Employment law at a glance - Clyde & Co

Employment law at a glance

an alliance of employers¡¯ counsel worldwide

An international guide

to employment law across

28 countries

An international guide to employment

law across 28 countries

Introduction

1

Europe highlights

2

Austria

6

Belgium

10

France

16

Germany

20

Italy

24

Luxembourg

28

The Netherlands

32

Norway

36

Poland

40

Romania

44

Spain

48

Sweden

52

Switzerland

56

UK

60

MENA highlights

64

Libya

66

Saudi Arabia

70

Qatar

74

UAE

80

APAC highlights

84

Australia

86

China

90

Hong Kong

94

India

100

New Zealand

104

Singapore

108

The Americas and

Canada highlights

114

Brazil

116

Canada

122

Mexico

126

USA

130

Introduction

In today¡¯s global economy all international businesses need advice that offers

integrated solutions to their global employment issues, particularly when they

are working across jurisdictions and juggling different regulatory requirements.

Clyde & Co¡¯s employment team are recognised leaders in the delivery of HR

legal services. Our experienced employment practices in the UK, the Middle

East and across Asia Pacific have a long track record of advising both local

and international businesses on employment issues, employee benefits and

immigration law.

In 2016, Clyde & Co became the official UK affiliate member of L&E Global,

an international alliance of law firms which specialise in labour relations,

employment and immigration law and employee benefits.

Clyde & Co has been working with members of L&E Global since the network¡¯s

inception in 2011 but has now formalised this relationship by becoming an

affiliate member. Together, we can provide our clients with the most effective

and efficient global HR legal support available in the market.

Our technically excellent advice is clear, concise and straightforward. We focus

on anticipating potential issues and offer creative, timely and constructive

solutions. We don¡¯t sit on the fence - we will give you an opinion. We also make

it our business to understand your priorities and commercial pressures so we

can ensure that your expectations are met.

This guide gives you a brief outline of the employment law regime across the

key jurisdictions covered by L&E Global and Clyde & Co. If you would like any

more details about these or any other countries, please contact:

Robert Hill

Clyde & Co

T: +44 (0)20 7876 6214

E: robert.hill@

Jeroen Douwes

L&E Global

T: +31 2 0344 6100

E: jeroen.douwes@

1

Europe highlights

European Union

Austria

¨C¨C EU employment law protects the rights of workers

across the EU. However, these laws often operate

differently in different member states as most EU

employment law is created at EU level and is then

brought into national law by each member state

¨C¨C Non-EU nationals must obtain an employment permit,

a work permit, and an exemption certificate or a

Red-White-Red card to work legally in Austria

¨C¨C Areas covered by EU law include:

¨C¨C Working time, part-time and fixed-term work

¨C¨C Legislation regulates basic employment protection

and entitlements, and practically every employer and

employee is subject to a collective bargaining agreement

¨C¨C Protection from discrimination, the protection

of pregnant workers and equal pay rights

¨C¨C There is no national minimum wage but salaries must

comply with collective bargaining agreement provisions

regarding industry-wide minimum salaries

¨C¨C Informing and consulting workers on workplace

issues, including collective redundancies and

business transfers

¨C¨C Austrian law does not restrict terminating employment

to specific conduct or causes.

¨C¨C Protection of employees¡¯ rights on a business transfer

¨C¨C Protection of personal data

¨C¨C Although the termination procedure differs for blue

and white collar workers, Austria is moving towards

unifying these procedures

Belgium

¨C¨C All labour documents and labour-related

communications with employees must be in Dutch,

French or German, depending on the location of the

employer¡¯s operating unit

¨C¨C The notice period regime, which applies to blue and

white collar workers, is based solely on length of service

¨C¨C Employer notice periods in Belgium are lengthy for longserving employees ¨C e.g. employees with eight years¡¯

service are entitled to 27 weeks¡¯ notice and with 17

years¡¯ service, to 54 weeks¡¯ notice

¨C¨C Well-being and anti-discrimination laws have great

importance in Belgian labour relations, in particular

in relation to the treatment of psychosocial risks in

the workplace

2

France

Italy

¨C¨C Usually, employees work 35 hours a week. Only hours

worked at the request of the employee¡®s superior will

be regarded as overtime

¨C¨C From 2015, new recruits gain gradual protection,

directly linked to their length of service

¨C¨C French employment law offers wide powers to

¡°representative¡± trade unions and also to elected staff

representative bodies

¨C¨C For indefinite term contracts, there must be real and

serious grounds for dismissal ¨C there are two types

of valid grounds: personal and economic

¨C¨C Severance payments are only awarded if the employee

has the minimum required length of service and this

is provided for in the relevant collective bargaining

agreement

¨C¨C New guidelines for awarding unfair dismissal damages

have recently been introduced

Germany

¨C¨C Employees who are not from the EU/EEA require a

residence title and work permit

¨C¨C A statutory minimum wage of EUR 8.84 per hour

generally applies to all employees in all sectors of

business. Aside from the statutory minimum wage,

there are special regulations and collective bargaining

agreements within certain sectors

¨C¨C Overtime pay is not expressly regulated by law, but

is subject to the employment agreement, collective

bargaining agreements and works council agreements

¨C¨C Trade union representatives support employees and

works councils, but do not have participation rights

within a company. However, works councils have

far-reaching co-determination rights, which limit

the employer¡¯s rights to unilaterally execute

certain measures

¨C¨C For each industry sector, there is a National Collective

Bargaining Agreement that regulates the employment

relationship

¨C¨C Poor performance is not a statutory reason for dismissal

¨C¨C The grounds of dismissal must be given in the termination

letter; failure to do so renders the termination invalid

¨C¨C Reinstatement is no longer the sole remedy for unfair

and wrongful dismissal; this has largely been replaced

by an award of damages, calculated on the basis of

length of service

Luxembourg

¨C¨C The labour market in Luxembourg is characterised by

the number of commuters from Belgium, France and

Germany, which represents over 50% of the labour force

¨C¨C The Labour Code came into effect on 1 September 2006

and regrouped all existing employment rules

¨C¨C The termination of contracts is strictly regulated by the

Labour Code with specified notice periods depending of

the employee¡¯s length of service

¨C¨C The right of workers to strike is implicitly guaranteed

by the Constitution under the freedom of association

but is only possible under specific conditions. A peace

obligation exists for the duration of a collective labour

agreement. Moreover, to be legal, every strike or lockout

movement must first be referred to the National Office

of Conciliation

¨C¨C Overtime is strictly regulated and is only permitted with

prior authorisation from, or notification to the Minister

for Employment

¨C¨C Due to the high level of protection against dismissal, it

is reasonably common for employees to challenge their

dismissal in court, where the parties often agree on

termination on the basis a severance payment is made

3

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