Global Employers & International Expansion

Subscribe to Global Employers & International Expansion via RSS

Most US multinationals conduct regular pay equity audits, but for further insights into promoting equity and removing potential bias in compensation, companies are increasingly exploring adding performance ratings audits to the standard review cycle.

Performance ratings can often have a large impact on an employee’s rate of pay and/or bonus compensation. However, for many companies, performance ratings are discretionary, given by managers without specific guidelines or training to follow and without many (or any) checks and balances. In addition, considerations regarding leveling of job descriptions, both at the time of hire and as employees matriculate, may impact performance ratings. Because the results of a pay audit are only as good as the data inputs, it makes sense to take a closer look at how the underlying data comes to be.Continue Reading Taking Your Pay Equity Analysis To The Next Level: Performance Ratings Audits

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

[T]he reason diversity and inclusion and equity of thought drives innovation and creativity is because innovation and creativity aren’t born out of sameness, they’re born out of differences; but people will not share their differences unless they experience belonging.”

Ritu Bhasin

In this video, Baker McKenzie’s Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer, Anna Brown, moderates a…

Special thanks to guest contributors John Evason and Monica Kurnatowska.

The pandemic instantly proved that remote work is possible for a large swath of workers, but also brought a sharp focus on issues such as mental well-being, team engagement, productivity, data privacy and cybersecurity risks, and much more.

Simultaneously, as businesses were trying to…

Companies are facing critical business challenges in regard to their most important asset – their people. While workforce transformation is not a new concept for global organizations, the pandemic has forced us to rapidly adapt our standard ways of working and how we engage with employees to ensure the long-term viability of the business. We…

We are exited to invite you to our  two-part Annual Illinois Employer Update on February 2, 2021 from 1:00 – 2:15 pm CST and February 4, 2021 from 3:00 – 4:15 pm CST.

In two 75-minute virtual sessions, we will forecast what is likely to have the most significant impact on Illinois employers in 2021,…

Special thanks to guest contributors Narendra Acharya, Nicole C. Calabro, Denise M. Glagau, Sinead M. Kelly, Jennifer Kirk, Barbara Klementz, Lindsay A. Minnis, Aimee Soodan, and Brian K. Wydajewski.

It is almost the end of the calendar year and time for multinational companies to consider the…

The news that a COVID-vaccine is finally becoming a reality presents organizations with the possibility of returning to business as normal. While governments and health organizations are in the throes of planning their vaccination programs and pre-ordering the vaccines, with regulatory approval still pending in most countries, there is uncertainty about the timing, viability and…

Special thanks to Liliana Hernandez-Salgado and Maria del Rosario Lombera for this update.

On November 12, 2020, the President of Mexico, Andres Manuel López Obrador, sent a draft bill to dramatically change subcontracting (outsourcing) regulations applicable to private companies. If approved by Congress, the bill will significantly impact companies with outsourcing and insourcing (with dual…

Special thanks to Kevin Coon and Sanjay Khanna

Amidst the planetary emergency of climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic is testing modern civilization’s preparedness for shocks across spheres of finance, economics and technology; global, national and regional governance; global and population health; social cohesion and food security. While the vast majority of businesses around the world

…