People-in-foyer

Global HR Newsletter

International HR updates digest: May 2025

Stuart Buglass, Partner, HR Advisory, Global Business Solutions
02/05/2025
People-in-foyer

As  an international employer, it is essential to stay up-to-date with all the regulatory changes that impact your people. Our specialists have compiled useful information on recent and upcoming changes to HR compliance from around the world.

This month's edition highlights Canadian court rulings on termination clauses and upcoming provincial labour law changes. It also discusses employer liability under the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023, as well as a recent case regarding protected beliefs.

Global HR Newsletter
2025 international HR updates digest: June 2025

Americas


Canada

Reminder on the need for fresh consideration

A fundamental element of a valid contract in common law countries such as Canada is the requirement for valid consideration from both parties and this includes any subsequent changes to the contract.

In a recent BC Supreme Court decision, the issue of valid consideration was at the heart of an employment dispute, In Adams v Thinkific Labs Inc the employer was a software company which issued an offer of employment to the plaintiff which despite being very detailed did not include a termination clause or any provision for non competes. The plaintiff accepted the offer. Later that same day, Thinkific sent the plaintiff an additional document which included a detailed and extensive termination and non-competition provisions, and which was duly signed by both parties. The plaintiff was employed for two years until May 2023 when she was terminated without cause. She claimed wrongful dismissal and her lawyer claimed that she was only bound by the terms in the original document that was issued and not the second document which included the termination and non-compete clauses because she did not receive separate consideration for the duties outlined in this document. The court agreed finding that the second document has no force and awarded her a common law notice period of five months ( a notice period which could potentially have been avoided if the terms in the second document had had contractual force). The case is a warning against drip feeding employment terms unless they are supported by additional consideration (such as a sign-on bonus etc).

Further changes to Ontario’s labour regulations

Onatario’s labour reform has come through a series of bills referred to as the Working for Workers Acts of which the latest in the series, the Workers for Workers Six Act, received royal assent on 19 Dec 2024.

Employers should be aware of the following upcoming change.

  • 19 June 2025 – new long-term illness leave: employees with at least 13 weeks service they will be entitled to an unpaid leave of up to 27 weeks in every 52 week period if they can’t perform their duties to a serious illness.
  • 1 July 2025 – employment information: Ontario employers who employ 25 or more employees must provide the following information to a new hire before their first day of work : legal name of the employer, contact information, general description of place of work, the starting salary and other wage elements, the pay period, and details of the hours of work.
  • 1 January 2026 – job posting information: for publicly advertised vacancies by employers with 25 or employees the amendments to the Employment Standards Act will require details on the compensation (or a range of compensation, which cannot be more than C$50,000) with the exception of roles with compensation over C$200,000 which are exempt from the requirements. Additionally, it must be disclosed if AI is used in the selection process and also details of whether the advert is for an existing vacancy. Employers are prohibited from requesting Canadian experience as a candidate requirements.

Additionally, at some point this year it is anticipated a new child placement leave will come into force whereby employees with at least 13 weeks service will be entitled to 16 weeks of unpaid leave after the placement of a child into their care through adoption/surrogacy.

Asia Pacific


Australia

Federal Election results – what it means for employers

The Australia Labour Party (ALP) were re-elected into power following a tightly contested general election. For employers the result provides some degree of certainty- essentially its business as usual - however there were a number of notable areas of reform promoted by the ALP during their campaign summarised below:

  • A ban on non-competes: the ban would apply to workers earning below the High-Income Threshold (currently £175,000 /yr) and would only be implemented following extensive consultation.
  • Minimum wage increases: the ALP have recommended an ‘economically sustainable real wage increase to Australia Award workers’ which will aligned with inflation.
  • Paid parental leave for parents of stillborn children: the Fair Work Act will be amended to include wording to ensure employer paid parental leave entitlement is not withheld because a child is stillborn, or the child dies during the period of paid parental leave.
Hong Kong

Changes to ‘continuous contract’ rule

Currently under the Employment Ordinance an employee is deemed to be engaged under a ‘continuous contract’ if they have been employed by the same employer for four weeks or longer and have worked for 18 hours or more week.

