- How Mexico’s labor framework is shifting toward stricter enforcement, including for new
A Year of Workforce Transformation Prioritizing Fairness
As sweeping reforms converge to redefine workplace standards, employer responsibilities and employee rights, 2026 will require global businesses to balance rapidly evolving workplace regulation with the need to safeguard commercial interests.
Global regulation shifts in focus
Across the UK, the Americas and Europe, three key themes dominate: equity, openness and flexibility.
In the UK, the recent Employment Rights Act will broaden protection against unfair dismissal by reducing the qualifying period from two years to six months and removing the existing caps on compensation. These changes are anticipated from January 2027. The act will create other significant changes in 2026 and into 2027, including measures strengthening union influence; broadened thresholds for collective consultation and increased associated penalties for breaches; severe restrictions on imposing contractual variations, improved job security for zero- and low-hours workers; and broadened protections against harassment. In short, there will be a seismic shift to the compliance landscape. Employers will need to stay alert, as many of the finer details remain unknown.
The European Union is taking a proactive approach to strengthen its global competitiveness, aiming to boost innovation and economic growth. However, core worker protections are likely to remain strong with employers facing a wave of new regulation including the Pay Transparency Directive, the AI Act, and a revised framework for European Works Councils. Meanwhile, the Quality Jobs Roadmap forms part of the EU’s strategy to generate and maintain sustainable, high-quality employment. This potentially includes legislative measures to safeguard workers’ rights while adapting to ongoing technological, economic, and societal developments.
Recent employment law developments across Asia Pacific and Latin America also reflect a strong focus on worker protection, flexibility and fairness. Wage reforms are prominent, with South Korea and multiple Philippine regions announcing significant minimum wage increases, while Malaysia’s Gig Workers Bill enhances rights and security for nontraditional workers. Broader labor rights are evolving through measures like South Korea’s Yellow Envelope Act, which expands union protections, while Singapore’s Workplace Fairness Act seeks to ensure fair treatment for employees, including by providing greater protection against workplace discrimination. In Latin America, labor reforms are continuing, with Brazil seeking to strengthen equal pay compliance, Colombia modernizing its labor inspection regime, Mexico proposing reforms to strengthen workers’ rights and Argentina seeking to introduce sweeping changes to modernize labor relations while fostering competitiveness.
Overall, these changes underscore a regional trend toward safeguarding employee well-being, regulating digital work environments and ensuring equitable treatment across diverse employment models.Continue Reading A Year of Workforce Transformation Prioritizing Fairness
What’s On the Radar for Financial Institutions in 2026?
Our 2026 Looking Ahead Report explores the trends, developments, and emerging risks shaping financial services in the year ahead, covering topics like agentic AI in fintech, corporate fraud prevention, cybersecurity, workforce strategies, a regional spotlight on the Middle East and much more. Here is an excerpt:
Global workforce strategies for the financial sector
As financial institutions recalibrate their workforce strategies for 2026 and beyond, they face a rapidly shifting regulatory terrain shaped by geopolitical tensions, technological disruption and evolving societal expectations. 2025 has seen a marked acceleration in legal reforms and policy shifts across jurisdictions, with four key themes emerging at the forefront of employment and compliance planning. These trends are not isolated – they are interconnected, and they demand a proactive, globally attuned approach to workforce governance.
The Shifting DEI Landscape
While institutional diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs and practices have been subject to more legal scrutiny in the US this year, other regions—particularly EMEA and parts of Asia—are deepening commitments and expanding regulatory requirements. Major US-based financial institutions have scaled back public commitments to DEI, rebranding or removing references to diversity figures and programs in corporate filings, amid heightened political scrutiny under the current US administration. In contrast, many financial institutions across EMEA remain committed to robust DEI frameworks. For example, the UK’s financial regulators have proposed regulatory standards to embed diversity and inclusion into governance structures. And in South Africa, financial and insurance activities is a sector specifically identified under new affirmative action targets now in force. This divergence underscores the need for multinational financial institutions to carefully navigate DEI policy and goals with regional nuance, balancing local regulatory pressures with global values and workforce expectations.
Employers, including those in the financial sector, are under pressure (from both employees and government authorities) to increase transparency, particularly on workforce composition and compensation. In Brazil, for example, equal pay enforcement has intensified, with hundreds of companies inspected in the last year. Some of the significant changes include the US, where certain states, including California, require gender pay reporting, and shareholder activism is driving pay equity disclosures. In the EU, the Pay Transparency Directive requires member states to implement legislation by June 2026, with gender pay gap reporting starting in June 2027. Key requirements include: mandatory pay range disclosure; banning salary history questions; and employee rights to pay information with an increased role overall for worker representatives.Continue Reading What’s On the Radar for Financial Institutions in 2026?
