Our Future of Work Report indicates that while economic headwinds have reduced the prospects of activism over the last 18 months, employers expect a resurgence of activism in the future. It is important for employers to be aware of the legal protections in place for employees who choose to blow the whistle against their employer…

On 16 April 2024, Singapore’s Ministry of Manpower (MOM) announced that the Tripartite Guidelines on Flexible Work Arrangement Request (Guidelines) will come into effect on 1 December 2024 and replace the existing Tripartite Advisory on Flexible Work Arrangements issued in 2014 as well as the Tripartite Standard on Flexible Work Arrangements introduced in 2017.
Under…

On 22 March 2024, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) officially issued and implemented the “Regulations on Promoting and Regulating Cross-Border Data Flow” (Data Flow Regulations). These regulations will greatly facilitate employers in implementing cross-border transfer of employee data. This update will summarize the key content of the Data Flow Regulations.
Before the implementation of…

The recent Court of First Instance decision in Manulife Financial Asia Limited v Kenneth Joseph Rappold & ors [2024] HKCFI 989 emphasises the importance of carefully drafted non-compete restraints with regard to geographical scope, degree of specificity regarding confidential information and consequences of misuse, and duration. In assessing the justification for relief for alleged breach…

The Occupational Safety and Health (Amendment) Act 2022 (OSH Amendment Act) will come into effect on 1 June 2024. The OSH Amendment Act expands the applicability of existing safety duties under the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 (OSHA) to most workplaces, and introduces new safety obligations and increases penalties for safety violations.
Extension of…

The Supreme Court has ruled that UK trade union legislation is incompatible with the European Convention of Human Rights in failing to prohibit detriment (short of dismissal) for taking part in lawful industrial action.   It is now for Parliament to legislate to delineate the required protection.  Until then, the position for private sector employers is…

The EAT has given some guidance on holiday pay claims following the Supreme Court’s decision in Agnew last year that workers can bring a ‘series of deductions’ claim for underpaid holiday notwithstanding a three month gap between deductions (see here).  Deductions need to be sufficiently similar and sufficiently temporal to form part of a…