Employees under a ‘continuous contract’ have increased rights over those that do not – namely access to annual leave, sick pay, maternity and paternity leave, severance pay etc.

The current rule is harsh on employees who only occasionally drop below 18 hours of work per week and are denied employment rights as a result.

To rectify this the Government has proposed that the 4-18 rule will be amended so that an employee will be deemed to work on a continuous contract if the work continuously for four weeks or more and for 17 ours or more per week OR for an aggregate of 68 hours or more during a four week period.

So far, no date has been announced for the change. 

Abolishment of MPF Offsetting

The government has announced the abolition of using the accrued benefits derived from employers' mandatory contributions under the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) System to offset Long Service Payment (LSP) and Severance Payment (SP) offsetting arrangement, effective May 1, 2025 (the Transition Date).

From the transition date onwards:

  • The accrued benefits derived from the Employer's MPF Mandatory Contributions cannot offset the employee's LSP and SP in respect of the years of service from the Transition Date. However, it can continue to offset the employee's LSP/SP in respect of the years of service before the Transition Date.
  • The accrued benefits derived from the Employer's MPF Voluntary Contributions and gratuities based on the years of service of the employees can continue to offset the LSP/SP of the employees (irrespective of the years of service before or after the Transition Date).
  • Please note that the abolition of the offsetting arrangement is not retroactive. For employees employed before the Transition Date, MPF accrued benefits derived from Employer Contributions throughout the employee’s whole employment period, no matter if the contributions are mandatory or voluntary, and whether they are made before, on, or after the Transition Date, can still be used to offset LSP/SP for service years prior to the Transition Date.

European Union


Belgium

Non solicitation clauses now subject to a compensation

Non solicitation cases designed to prevent an ex- employee from poaching employees and clients have for some time been subject to a requirement for reasonableness in their geographical scope and duration. However, a recent Mons Labour Court decision has added a requirement for the employee to receive compensation during the duration of the restriction matching the existing requirement to compensate a former employee for a non-compete.

The court’s approach has raised eyebrows, and it remains to be seen whether future cases will follow the same approach.

Germany

Continues to relax its rules on hard copy, wet inked employment documents

Earlier this year the Fourth Bureaucracy Relief Act came into effect introducing significant changes to the form of documentation required in employment. The ‘written form’ requires an original hard copy document to be wet signed and was a requirement for employment contracts until January 2025 when the requirement was relaxed to allow ‘text form’ which simply requires that agreements are in a durable medium with a legible declaration – therefore electronic documents signed electronically are now enforceable (other than for fixed term contracts which still require the ‘written form’). 

Now effective from 1 May 2025 requests from an employee for parental leave or part time parental leave can be submitted digitally to their employer without the requirement for a wet-ink signature, and likewise a refusal from an employer to an employee’s request can take a similar form. This does however demand increased vigilance from the employer given that an employee will have protection against dismissal as soon as their email has been submitted and its no longer the case that the employer can rely on the absence of true ‘written form’ to deny an employee their protection.

Set bonus targets early or face the consequences

A recent case before the Federal Labour Court serves as a reminder to German employers that targets for variable compensation must be set in good time otherwise the employee could be entitled to their full target figure as a bonus regardless of performance.

In this case the employer was subject to a collective agreement which stipulated targets would be set by 1 March of each calendar year. In 2029 the targets were only provided in October, and the employee was terminated in November whereupon the employee claimed payment for 100% of his target bonus of €16,000. The court found in favour of the employee. Employers are advised to set targets well in advance of the start if the new bonus year and document their communication with their employee.

