New legislation in Costa Rica has created an opportunity for employees to work remotely from their homes instead of traveling into their offices each day. This legislation has been created as a method to create more jobs, and more job opportunities, for those that live in progressively rural areas throughout the country. In this regard, employees that work digitally or in IT related services are no longer required to live and work in large, urbanized areas.
Finland is finally discussing the creation of minimum wage regulations since sector specific minimum pay regulations have not existed in the country, which creates both more opportunities and risk for employees in the country. Since the 1970s, Finland has utilized collective bargaining practices in order to negotiate wage agreements. This has been the case both on a national level, as well as on an industry specific level.
Federal changes are finally in full effect in Canada as of Sept 1st, 2019 with regard to work life balance provisions in Part III of the Canada Labour Code. These amended policies have affected numerous work categories such as flexible work arrangements, additional leave types and other areas where more flexibility in the workplace was warranted.
While we know about the benefits of global talent attraction and how it can positively affect both organizations and employees, there is another side also worth discussing. As with any hiring practices, there are challenges that must be overcome to ensure that an organization is operating to the best of their abilities, while also still functioning as a socially responsible organization.
Gone are the days of only large multinational corporations having the ability to hire international talent. Thanks to the Internet and its virtual hiring options, the hunt for global talent is on the rise! The trend toward a globally distributed workforce benefits both businesses and employees. For example, businesses can now save money by hiring virtual assistants for their administrative needs for a lower cost than hiring an administrative assistant who is in the office each day. In addition, remotely located employees with desirable skills have the opportunity to work from home, without necessarily incurring the higher costs of living in big cities.
Another historical moment was created in Switzerland this year as thousands of women started a strike to bring many different organizational issues into the foreground of public conversation. Discrimination, gender wage gaps and underrepresentation of women in the work force are three major issues in the Swiss workplace and many employees are fighting for solutions. While Switzerland is commonly viewed as highly progressive and economically developed, women did not win the right to vote until 1971. This is a surprising since four out of the five countries that are Switzerland’s neighbors have had women voting since the late 1910s to mid 1940s (Liechtenstein is the last country bordering Switzerland where women won the right to vote only in 1984).
While the spring started out positively for those working in the Netherlands, the summer season hasn’t seen the same level of positive returns over the past few weeks. Even though from May to July of this year, there was a substantial increase in the number of working-age people (9 million of ages 15 to 74), the progress has not only stalled, but has also started to decline with 4000 people per month being laid off since the start of July.
After weeks and months of negotiations, Portugal is preparing for disruption as transport trucks are scheduled to begin their strike on August 12. The full magnitude of the strike has not been defined, but the nation is preparing all industries for material shortages and shipment delays. Truck drivers are some of Portugal’s most underpaid and overworked employees and face dangerous and harmful situations as they transport hazardous materials across the country daily.
With China’s economy slowing down, foreign-owned companies in China are facing increasing scrutiny in different aspects of their business, especially if they hire Chinese workers. As a whole, the Chinese government has become stricter about the business dealings of foreign companies, making it all the more important for foreign companies to be completely compliant with Chinese labor laws and standards (both national and local standards), while also providing ethical work conditions.
President Emmanuel Macron of France wants its citizens to work longer hours in an effort to increase the country’s tax revenues. Working 13 percent fewer hours than the OECD average, and 14 percent less than US workers, the full-time French working week, at 35-hours, is 3 hours shorter than those in the UK and other wealthy countries.