The Romanian government recently passed a new law introducing two additional annual paid public holidays on 6 January and 7 January for the feast days of the Epiphany and Saint John the Baptist, respectively.
Law no. 52/2023 entered into effect on 9 March 2023 and the new public holidays will apply to all employees in Romania starting from 2024.
On 22 June 2023, the Australian government passed the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023 expanding unpaid parental leave entitlements to ease leave restrictions on employee couples.
The French government recently passed amendments to the Labor Code increasing government-paid bereavement leave following the passing of an employee’s child, as well as government-paid leave that may be taken following the diagnosis of a child’s disability or serious health condition.
The amendments entered into effect on 19 July 2023.
The Spanish government passed legislation transposing the European Union (EU) Directive 2019/1158 on work-life balance for parents and carers into local law. Royal Decree Law 5/2023 entered into effect on 30 June 2023 and introduces, among other provisions, unpaid parental care leave, paid force majeure leave, and extensions to current carers’ leave provisions and other existing leaves.
On 12 June 2023, the National Assembly of the South African Parliament passed the National Health Insurance (NHI) Bill (the “Bill”). The Bill aims to establish a universal healthcare system supported by a National Health Insurance Fund (the “Fund”). As it stands, the Fund is expected to be financed by monthly employee payroll contributions and through general tax increases.
The Bill has advanced to the next stage and has been referred to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) for review and possible revisions. Once final, the Bill will be sent to the President for assent.
Lockton’s global benefits experts have compiled information on flu vaccines to assist multinational employers in evaluating the ability to provide preventive treatment to their global workforce.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government had previously introduced legislation increasing the number of UAE nationals who are working in the private sector by increasing quotas under its existing Emiratization framework. All private sector employers with at least 50 employees will be required to increase Emiratis’ proportion in the workforce to at least 10% of the workforce by 2026.
The Emiratization requirements which entered into effect on 30 June 2023 increased the Emiratization quota from a 2% to a 4% Emiratization quota.
On 1 July 2023, the Australian government increased the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) contribution rate by 0.5% to 11% of employees’ earnings. The SG rate is scheduled to increase by 0.5% each year until it reaches 12% of employees’ earnings on 1 July 2025.
European Union (EU) Directive 2023/970 on pay transparency (the “Directive”) which entered into force on 6 June 2023, requires each EU member state to pass legislation enacting the requirements as outlined in the Directive by 7 June 2026.
The goal of the directive is to further reduce or eliminate gender pay inequity within the EU through measures aimed at countering gender pay discrimination, through the collection and disclosure of pay gap data, compensation for those who have suffered pay discrimination, and penalties against employers for violations.
On 22 December 2022, the Dutch House of Representatives approved the draft bill of the Future of Pensions Act (in Dutch: Wet toekomst pensioenen – WTP). The legislation, which goes before the Senate in January 2023, aims to implement reforms of the Dutch supplementary pension system that were agreed upon between employers, employees, and the government in 2019. The WTP introduces several important changes, notably the obligation to provide occupational pension schemes on a defined contribution (DC) basis only instead of a defined benefit (DB) provision accrual.
The WTP will come into effect on 1 July 2023. A transition period until 1 January 2028, previously 1 January 2027, applies for employers and pension providers to implement the changes in consultation with the employees and/or their representatives.
May 16th, 2024: Insights into Employee Benefits in Central and Eastern Europe.
June 25th, 2024: Global Benefits Strategy, Findings from Lockton’s Multinational Employer Survey.