The UK government recently announced changes in pensions, childcare, universal support scheme, and employee share plans, among others, as part of the Spring Budget 2023 to remove obstacles to participation in the workforce.
With the rise of technology, work from home has been a steadily growing trend for many years. Remote working has exploded since Spring 2020 with quarantines, workplace closures and lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, at least for jobs and industries that do not always require workers to be on-site.
This abrupt worldwide shift to remote work has sparked new logistical and structural legal challenges that have warranted many countries to pass teleworking legislation, some of which are summarized in this article.
The Irish government recently approved the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2023 which introduces a right to request flexible working arrangements, five days of government-paid domestic violence leave, and five days of unpaid carer’s leave (called “serious medical care leave”).
The Bill is currently in its third reading before the Irish parliament and is expected to enter into force in the near term (the exact date is yet to be determined).
The Australian government recently introduced a bill to expand unpaid parental leave entitlements and to ease leave restrictions on employee couples. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 (“the Bill”) was introduced by the Federal Government on 29 March 2023. The Bill is in the initial legislative stages and has not yet been enacted.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government recently introduced – for the first time – a mandatory unemployment insurance scheme. The scheme aims to protect employees who lose their jobs for reasons out of their control, by ensuring the availability of unemployment income for up to three months. The new Involuntary Loss of Employment (ILOE) insurance scheme, which was announced by the Minister of Human Resources and Emiratization in May 2022, came into effect 1 January 2023.
As a result of recent legislation, supreme court rulings, and new governmental proposals, employees in Chile may soon have a more compelling reason to seek care under the public system, Fonasa.