Effective 22 June 2023, Canada has extended the maximum duration of child death and disappearance leave for federally regulated employees. Effective 30 May 2020, Manitoba has increased bereavement leave and added miscarriage leave.
The Dutch government decided at the beginning of 2023 to eliminate the premium discounts that were historically available to group health insurance plans, known locally as collectives (collectiviteitskorting). This has left some employers reconsidering the value of a group plan and whether they should consider offering other benefits to offset the loss of the premium discount.
Three bills proposing additional, paid leave for parents whose babies require neonatal care, expansion of redundancy protections, and Carer’s leave received Royal Assent on 24 May 2023.
Law no. 13/2023 amending portions of Portugal’s labor law entered in to force on 1 May 2023
and contains provisions expanding parental leave entitlements and the right to request telework arrangements for parents of young or disabled children.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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).