The Belarus Government introduced significant changes in their 2020 labor code. Some significant highlights include legitimization of remote work, paternity leaves, relaxing of travel restrictions on working mothers, the extension of contracts, and more. Here are some of the main changes and what they mean for Belarus employers and employees.
The Republic of Panama is a place that is consistently thought of as a point of transit. Due to the geographical hosting of the Panama Canal, this place is rarely considered a destination, and instead commonly thought of as a pit-stop in a longer journey. However, with over 4 million permanent residents, a number of thriving industries (such as agriculture and importing/exporting), and the third largest GDP in Central America, Panama is a nation with a growing number of employers and investors from around the world. If you are considering opening up a workplace in Panama, there are a number of considerations to be made first.
Last year, major updates were made to the Employee Relations Act in Fiji which increased the benefits received by employees through the implementation of Family Care Leave and an increase in Parental Leave and Maternity Leave. On the other hand, employers have also begun to take a hardened stand against employment unions in the country.
Across Canada, most non-essential businesses have faced immense pressure to shut down their operations and this has created a number of issues with regard to temporary layoffs or furloughs across the country. In Canada, an employer does not have the right to temporarily lay off an employee unless it has been expressly agreed to in a contract. This has left many operations in jeopardy due to the fact that they have no work available for their employees, but they also don’t have the legal rights to temporarily layoff their workers.
Even prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, South Korea was fighting the issue of soaring unemployment rates across the nation. Now that coronavirus has devastated most of the country, the fight to lower the unemployment rate of the nation will be even harder. The manufacturing industry in South Korea had been in a period of slowdown for nearly two consecutive years with no sign of regaining momentum in a positive direction. In addition, jobs suitable for older employees (ages 40 and older) have also continued to decline across the nation. Overall, the unemployment status of the country was already troubling before COVID-19 came along.
Across the world, a number of emergency funds and new laws have been enacted to financially aid employees that have been laid off due to COVID-19. Each region offering these economic relief benefits has different eligibility requirements, from being laid off due to COVID-19 to interest free loans for small business, and deferred tax payments. However, while policies are still being created, there is one general area that is quite uncertain across North America – what do all of these laws mean for those that are freelancing in the gig-economy?
As of March 31, 2020, Australia has approximately 4560 confirmed cases of COVID-19. Based on the spread within the country, the government is encouraging employers to provide remote working opportunities to their employees in an attempt to slow the spread of infection. This puts businesses in an interesting situation where they are still attempting to keep operations running as close to normal as possible, while also protecting the health and safety of their employees.
Employees in Italy should continue to prepare for changing employment conditions based on the continued outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. New information is available daily, and employers should actively be notifying their employees of updates regarding what is expected of their performance in their specific roles for the foreseeable future. It is also up to the employer to ensure that employees in Italy have access to consistently updated information and know and understand where to access this information.
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