Be Global: Employment law in 5

Top trends impacting global employers in 2024

Global employers are entering 2024 with myriad new challenges. In our report, we identify the top trends impacting global employers and share our predictions for the coming months. We have also produced country by country reviews of 2023 and previews of 2024 for over 40 jurisdictions across EMEA, Asia Pacific and the Americas. Access the full global report and country content on our GENIE site.

Prepare: Changes impacting the status of workers

New laws provide gig and platform workers with new rights and could make it easier for workers to be classified as employees. For example, in Europe, the Council and the European Parliament have reached an agreement on a proposed Directive that will provide employment rights to millions of platform workers. In the US, the Department of Labor’s final rule defining independent contractors under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) will make it easier to classify workers as employees (legal challenges are expected). In Canada, the British Columbia government extended significant protections to app-based gig workers.

Heightened working time / wage and hour risk

In addition to misclassification risk related to new laws on the status of workers, employers are facing new risks related to working time obligations. For example, a proposed law in Denmark would require employers to implement an objective, reliable and accessible system for recording working hours. In Germany, salary threshold changes in the Minimum Wage Documentation Obligations Ordinance took effect on 1 January (while employers await a final bill on the amendment of the German Working Time Act); in the US, changes to minimum wages and salary thresholds took effect in states and localities across the country, including New York. Meanwhile, the California Supreme Court held that trial courts lack inherent authority to dismiss Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) claims on manageability grounds.

Our new GENIE website is now live

In case you missed it, we relaunched our GENIE website in December with a new look and feel. GENIE is a resource for clients of DLA Piper and provides subscribers with access to global employment news, insights and events for over 60 jurisdictions across the world. If you are an existing GENIE subscriber, you will need to change your password when you log in for the first time. If you are not yet subscribed and would like client access, please contact our team.

We would also love to hear your feedback so that we can continue to develop GENIE. Please complete our short survey to tell us what you think.

Gender pay transparency guide

The latest edition of our global Gender pay transparency guide is now available on GENIE. This edition comes at a time when EU Member States will start turning their attention to introducing, or adapting, laws to meet the requirements of the EU gender pay transparency directive. Pay transparency obligation are a key focus for lawmakers elsewhere, including the US, Brazil and Canada.