The Polish government will raise the national minimum wage by 15% in 2020 and again in 2021, followed by a 10% increase for each of the following years until 2024. Background According to the Central Statistical Office of Poland, over […]
On 1 July 2019, the Indian government lowered the rate of contribution required under the Employees’ State Insurance (ESI) Act 1948 to reduce employers’ financial burden and increase employees’ take-home salaries. The ESI contribution rate was reduced from a total […]
In April 2018, the government of Zambia passed a National Health Insurance Act, 2018 (the “Act”), which aims to provide mandatory universal access to healthcare for all citizens and residents age 18 and older. The commencement orders of the new […]
On 8 March 2019, the government of the Philippines passed a Universal Health Care (UHC) law which gives Filipino citizens affordable access to a full spectrum of health care including preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative care for medical, dental, […]
On 11 April 2019, the government of Zambia passed the Employment Code Act, 2019 (the “Act”) which focuses on regulating employment by creating new entitlements and expanding existing benefits. With this legislation, the Zambian government also attempts to tighten immigration […]
On 2 July 2019, the Austrian government amended the Paternity Leave Act and introduced a legal right to one month of government-funded paternity leave for private sector male employees following the birth of their child. Employers can no longer refuse […]
The European Union (EU) Directive 2019/1152 of 20 June 2019 (the “Directive”) aims to encourage more transparent and predictable working conditions across the EU. The Directive creates new minimum employment standards to ensure that all workers in the EU benefit […]
On 6 June 2019, Hong Kong’s Court of Final Appeal (the “CFA” or the “Court”) ruled that same-sex spouses married overseas (Hong Kong does not recognize same-sex marriage) are entitled to spousal employment and tax benefits. The CFA found that […]
On 1 January 2019, the government of British Columbia (BC) launched a new Employer Health Tax (EHT) to shift the health care system financial burden from employees to employers. The EHT is a tax levied on an annual payroll for […]
The Australian Fair Work Commission (FWC) increased the national minimum wage and modern award minimum wages by 3%, effective 1 July 2019. Background For the past few years, the government of Australia has been increasing the minimum wage to a […]