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Special thanks to co-authors, Brad Newman and Julia Wilson.

Amid recent hype around ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence (AI), many are eager to harness the technology’s increasingly sophisticated potential.

However, findings from Baker McKenzie’s 2022 North America AI survey indicate that business leaders may currently underappreciate AI-related risks to their organization. Only 4% of C-suite level respondents said they consider the risks associated with using AI to be “significant,” and less than half said they have AI expertise at the board level.

These figures spotlight a concerning reality: many organizations are underprepared for AI, lacking the proper oversight and expertise from key decision-makers to manage risk. And if unaddressed, organizational blind spots around the technology’s ethical and effective deployment are likely to overshadow transformative opportunities while causing organizations to lose pace with the explosive growth of the technology.

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Original article published in World Economic Forum.

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Special thanks to co-presenter, Monica Kurnatowska.

The trend in increased pay equity-related reporting requirements for employers is just one reason more organizations are conducting pay equity audits to identify and correct pay variations between employees who perform similar work. The recently adopted EU Pay Transparency Directive (read more here) is one more law adding significant reporting obligations for employers, and likely fueling an increase in pay equity audits. But despite their advantages, pay equity audits can be complicated and risky for employers if not conducted carefully — and critically, with guidance from counsel.

In this fifth and final installment of ID&E IMPACT, our Labor and Employment team in the US and UK chat about what’s fueling the trending surge in pay equity audits, the risks and rewards, what organizations should keep top of mind in the pay equity review process, and what employers can expect as a result of the EU Pay Transparency Directive reporting requirement.

Click here to watch the video.

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As most California employers know by now, Senate Bill 1162 requires private employers of 100 or more employees (with at least one employee in California) to report pay and demographic data to the California Civil Rights Department (CRD) (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing). Complicating matters, the law was amended to add a requirement to report data regarding workers hired through labor contractors.  

The deadline for submitting pay data reports is May 10. If you are having trouble gathering information from labor contractors, you are not alone. So, if it looks like you might be late on the labor contractor employee report, we recommend seeking an extension from CRD through the portal ASAP. The good news is that extensions are available, but only for the labor contractor reports, and only through the portal. (Link here.) Requests for an extension must be submitted on or before May 10.

Continue Reading Last Call for Compliance: CRD Pay Reporting Deadline May 10, But Extensions Available
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Special thanks to Jose (Pepe) Larroque, Salvador Pasquel Villegas, and Martha Mayorga-Luna.

“Nearshoring” in Mexico is a hot topic for multinational companies considering moving business and manufacturing closer to home. COVID-19-era global supply chain disruptions and changes to the global economy are causing companies to reexamine their sourcing options and relocating to Mexico has much appeal. According to an analysis by the McKinsey Global Institute, in 2021, American investors put more money into Mexico – buying companies and financing projects – than into China. 

Our team is advising on both the business opportunities and the potential challenges from an employment perspective when transferring business services and production to Mexico. 

In this Quick Chat video, our Labor & Employment lawyers along with the Managing Partner for Baker McKenzie’s Mexico offices discuss key nuances of the new labor subcontracting laws in Mexico, the current labor collective environment, considerations for companies operating under an IMMEX Program, and more. Listen in for practical tips to navigate this new business horizon. 

Click here to watch the video.

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With special thanks to presenters Michael Michalandos (Australia), Jonathan Isaacs (China), Kenneth Chua (Philippines) and Celeste Ang (Singapore).

Our four-part Global Employment Law Fastpass for US Multinationals 2023 Webinar Series features US moderators welcoming Baker McKenzie colleagues from around the globe as they share the latest labor and employment law updates and trends.

In this session, US-based multinational employers with business operations in the Asia Pacific region hear directly from Joe Deng and local practitioners on the major developments they need to know, and come away with practical tips and takeaways to implement.

Please click here to view a recording of the webinar highlighting APAC.

Click here to view the program details and to watch recordings of any sessions you may have missed.

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Special thanks to co-presenters Luis C. Carbajo, Adriana Ibarra-Fernandez, Luis Adrián Jiménez Robles, Jose M. Larroque, Ma. Rosario Lombera González, Manuel Padrón-Castillo, Salvador Pasquel-Villegas, Javiera Medina-Reza, and Reynaldo Vizcarra-Mendez.

