News Flash

Alberta’s Labour Minister, Christina Gray, has launched a review of the Employment Standards and Labour Relations Codes. Neither measure has been fundamentally changed in over three decades and there is concern that, in particular, the legal framework for maternity and

A second executive order banning immigration from a number of Islamic countries has been temporarily blocked by federal judges in Maryland and Hawaii. It now remains uncertain how far the new US administration can go to control immigration.

11.45am: The Scottish First Minister has confirmed that she will be seeking a Section 30 order to allow a second referendum on membership of the United Kingdom between the Autumn of 2018 and the Spring of 2019. This means that

The European Parliament’s civil liberties committee has voted to block visa-free travel by US citizens to EU countries in the schengen zone. This follows the refusal of US immigration authorities to allow visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries

Unemployment insurance in many provinces of China has been lowered from 1.5% to 1%. This concession will remain until April 30^th 2018. In Shenzhen, a total of 19812 enterprises have also applied for stability subsidies so far this year

FedEE’s 14-page data protection code of practice for multinational employers has now been published in the FedEE knowledgebase. This incorporates an annex that provides a model policy for pre-employment background checks. It is now our aim to seek approval from

News Note from the FedEE Secretary-General: As Brexit negotiations get nearer,  two leading UK politicians from opposition parties have spoken eloquently in opposition to the decision, pointing out that – contrary to what Brexit supporters say – it is not

The minimum wage in Hong Kong has remained unchanged at $32.5 (US$ 4.19) an hour since May 2015. However, the Executive Council has decided that it should be raised to $34.50 (US$4.45) on May 1^st 2017. The minimum wage

Although the laws of many bcountries prevent employers from discovering – or seeking to discover – spent or lower level criminal convictions of job applicants it may well pose a problem if the employee has to visit countries where a

The European Parliament has approved a visa waiver resolution for citizens of Georgia. If approved by the EU Council of Ministers it will allow Georgians with biometric passports to visit EU countries, Norway and Switzerland (but not the UK or

A committee charged with examining the introduction of mandatory gender quotas on company boards has decided to not pursue the matter any further. This is because after making soundings it was discovered to have little parliamentary support. The proposal would

The Supermarket chain Lidl has announced further expansion this year and, with it, salary increases averaging 9% on March 1st. Basic rates will increase for general store staff by ZL200 a month, bringing their range to ZL2750 to ZL3500l. Fork

The statutory minimum wage will rise in Quebec on May 1^st 2017 by 50 cents to $11.25 (US$ 8.42) an hour. This will be the first of four annual rises designed to bring the wage to $12.45 (US$ 9.32)

Income inequality is well known to be a growing problem, but can we believe all the figures? The leading charity Oxfam has just published a report stating that the world’s eight richest men own half of all global wealth. But