Lockton Global
Compliance News

Month: April 2023

Turkey eliminates retirement age requirement [updated]

Less than six months before the Turkish presidential election, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan recently announced in a press conference that the minimum age requirement for retirement (age 58 for women and age 60 for men) will be eliminated. This change allows more than 2 million workers to retire immediately.

The Turkish government plans to introduce and approve legislation on early retirement without meeting the age requirement in the coming weeks.

Poland

Poland expands family leave entitlements [updated]

The Polish Government introduced a bill that expands parental leave entitlements and introduces a right to flexible work arrangements for parents of young children and carers, as well as
carers leave and emergency leave for all employees.

The amendments aim to align Poland with the European Union Directive No. 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers.

The Bill is in the initial legislative stages and still needs to be passed by both houses of the Polish parliament and signed by the President before it becomes law. The exact implementation date is not yet known.

Spain

Spain introduces menstrual leave [updated]

The Spanish parliament recently passed new legislation introducing multiple changes to menstrual and reproductive health legislation including a government-paid temporary sick leave for female employees who suffer severe menstrual pain. The new leave (also called “menstrual leave”) may be taken for as long as needed so long as the temporary medical incapacity is approved by a doctor.

The legislation will enter into effect three months after its publication in the Official Gazette (the exact publication date is still yet to be determined).

European Union

EU Directive on pay transparency

On 30 March 2023, the European Parliament adopted the Pay Transparency Directive (the “Directive”) to increase pay transparency and to close the gender pay gap across European Union (“EU”) member states. The Directive imposes, among other things, gender pay gap reporting obligations for larger employers, transparency obligations regarding pay setting, the right for employees to request pay information, as well as protective measures and access to justice for victims of pay discrimination.

In due course, the Directive will be submitted to the European Council to be formally approved and published in the EU Official Journal. The Directive will come into force 20 days after its publication date, and member states will be required to pass national legislation meeting the new minimum requirements established by the Directive within three years.

Guernsey to mandate auto-enrollment in an occupational pension scheme [updated]

The government of Guernsey recently approved a secondary pensions policy requiring the mandatory, automatic enrollment of employees into either a government-facilitated defined-contribution scheme (Your Island Pension- YIP) or a qualified, employer-sponsored pension plan.

Contributions will start at 1% for both the employer and the employee. The contribution rate will automatically increase annually until it reaches 3.5% for employers and 6.5% for employees in 2031.

Mexico

Mexico to introduce menstrual leave

The Mexican government recently introduced amendments to the Federal Labor Law and to the Federal Law for State Workers to provide a government-paid menstrual leave of up to three days per month for all employees who menstruate, including cisgender women, transgender men, intersex, and non-binary persons.
The proposed amendments are in the initial legislative stages and have not yet been enacted.