European Union

Subscribe to European Union
Listen to this post

Many thanks to our colleague in London, Julia Wilson, for co-presenting.

An influx of high profile whistleblowing cases have made headlines in recent years, and claims (and awards) are on the rise. At the same time, more defined and greater protections for whistleblowers are coming into play in the US, UK and…

Listen to this post
Listen to this post

Special thanks to guest contributors Monica Kurnatowska, Bernhard Trappehl and James Brown.

In brief

The EU Commission has proposed a directive that would reinforce the entitlement to equal pay for men and women for the same work, or work of equal value, including by giving employees the right to comparative pay information and by requiring gender pay gap reporting for employers with 250+ employees, amongst other measures. Some EU member states already have aspects of these rules, while others do not, meaning that the rules could be a significant additional compliance burden for some organisations. The rules, if adopted, would be unlikely to come into force before late 2024.

Key takeaways

The EU Commission has proposed a new directive on pay transparency. If adopted, it would:

  • Require measures to ensure employers pay the same work, or work of equal value, equally.
  • Require employers to provide initial salary (or salary range) information to job applicants, pre-interview.
  • Prohibit employers from asking job applicants about salary history.
  • Create a right for a worker to request information about:
  • Their own pay level
  • Average pay levels, broken down by gender and categories of workers doing the same work / work of equal value
  • Require gender pay gap (GPG) reporting for employers with 250+ employees.
  • Create joint pay assessments if:
  • GPG is 5%+ for any category of workers doing the same work or work of equal value, and
  • employer has not justified the GPG.

Based on previous experience, we estimate that these proposals, if adopted, would need to be implemented by sometime in late 2024.…

Continue Reading European Union: Commission Proposes Pay Transparency Rules to Secure Equal Pay

Listen to this post

Employers and their workforce are waking up to news this morning of further US travel restrictions given the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the restrictions affect most travelers from the European Union (EU). The following are highlights of what you need to know today:

Foreign nationals who have visited the Schengen Area in the past 14…

Listen to this post

In June, Theresa May resigned as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, saying it was in the “best interests of the country for a new prime minister” to lead Britain through the Brexit process.

In July, Boris Johnson won the Conservative Party’s leadership and he became the Prime Minister of the UK on July…

Listen to this post

On May 14, the European Court of Justice ruled that Member States are required to impose an obligation on employers to establish an objective, reliable and accessible system that keeps a daily record of the hours worked. However, Member States have some discretion as to the system that is used to record working time, which…