Family-friendly rights
The Hong Kong Government is pressing ahead with the preparatory work for drafting a bill to legislate paternity leave pay
Due to Hong Kong’s changing societal attitude towards a father’s responsibilities in the family and the public demand for granting leave to male employees around the time of childbirth, the Chief Executive, Leung Chun-Ying, announced in his Policy Address last year … Continue reading
Filed under Family-friendly rights, Jurisdiction: Asia
Australia: Does ‘flexible work’ really work?
Returning to work after a period of parental leave is a key crunch point in a worker’s career. Handled well, this transition can be a smooth and positive experience for employees and their employers, with win-win outcomes for them both. … Continue reading
Filed under Australia, Family-friendly rights
Australia: Further IR reforms remain on government’s agenda
The Federal Government recently released the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2013 (Bill), which includes further proposed changes to the Fair Work legislation. The reforms are a mixture of changes arising out of the Fair Work Act Review Panel’s Report released on … Continue reading
Filed under Australia, Employment law reforms, Family-friendly rights
UK: The Children and Families Bill – proposals to reform maternity and paternity rights
The Children and Families Bill published earlier this year includes provisions to implement the government’s plans for a new system of shared parental leave (SPL) and pay, first announced in 2011. The Bill contains little detail, which is to be … Continue reading
UK: Unpaid parental leave increase: 8 March 2013
From 8 March 2013, qualifying employees will be entitled to 18 (instead of 13) weeks’ unpaid parental leave per child. The right to request flexible working has also been extended to agency workers returning to work following a period of parental … Continue reading
Filed under Family-friendly rights, Jurisdiction: UK, Time off rights
UK: Consultations on Acas Codes: settlement discussions and flexible work requests
Acas has published an initial draft Code on settlement discussions, for consultation until 9 April 2013. This relates to the provisions in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to enable employers to hold termination settlement discussions prior to starting a … Continue reading
UK Government consultation: provisions for administering shared parental leave
The Government is consulting until 17 May 2013 on how the shared parental leave scheme to be introduced in 2015 (see here) should be administered – click here for the consultation paper. The power to introduce the scheme is contained in the Children and … Continue reading
Australia: Bullying, flexible work and unions: Implications for employers regarding proposed amendments to the Fair Work Act
Industrial relations is gearing up to be a significant issue in the upcoming Federal election. The Federal Government has recently announced its plans to introduce a second tranche of proposed changes to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the Act) flowing from the … Continue reading
UK: timetable for employment law reforms
BIS has published its Fifth Statement of New Regulations confirming plans to implement changes to the Equality Act 2010 (removing third party harassment provisions and the statutory questionnaire procedure) in March 2013. The right to unpaid parental leave will increase … Continue reading
UK: Children and Families Bill
On 4 February 2013 the Government published the Children and Families Bill which will introduce the new shared parental leave regime and the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees. The Bill includes powers to make regulations … Continue reading