This year the Mexican government intends to raise an astonishing amount in revenue from large taxpayers and employers (Grandes Contribuyentes) without increasing tax rates or creating new taxes. To increase revenue, the federal government will significantly increase the number of audits and inspections touching on the areas of tax, customs and employment; accordingly, multinationals operating in Mexico need to prepare now for more intensive audits and inspections. 

This special emphasis on inspections and audits will significantly impact the human and financial resources of Mexican subsidiaries of multinationals. 

We are delighted to come together live in Mexico City with our Tax, Employment and Trade & Customs specialists to share experiences and offer comprehensive advice on this tough environment dealing with Mexican authorities. Our team has deep expertise and strong relationships with the authorities in Mexico and thus can share best practices and advice based on years of experience.

Among other topics, we will cover:

Continue Reading Join Us! Preparing for the Significant Increase in 2023 Audits and Inspections from the Mexican Government
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The Road Ahead Following the April 10 End of the National Emergency

We have all grown accustomed to hand sanitizer, 6-feet distance markings in hallways, face masks–and the back and forth of surging and waning COVID-19 levels in the workplace and the community. But with President Biden’s April 10 termination of the COVID-19 national emergency, can these pandemic mainstays–and employers’ pandemic policies and procedures–finally be relegated to a distant memory? Should they be? As Dr. Anthony Fauci said in a recent interview, “Everybody wants this outbreak behind us.”

Mapping the Road Forward

With little fanfare, on April 10, President Biden quietly signed a GOP-led resolution terminating the COVID-19 national emergency. Separately, on May 1 the Biden Administration announced an end to the federal COVID-19 vaccination requirements for federal employees, federal contractors, and international travelers on May 11, the same day the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency ends. The US Department of Health and Human Services and the US Department of Homeland Security also announced they will start the process to end vaccination requirements for Head Start educators, CMS-certified healthcare facilities, and certain noncitizens at the land border.

So can employers throw out all of their COVID-19 policies and procedures? Not quite.

Continue Reading Can US Employers Finally Leave COVID-19 in the Rearview Mirror?
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An updated New York State Sexual Harassment Prevention Model Policy (the “Model Policy”) is out. On April 11, 2023, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that the New York State Department of Labor (“NYSDOL”) finalized updates to the Model Policy, a template document New York State provides to help employers comply with state law. The updated guidance (the result of a collaboration between the NYSDOL and the New York State Division of Human Rights), addresses, among other topics, remote workers, gender discrimination, and retaliation–and provides a new interactive training video, a slide deck and other resources to help employers (and employees) comply with the State’s mandatory training requirements.

Though New York State employers aren’t required to use to the Model Policy (see more below), they may want to review their sexual harassment prevention policies and training in light of the updates and work with counsel to ensure their policies and training are still in compliance.

Continue Reading New York State Updates Its Model Sexual Harassment Prevention Policy: Is Yours Still in Compliance?
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California has required all employers to provide lactation breaks (unless they can show that to do so would “seriously disrupt” their operations) since 2020. The federal government caught up late last year with the Providing Urgent Maternal Protections for Nursing Mothers Act (PUMP Act).

PUMP Act — The Basics

Effective December 29, 2022, the PUMP Act expands workplace protections for employees with a need to express breast milk. The Pump Act amends the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), which required employers to provide lactating non-exempt employees with reasonable break time and a private location to express milk for one year following the birth of a child.

The previous law excluded most salaried employees, and the PUMP Act expands this right to cover all employees whether exempt or non-exempt. Now employers must provide all employees a reasonable break to express milk each time the employee has a need to express milk for one year after the child’s birth.

Continue Reading ICYMI: New Federal Obligations for Employers to Provide Breaks for Nursing Mothers and Reasonable Accommodations for Pregnant Women
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Special thanks to co-presenter, Marredia Crawford.

It’s common practice for companies to collect diversity data and use it to assist in analyzing the concrete benefits of current inclusion, diversity and equity (ID&E) efforts in the workplace, and for recalibrating ID&E goals. However, collecting and managing diversity data can be fraught with risk.

In this ID&E IMPACT video, Employment knowledge lawyer Autumn Sharp is joined by Director, ID&E of the Americas, Marredia Crawford and Labor and Employment lawyer Goli Rahimi to discuss what employers should be concerned about when collecting and managing diversity data, as well as some practical tips to help companies navigate this important but complex exercise.

Click here to watch the video.