As part of a suite of reforms intended to prevent sexual harassment and gender-based harassment, the Australian Government has released a detailed code of practice under work health and safety legislation. The government’s...more
4/16/2025
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Australia ,
Employee Rights ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Policies ,
Harassment ,
New Legislation ,
Risk Management ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Workplace Safety
Following the introduction of a similar reform in Australia in January, New Zealand has now criminalized intentional wage theft by employers. As “intentional wage theft” doesn’t come with a specific legal definition under the...more
The Workplace Relations and Safety Minister for New Zealand announced late last year that the government would propose an earnings limit of NZD 180,000 (known as a “threshold”), beyond which employees would not be able to...more
As part of a raft of changes coming in the weeks and months ahead in relation to discrimination laws in Queensland, work health and safety rules are being amended to require relevant employers to implement a sexual harassment...more
2/24/2025
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Australia ,
Discrimination ,
Employee Training ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Health and Safety ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
State Labor Laws ,
Workplace Safety
A number of employment law reforms and requirements are hitting Australian operations over the next several months. Laws governing wage theft, the right to disconnect, shut-down notices, privacy, sexual harassment, and...more
10/18/2024
/ Anti-Harassment Policies ,
Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
Fair Work Act ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Notice Requirements ,
Sexual Harassment ,
Small Business ,
Unpaid Leave ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
A new General Labor Law (NGLL) was enacted by Law No. 12/23, of 27 December 2023, which came into force on March 26, 2024.The NGLL repealed the former General Labor Law (approved by Law No. 7/15, of June 15, 2015),...more
As employment-related artificial intelligence (“AI”) tools proliferate, multinational employers feel increasing pressure to deploy AI across their global offices. These tools can provide great value and efficiency across the...more
3/1/2024
/ Algorithms ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Bias ,
Data Collection ,
Data Protection ,
Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) ,
Data Security ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Responsibilities ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Innovative Technology ,
Intellectual Property Protection ,
International Data Transfers ,
Job Applicants ,
Notice Requirements ,
Personal Data ,
Popular ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Risk Management
Australia’s Senate on Thursday, February 8, 2024, passed a bill that would prevent an employer from contacting employees outside of work hours. The bill gives the employee the right to refuse to monitor, read or respond to...more
2/9/2024
/ Australia ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Off-Duty Employee Access ,
Off-Duty Employees ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Right to Disconnect ,
Wage and Hour
Under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (known as the Closing Loopholes Act), as of January 1, 2025, intentional underpayment of employees’ wages and certain benefits will be a criminal offense, with a maximum of 10 years’...more
This year’s Women’s World Cup, which kicked off on July 20, 2023, has been drawing record viewers both in person and on television. As viewers watch these teams compete, many wonder whether these athletes receive pay equal to...more
According to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), an Australian Government statutory agency created by the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012, the gender pay gap in Australia is 22.8%, with women on average earning...more
2/16/2023
/ Australia ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender Equity ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Reform ,
Pay Gap ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Wage and Hour
The Global Guide Quarterly (GGQ) is a newsletter Littler publishes on a quarterly basis to provide a general update on global labor and employment (L&E) law developments in key countries in the American, EMEA, and APAC...more
On January 20, 2023, Australia’s Fair Work Commission (FWC) issued an important decision that makes significant amendments to the Professional Employees Award 2020 (Award). Documents known as “modern awards” in Australia are...more
Welcome back to our World Cup series, where we compare various aspects of labor and employment law in some of the participating countries. We kicked off Parts One and Two of this series with vacation and sick leave...more
The World Cup is fast approaching! Over the course of the tournament, we will be publishing our own matchups, comparing various aspects of labor and employment law in some of the participating countries. In Part I of this...more
The World Cup starts November 20, 2022 and will end in mid-December. Soccer fans from around the globe will be tuning in for the matches, or perhaps even attending in person. We thought we’d set up our own employment law...more
Common Law Term of Reasonable Notice Not Displaced by Statutory Minimum Notice Period -
Precedential Decision by Judiciary or Regulatory Agency -
In a recent decision, the Federal Circuit Court held that the common law...more
2/8/2022
/ Australia ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employer Mandates ,
Employment Contract ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Work Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Infectious Diseases ,
International Labor Laws ,
Internships ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Vaccinations ,
Wage and Hour
The spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) across the globe remains a significant concern in the workplace. Employers are confronting difficult questions regarding how to handle safety and health rules, travel...more
3/11/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Australia ,
Best Practices ,
Business Continuity Plans ,
China ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Crisis Management ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Safety ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Health ,
Risk Management ,
Travel Restrictions ,
Traveling Employee ,
Wage and Hour ,
Workplace Safety
Australia -
Wage Theft Investigations. The Australia Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) 2018-2019 Annual Report, published by the government agency on October 20, 2019, found significant wage theft in the country over the past...more
12/5/2019
/ Australia ,
China ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee's Childcare ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Foreign Workers ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Hong Kong ,
India ,
International Labor Laws ,
Japan ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
New Zealand ,
Paternity Leave ,
Pension Funds ,
Political Speech ,
Protests ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Retirement Plan ,
Russia ,
Singapore ,
Social Credit System ,
Temporary Work Visas ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage Theft
From October 30, 2019, heavy penalties will apply to labor hire providers who operate without a license and to businesses that use unlicensed labor hire providers in Victoria. Similar schemes apply in Queensland (since 2018)...more
10/25/2019
/ Anti-Bullying Laws ,
Australia ,
Fair Work Commission ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Holidays ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Regulations ,
Leave of Absence ,
Legal Representatives ,
Licensing Rules ,
Social Media ,
Social Media Policy ,
Wage and Hour
Minimum Wage Increase -
New Legislation Enacted -
On July 1, 2019, employees under the national minimum wage and the modern award minimum wage (and in some cases, employees under a registered agreement) are set to...more
Workplace Changes for Workers in the Screen Industry
Proposed Bill or Initiative -
Key changes in New Zealand’s workplace relations for the screen sector workers are set to be implemented soon. The New Zealand government...more
New Zealand employers should be aware that there are several significant legislative changes to the Employment Relations Act 2000 (the Act) taking effect this spring. This article briefly reviews key amendments that recently...more
5/6/2019
/ Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) ,
International Labor Laws ,
New Zealand ,
Paid Leave ,
Rest and Meal Break ,
Unions ,
Wage and Hour
The new Australian Whistleblowing laws passed in Parliament on February 19, 2019, and will likely take effect in the next couple of months (July 2019) after it receives Royal Assent. The aim of the Whistleblower Act is to...more
4/19/2019
/ Australia ,
Biometric Information ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employment Contract ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Immigrants ,
International Labor Laws ,
Labor Relations ,
New Legislation ,
New Regulations ,
Retaliation ,
Visas ,
Whistleblowers
As a proposed Privacy Bill works its way through the New Zealand Parliament, key changes aim to strengthen the protection of confidential and personal information....more