From New York City to the European Union: Pay Equity Developments Multinational Employers Need to Know in 2026
On December 4, the New York City Council voted to override Mayor Eric Adams’ vetoes of two bills requiring annual pay reporting and pay analyses. These bills—requiring private employers to report pay data by race and gender and mandating a city-led pay equity study—are emblematic of a nationwide trend toward greater scrutiny of compensation practices.
As we dive into the new year, here’s what employers need to know about the new NYC reporting requirements, recent changes to pay data reporting requirements in California, Illinois and Massachusetts, and the upcoming EU Pay Transparency Directive.
While pay reporting laws focus on accountability and seek to enable regulatory oversight and systemic analysis of pay equity across organizations, pay transparency regulations emphasize visibility, aiming to enable applicants and employees to make informed decisions and reduce information asymmetry. A round-up of recent pay transparency developments is included.
New NYC Pay Data Reporting Requirements
New law (Int 0982-A) requires employers with 200 or more employees inclusive of full-time, part-time and temporary employees) in the city to file annual reports detailing employee race or ethnicity and gender information across certain job categories and different pay ranges. Although the pay-reporting requirements take effect immediately, employers are not required to submit information until the city creates a process for doing so, which we may not see until as late as 2028.
- Reporting Details: The new reporting requirements are similar to requirements imposed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (and similar to reporting requirements in California and Illinois). In 2017 and 2018, the EEOC previously called for employers to submit employees’ W-2 income information broken down by gender, race/ethnicity and job category (i.e., component 2 EEO-1 data), though the rules were rescinded during the first Trump administration. The new law requires the city agency overseeing this new initiative to include this component 2 EEO-1 data in the reporting requirements, but may also request additional data, such as information about employee gender identity or other demographics. Employers will not need to provide an employee’s personal information as part of the reports, but they will have the option to submit written remarks to provide explanations or context for the data in their submission. Additionally, employers may furnish data anonymously, but will required to submit a signed statement confirming that they provided accurate pay data.
Future-Focused: Our 2026 Checklist to Shift California Employers Into High Gear
As California continues to set the pace for employment law regulation, 2026 looks to be another high-speed race filled with sharp turns and new obstacles. From restrictions on repayment agreements and expanded Cal WARN notice requirements to stricter pay equity rules, and much more, California employers are entering a compliance race where every second counts.
Navigating Labour and Employment in Canada: What Global Employers Need to Know in 2025
As part of our newly launched Doing Business in Canada Guide 2025, Chapter 13 on Labour and Employment offers a comprehensive overview of the legal landscape that governs the Canadian workplace. Whether your organization operates under federal jurisdiction or within one of Canada’s provinces or territories, understanding the dual framework of employment regulation is
Navigating Pay Transparency: Focus on Germany (Webinar Invite)
The implementation of EU Pay Transparency Directive will come into effect in 2026, requiring companies to identify “equal” or “equivalent” positions and ensure they are compensated equally, regardless of gender. This assessment can be particularly challenging for companies with a large workforce in different jurisdictions.
To support in this effort we have developed a specialized
Strategic Moves Amid Uncertainty: Global Employment Law Update, Trends & Tips Fastpass Webinar Series 2025
Tune into our annual Global Employment Law webinar series as we bring the world to you.
Our Global Employment Law Fastpass webinar series is here again! Every June, we offer four regionally-focused webinars to help you stay up-to-speed on the latest employment law developments around the world. From tariffs and economic uncertainty to the use
*UPDATED* Yes, the EU CSRD Impacts US Multinational Employers Too
[UPDATE RE THE OMNIUS PROPOSAL HERE]
The European Union’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive is a regulation requiring covered companies to disclose information on what they see as the risks and opportunities arising from social and environmental issues, and on the impact of their activities on people and the environment.
The CSRD impacts not
End of Year Employment Law Updates! Tune in to our review / previews in California, Illinois, Canada and Mexico
2024 was a ‘super year’ for elections. Half of the world’s population – some 4.7 billion people – went to the polls in 72 countries. Political shifts often lead to significant changes in employment laws. We’re here to help you prepare for the changes ahead and to stay ahead of the curve on employment law developments