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 […]
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 […]
On 30 May 2019, the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) enacted a new employment law which introduces statutory paternity leave and amends several provisions of the existing 2005 employment law, including sick leave pay and paid time off. The 2019 […]
The government of Mexico adopted a new regulation to identify, prevent and address psychological risk factors in the workplace. Regulation NOM-035-STPS-2018 was published in the Federal Official Gazette on 23 October 2018, and will enter into force on 23 October […]
The government of Romania has adopted Emergency Ordinance 26/2019 (the “Ordinance”), which provides female employees undergoing in vitro fertilization procedures with an additional three paid days off in their annual leave allowance. The Ordinance was published in the Official Gazette […]
The government of the Philippines passed a law expanding the maternity leave period from 60 days to 105 days, effective 8 March 2019. The extended period is fully paid for all female workers, regardless of their civil status. Key details […]
On 1 March 2019, the government of Spain issued a Royal Decree-Law 6/2019 equalizing maternity and paternity leave benefits by progressively expanding the duration of paternity leave from five weeks to a total of 16 weeks with pay. This new […]
The Health and Social Affairs Committee of the Kuwait National Assembly approved a draft law increasing the annual leave allotment from 30 days to 35 days of paid leave per year. This change applies to private sector employees, both Kuwaitis […]