Employment law in 5: 5 developments to read for May in less than 5 minutes

Changes in home working regulations in Norway; the Swedish Employment Protection Act; Denmark’s tripartite agreement to address sexual harassment; and an important Supreme Court decision on post-employment confidentiality clauses in Finland are among the developments appearing in our latest Nordic Employment Law Bulletin.

Cross-Canada employment and labor update: On May 19, 2022, our lawyers from our Canada offices will host a 2-hour employment law webinar addressing issues facing employers as the world attempts to move beyond pandemic employment practices, including when, how and if to bring workers back into the workplace; managing workers compensation in a multijurisdictional, remote and/or hybrid workplace; and understanding the consequences of increased worker mobility. Our speakers will also provide a cross-Canada case law update covering relevant and instructive decisions from the past year. Register here.  

Employment law trends in the Media, Sport and Entertainment sector: On May 26, our lawyers on both sides of the Atlantic will discuss litigation trends in the Media, Sport and Entertainment sector, including status misclassification, wage and hour claims, and how to structure talent compensation agreements to minimize risk. Register here.

The German Federal Ministry of Justice has published a draft bill implementing the EU Whistleblower Directive. As anticipated, the scope of the proposed law is wider than the Directive. The most notable aspect of the draft law is that it permits corporate groups to use central whistleblowing channels, rather than requiring local channels for each group entity. Although this is a welcome development for multinationals with centralized compliance functions, the European Commission’s view is that group reporting systems do not meet the Directive’s requirements. It is therefore uncertain if this provision will remain in the final German law and, if it does, whether the European Commission will bring infringement proceedings for failure to properly implement the Directive. See our regularly updated Whistleblowing Tracker for information on when implementing laws are expected to be passed and to come into force in each country. 

A global trend over the last few weeks has been the removal of many longstanding COVID-19 measures. In the UK, the Working Safely guidance was withdrawn at the beginning of April and replaced with general public health guidance. On April 26, Singapore relaxed its COVID-19 regulations and lifted the vaccination requirement for workplaces. In South Africa the state of emergency came to an end and a new Code of Practice on Managing Exposure to COVID-19 in the Workplace came into force. In Italy, private sector employees under 50 years old are no longer required to have a valid basic COVID-19 Green Pass to access the workplace, and in mid-April in Austria the 3G requirement ended for most workplaces. Mandatory obligations to wear masks in most indoor workplaces have come to an end in Spain, Israel and Austria. In the US, states and localities continue to loosen or remove COVID-19 measures and guidance. For example, California updated its isolation and quarantine guidance to no longer require close contacts to quarantine after exposure. However, other measures remain in place. The Cal/OSHA Standards Board recently approved a newly revised version of its COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard. Also bucking the trend is Hong Kong, where another round of the Employment Support Scheme has been announced.