Planned increase to commuter allowance

The commuter allowance has remained unchanged at 30 cents per kilometre for more than twenty years, even though since 2021 there has been an additional charge of 5 cents starting from the 21st kilometre, and from 2022 of 8 cents. In the coalition negotiations, CDU/CSU and SPD agreed to grant this higher commuter allowance of 38 cents per kilometre starting from 2026 for the first kilometre. Unless the employee lump sum is significantly increased as well, the number of taxpayers claiming the commuter allowance will significantly rise starting in 2026.

Ireland

Employer was not data controller for non-work related personal data held on work phone

Under the provisions of the GDPR a data controller has the responsibility, and liability, for the personal data under their control. In McShane v Data Protection Commission (DPC) McShane was employed by the Ireland Health & Safety Executive (HSE) and complained to the DPC that personal data on his work supplied phone was unlawfully breached and as a result he lost €1400 from his cryptocurrency account. The DPC dismissed the claim on the basis that the HSE was not the data controller of the non-work related personal data held on the phone. The fact that the HSE had a staff policy that prohibited non-work related use of their phones was a persuasive factor in the case and therefore employers are advised to operate an acceptable use policy to avoid liability for non-work personal data.

New gender pay gap platform

On 8 March the government announced that in scope employers will be required to use a new portal for gender pay gap reporting. This year the headcount threshold for gender pay gap reporting was reduced so that employers with 50 or more employees are now considered to be in scope.

The portal will be launched in Autumn this year ahead of the November reporting deadline.

As a refresh employers are required to report on the following

  • Differences as a percentage between mean and median hourly rates of pay of female and male employees.
  • Differences as a percentage between the mean and median bonuses of female and male employees.
  • The percentage of female and male employees paid a bonus.
  • The percentage of female and male employees receiving a benefit in kind.
  • The percentage of female and male employees falling within remuneration pay bands.

Contractual retirement age changes

The Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 is currently progressing through parliament. The Bill seeks to allow employees subject to contractual retirement ages below the State Pension Age (currently 66) to object to retirement – on receipt of an objection the employer will only be able to enforce retirement if it can be objectively and reasonably justified.

Norway

Increased clarity on ‘psychological work environment’

The Working Environment Act sets out a duty on the employer to regulate the psychosocial work environment however without any clarification on the requirements.

The government has proposed revised wording introducing a new paragraph stating that work must be organised, planned, and carried out in such a way that the psychosocial work environment factors in the enterprise respect an employees’ health, safety, and well-being. A second paragraph will be added several factors that an organisation should focus on, which include:

  • unclear or conflicting demands/expectations
  • emotional demands and strain in connection to work involving people
  • workload and time pressure resulting in an imbalance between work permed and the time available
  • support and assistance available.

The government has stressed that the revisions don’t actually change the responsibilities of an employer given that there has always been a duty to consider the psychosocial aspects of the working environment – however the update does provide additional focus on an area that was previously ignored by many employers who should now be guided to take proactive steps to ensure that they are operating a safe working environment for their employees.

Poland

Proposed changes to health contribution for entrepreneurs

The Ministry of Finance has announced that there will be changes made to the way the social security health contribution is calculated for entrepreneurs (self-employed). From 1 January 2026 there will be a basic flat rate of 9% of 75% of the minimum wage and 4.9% applied to income in excess of 1.5 times the State average monthly salary (the rate will be 3.5% on income that exceeds three times the threshold).

Plans for salary transparency provisions

A parliamentary bill to update the Labour Code requiring the disclosure of all components of salary and benefits to candidates in addition to ensuring adverts are gender neutral and non-discriminatory has been reduced in scope – however it is still hoped that the bill is robust enough to have a positive impact. A date has yet to be announced for its launch.

Spain

Electronic Billing Deadline extension

Although the electronic billing law came into force in 2022, last Tuesday, April 1, the Council of Ministers approved the extension of the deadline, until 2026, for companies and professionals to adapt their invoicing programs to the new electronic invoicing obligations. Specifically, legal entities must do so until January 1, while the self-employed will have until July 1 next year.

