Tag archives: workplace

New infringement notices for offences against Victorian Occupational Health and Safety laws

Photo of Nicki MilionisBy Nicki Milionis on Posted in Australia
WorkSafe inspectors will now be able to issue infringement notices to companies and individuals for certain occupational health and safety offences. The Occupational Health and Safety Amendment (Infringements and Miscellaneous Matters) Regulations 2021 (Vic) which amends the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017 (Vic) (2017 Regulations) commenced on 31 July 2021 in Victoria. Section 139(1) … Continue reading

L’accord national interprofessionnel du 26 novembre 2020 : « soft law » à la française

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Coronavirus, Europe, France, General
Le télétravail s’est largement développé en France au fil des années, et naturellement, ce mode de travail a été particulièrement utilisé, bon gré mal gré, par les entreprises au cours de l’année 2020, à la faveur de la crise sanitaire, et des recommandations (plus ou moins liantes) du Gouvernement. Les bases du télétravail ont été … Continue reading

Can French employers require their employees to get the Covid-19 vaccine?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Coronavirus, Europe, France
Further to the approval by EU authorities of the vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer, and further to the recommendations of the French Health authorities on the vaccination programme, the French vaccine campaign against Covid-19 was launched yesterday, at the same time as in all EU countries. In France, the Government established a specific strategy … Continue reading

End of the lockdown in France: what are the precautions for employers operating in France?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Coronavirus, Europe, France
On 7 May, the French Prime Minister announced the date chosen for the start of the “de-confinement” phase for France, namely 11 May 2020. The lockdown, which started on 17 March, lasted almost 2 months during which some shops and businesses were closed, and the vast majority of companies operated on the basis of remote … Continue reading

France combats the pandemic

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Europe, France
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

Comment faire face au Coronavirus en France?

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Coronavirus, Europe, France, General
Depuis le mois de janvier 2020, l’épidémie de Coronavirus COVID-19 s’est rapidement propagée à travers le monde, causant des milliers de décès. Le Gouvernement français a réagi en plusieurs temps : après avoir émis des recommandations en matière de gestes barrière, il a ensuite pris la décision de fermer écoles et établissements accueillant des enfants, puis … Continue reading

France: Le harcèlement sexuel susceptible d’être exclu en cas d’attitude ambigüe de la victime

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
Le harcèlement sexuel est défini, dans le Code du travail, par « des propos ou comportements à connotation sexuelle répétés qui soit portent atteinte à [la] dignité [du salarié] en raison de leur caractère dégradant ou humiliant, soit créent à son encontre une situation intimidante, hostile ou offensante ». Le Code du travail prévoit également une … Continue reading

France: Provocative acts do not necessarily fall within the scope of sexual harassment if the victim’s behaviour is ambiguous

Global Workplace InsiderBy Elodie Grangier on Posted in Contracts, Discrimination and harassment, Europe, France
The French employment Code defines sexual harassment as “repeated sexual comments or conduct that either violate the [employee’s] dignity because of their degrading or humiliating nature or create an intimidating, hostile or offensive situation against the employee“. The French employment Code also assimilates to sexual harassment “any form of serious pressure, even non-repeated, exercised for … Continue reading

Alcohol at work: can the employer apply a zero tolerance policy?

Photo of Laure JoncourBy Laure Joncour on Posted in Europe, France, General
A decision of the Supreme Administrative Court (“Conseil d’Etat”) of 8th July 2019 has overruled the decision of a work inspector (“inspecteur du travail”) who had rejected a zero tolerance policy regarding the consumption of alcohol during working hours for certain classes of employees in a company. The case concerned a company specializing in 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?

Photo of 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

New York State and New York City employers face new compliance requirements

Photo of David Gallai (US)Photo of Rachel Kurth (US)By David Gallai (US) and Rachel Kurth (US) on Posted in North America, United States
Recently, New York State and New York City have continued the trend of enacting employee-friendly legislation and issuing broad enforcement guidance under their respective employment laws and regulations.  New York State and New York City employers should be aware of the following recent developments from 2018 and early 2019, and should take action to review … Continue reading

Artificial intelligence and the workplace

Global Workplace InsiderBy Pia Popp on Posted in Europe, Germany
These days especially in view of “Arbeiten 4.0”, the so called fourth industrial revolution in Germany, digitalization pervades the whole working world and is reflected in a vast number of different phenomena. As one of them artificial intelligence can complement – and in some cases even replace – manpower as we can see in the … Continue reading

French employment code reform: Focus on homeworking

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of François GuillonBy Elodie Grangier and François Guillon on Posted in Contracts, Europe, France
French President Emmanuel Macron has signed five ordinances making important changes to several aspects of the French employment code. The ordinances, which were immediately published in the French Official Journal on September 23rd, 2017, are aimed in particular at providing employers more flexibility and predictability in labour-management relations. Several provisions of this ambitious reform (the … Continue reading

What French employers must do in case of heatwave?

Global Workplace InsiderPhoto of Camille ChabrolinBy Elodie Grangier and Camille Chabrolin on Posted in Europe, France
Summer is coming and temperatures are rising and may become unbearable, especially for these employees working outdoors / performing manual labour. Too much warmth can affect employees and can cause exhaustion, headache, fainting, or dehydration. Therefore the impact on employees’ health can be significant. From a French employment law perspective, employers have a very general … Continue reading

Do employees who are pregnant or on maternity leave enjoy any special protection in the event of redundancy in Germany?

Photo of Jannis BreitschwerdtBy Jannis Breitschwerdt on Posted in Europe, Germany
This post was also contributed by Tony Rau, Trainee, Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (Munich). German law provides for extensive protection of pregnant employees and employees on leave in connection with pregnancy. Regarding the latter, German law distinguishes between maternity leave (i.e. 6 weeks before until 8 weeks after childbirth – or 6 weeks before until … Continue reading

Constitutional Court takes a vehement stance against racism in the workplace

Photo of Karen Ainslie (ZA)By Karen Ainslie (ZA) on Posted in South Africa
This article was written by Erwyn Durman, a Candidate Attorney at Norton Rose Fulbright South Africa Employers now have the authority to sanction serious cases of racism with a dismissal. The Constitutional Court by overturning contrary judgments of the Labour Court and the Labour Appeal Court: ruled categorically that a dismissal is an appropriate remedy for … Continue reading

OSHA workplace injury and illness tracking will go forward

Photo of Stephen Romero (US)By Stephen Romero (US) on Posted in United States
Last week, a Texas federal judge handed the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) a victory by refusing to grant an injunction that sought to delay the implementation of the Agency’s rule regarding workplace injuries and illnesses. The new rule, entitled “Improve Tracking of Workplace Injuries and Illness,” requires most employers to submit workplace injury … Continue reading

What rights and protections are there for part-time workers?

Photo of Stefanie RadinaBy Stefanie Radina on Posted in Contracts, Europe, Germany
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

Fair pay, safe workplaces, and federal contractors telling it like it is

Photo of Norlynn Price (US)By Norlynn Price (US) on Posted in Discrimination and harassment, United States
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

Post-Election 2016 Briefing: Likely Amendments to the Fair Work Act

Global Workplace InsiderBy Global Workplace Insider Team on Posted in Asia Pacific, Australia
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has claimed victory in the federal election, as the Coalition achieved the slim majority in Australia’s federal parliament. We briefly outline the likely key amendments to the Fair Work Act, as promised by the Coalition Government prior to the election, and other possible amendments to the workplace relations legislative framework.… Continue reading
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