieving “flexible working” such as fixed-term or part-time contracts, secondment of personnel and – more recently – contracts to provide services have been more widespread. However, as German case law … Continue reading
On August 24, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) Counsel issued a final rule to implement President Obama’s Executive Order 13673, entitled “Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces,” first announced by the President over two years ago on July 31, 2014. According to the Federal Acquisition Institute, the purpose of E.O. … Continue reading
Even though, unarguably, few employees would give up a good night’s sleep in order to work night shifts, operational necessity often dictates otherwise. Certain businesses can only remain competitive and survive in the market if they require their employees to work during night-time. Parcel services, bakeries and hospitals are just a few examples of businesses … Continue reading
On June 30, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that will significantly increase the number of employees entitled to receive overtime pay for work in excess of 40 hours during a regular workweek. Once implemented, the new rule is estimated to affect at least 5 million full-time employees … Continue reading
According to Article 158 of the Colombian Labor Code, the working shift may be agreed by the employer and the employee. In absence of such agreement, the working shift will be the maximum determined by law. The maximum working schedule is of eight daily hours and forty-eight (48) weekly hours. The daytime working shift … Continue reading
Under the German Act on Working Time (Arbeitszeitgesetz), an employee’s working time is limited to a maximum of eight hours per working day and 48-hours per week. This 48 hours threshold applies to all employees working a five or six day week. However, most employees in Germany work five days and 40 hours per week … Continue reading
The Working Time Regulations 1998 (the Regulations) implemented the requirements of the 1993 EC Working Time Directive. Before the Regulations came into force, the hours of work undertaken by employees were largely unregulated in the UK. For the first time, the Regulations introduced restrictions on the number of hours worked by employees and workers together … Continue reading
On 14 April 2015, the Dutch Senate has accepted the Flexible Working Act, allowing employees of companies in the Netherlands more flexibility in respect of working hours and working from home. With effect from 1 January 2016, employees will be able to ask not only for changes to the number of hours they work, but also changes … Continue reading
Working Hours PRC law recognises three categories of working hour systems: (i) the Standard Working Hour System; (ii) the Flexible Working Hour System; and (iii) the Comprehensive Working Hour System. Each system varies in its applicability to employment positions and industries within the PRC. The Standard Working Hour System provides that an employee may work … Continue reading