Slovakia

Increase in nursery, cultural and meal vouchers

The value of nursery, cultural and meal vouchers will increase from April; accordingly, nursery vouchers will increase by 10 lei, and meal vouchers by 14 bani, in the first semester of this year. Furthermore, an order already published in the Official Gazette provides the increase of cultural vouchers as well.

Approval of the procedure for the application of the 3% tax incentive

Following the enactment of Emergency Ordinance No. 107/2024 on the regulation of certain fiscal-budgetary measures, the Ministry of Public Finance has adopted the procedure for the application of the 3% tax credit, applicable to taxpayers liable to corporate income tax or microenterprise tax for the 2024 fiscal year, or for the amended fiscal year commencing in 2024.

Furthermore, the standard templates for the issuance, amendment, or revocation of the Decision granting the 3% tax credit have been approved.

UK

Unlawful deductions – two-year backstop  under doubt

Since 1 July 2025, tribunal claims in connection with wages have been subject to a two-year backstop, with the result that an employer could be confident that their liability didn’t stretch back further than this. However, in the recent case of Afshar and others v Addison Lee Limited the Employment Tribunal held that the two-year backstop is ultra vires, and that the employee could claim for losses extending back further than two years. Given that the decision was just a first instance tribunal decision, it is not binding on future cases, but it is an interesting development worth monitoring against future tribunal decisions.

Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023

From 1 September 2025, employers may be held criminally liable for an employee’s fraud where it is intended to benefit the employer, or in some cases a client, and the employer did not have reasonable fraud prevention procedures in place. Employers are advised to ensure that appropriate staff policies and processes are put in place or existing policies reviewed.

The thorny issue of protected beliefs

In a recent Court of Appeal case (Higgs v Farmor’s School), the court held that the dismissal of an employee for expressing gender critical beliefs was unfair. The claimant in the case was the school’s pastoral administrator and had expressed ‘homophobic and prejudiced views’ on her Facebook page in which she objected to government policy on sex education in primary schools and the perceived promotion of gender fluidity. The posts were posted in the claimant's maiden name, did not refer to the school and were mainly quoted from other sources. The claimant claimed against the school for direct discrimination and harassment on the grounds of religion nor belief.

The Court of Appeal found in the claimant's favour, stating that if an employee is terminated for expressing a religious or other protected belief, this will constitute unlawful direct discrimination. They also commented, however, that if the termination was not due to the belief itself but because of something objectionable inn the way that the belief was expressed (manifestation of beliefs) a termination can be lawful so long as the employer can objectively justify their decision. The burden of proof is on the employer to prove all of the following:

  • the employer's action was in response to something objectionable or inappropriate in the way the belief was manifested
  • in taking action, the employer had a legitimate aim; it was seeking to protect
  • the action taken was proportionate (does the benefit of the action outweigh the potential harm to individual rights, and was there a less intrusive action to meet the same aim).

The forum, context, content and manner of what is said are relevant to what is proportional and the Court in this case held that the termination was not proportionate, given that she was a long serving member of staff and her comments were not grossly offensive and had not negatively impacted the reputation of the school.

The case is a reminder to employers that a broad range of beliefs are capable of protection under the Equality Act, even if they are offensive to others, and their actions need to be considered and proportionate so as to avoid potential risk.

Rate changes effective from 6 April 2025

  • National Insurance (social security) Contributions for employers will increase from 13.8% to 15%.
  • The salary threshold for when National Insurance Contributions are payable is reduced from £9,100 to £5,000.
  • National Minimum Wage will increase: £12.21/hr for those aged 21 years or older (up from £11.44), £10.00/hr for those aged 18-20 (up from £8.60), and £7.55 for apprentices (up from £6.40).
  • Statutory Sick Pay increases to £118.75 per week (up from £116.75).
  • Maternity, paternity, adoption, shared parental, and bereavement leave pay increases to £187.18 per week (up from £184.03).
  • Statutory Redundancy Pay weekly wage cap increases from £700 to £719.

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Stuart Buglass
Stuart Buglass
Partner, HR Advisory, Global Business Solutions