In recent years, the fight against sexual harassment in the workplace has gained significant traction, driven by movements like #MeToo and growing awareness of the pervasive nature of the issue. The public is increasingly calling for stronger protections and preventative measures to ensure they can work free from harassment. In response to this, the UK ..read more

An analysis of the landmark victory for female retail consultants against British retailer Next plc Introduction More than 3,500 current and former female retail consultants have won a six-year legal battle for equal pay against British retailer Next plc (Next). In a significant judgment, Leeds Employment Tribunal ruled that Next had failed to justify paying ..read more

By Nicki Milionis, Isobelle Martin and with thanks to Amy Moore In July, the Queensland Government announced a “nation-leading” regulatory reform requiring persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to proactively address workplace sexual harassment and sex or gender-based harassment.  The first tranche of these changes will take effect from 1 September 2024, following the ..read more

Introduction Lorsqu’un syndicat souhaite représenter certains employés chez un employeur, il doit d’abord transmettre une requête en accréditation au Tribunal administratif du travail (le « TAT ») puis démontrer qu’il a l’appui d’une majorité de ces employés (50%+1)[1]. Or, afin de vérifier que le syndicat bénéficie bel et bien de cet appui majoritaire, le TAT doit d’abord ..read more

By Nicki Milionis and Yasmine Sahihi On 2 August 2024, Safe Work Australia announced that the Work Health and Safety (WHS) ministers had accepted recommendations to revise the incident reporting framework of the model WHS Act, including in relation to notification of psychosocial hazards and psychological harm.[1]  At the time of writing, the relevant communique ..read more

On 17 July the new Labour Government published the King’s Speech in which it announced that the government is committed to securing economic growth by a new partnership with business and working people and is committed to make work pay and will legislate to introduce a new deal for working people to ban exploitative practices and enhance employment rights. Two bills have been introduced to deliver this promise: The Employment Rights Bill and Draft Equality (Race and Disability) Bill. It is proposed that the former will be introduced within the first one hundred days marking a significant step ..read more

Following extensive negotiations, the Council of the European Union (EU) formally adopted the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (the CS3D) on 24 May 2024.  Once fully implemented, both EU and non-EU companies, as well as their ‘upstream’ and ‘downstream’ value chains (or “chain of activities”), will be subject to mandatory human rights and environmental oversight.   Once implemented, CS3D will have important consequences for South African companies that form part of the chain of activities or that generate a large part of their net turnover in the EU. CS3D requires aff ..read more

Dans notre précédent blog du 13 février 2024, nous avions évoqué le revirement de jurisprudence opéré par la Cour de Cassation concernant les règles applicables aux congés payés des salariés en arrêt maladie. En effet, alors que le droit français ne permettait pas d’acquérir des congés payés durant un arrêt de travail d’origine non professionnelle, le 13 septembre 2023, la Cour de Cassation a jugé que le droit français n’était pas conforme au droit européen et que par conséquent l’acquisition de congés payés pendant un arrêt maladie devait s’appliquer à tous les salariés quelle que soit l’orig ..read more

On 16 May 2024, the UK government launched a consultation paper setting out proposed amendments to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) and abolishing the legal framework for European Works Councils (EWCs). This follows the policy paper published in May 2023, “Smarter regulation to grow the economy”. Despite the general election and the dissolution of Parliament, the consultation remains open.  It remains to be seen what will happen as a result of any general election. TUPE  The new consultation proposes to: Clarify the scope of TUPE to lim ..read more

Authors: Katherine Morris, Michael McCrea Introduction A recent decision of the District Court of New South Wales has clarified the content, nature and extent of an officer’s duty to exercise due diligence in relation to safety matters under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) (WHS Act). Persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) have a primary duty of care under s 19 of the WHS Act to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health and safety of workers whilst at work in the business or undertaking. A PCBU must also ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that the ..read more