Browse through brief employment and labor law updates from around the globe. Contact a Littler attorney for more information or view our global locations.

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Regulations on Gender Pay Gap Reporting Published

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Authors: Niall Pelly, Partner, and Alison Finn, Senior Associate – GQ | Littler

The Employment Equality Act 1998 (Section 20A) (Gender Pay Gap Information) Regulations 2022 (the Regulations) were published on June 3, 2022. Employers will be required to identify a specified “snapshot” date of their employees in June 2022 and then report a set of data points, including: (i) the mean and median gap in hourly pay between male and female employees; (ii) the mean and median gap in hourly pay of part-time male and female employees; (iii) the mean and median gap in hourly pay between male and female employees on temporary contracts; (iv) the mean and median gap in bonus pay between male and female employees; (v) the percentage of male and female employees who received bonus pay; (vi) the percentage of male and female employees who received benefits in kind; and (vii) the percentage of male and female employees in each quartile pay band.

The Regulations provide further explanation on how to calculate the gender pay gap, including how to calculate an employee’s hourly remuneration, bonus remuneration and total working hours. The Government has also published a general guidance note and an FAQ for employers on gender pay gap reporting information. For the first two years, the Regulations will only apply to employers with at least 250 employees. In the third year it will apply to those with at least 150 employees, and from the fourth year onwards, will then apply to employers with at least 50 employees.

Extension of Parent's Leave and Benefit to Seven Weeks

New Regulation or Official Guidance

Authors: Niall Pelly, Senior Associate, and Alison Finn, Senior Associate – GQ | Littler

As of July 2022, parent’s leave has been extended from five weeks to seven weeks. The additional two weeks of parent’s leave will apply to parents of children who are under the age of two in July 2022, or adoptive children who have been placed with their parents for less than two years from July 2022. Parent’s benefit has also increased from five weeks to seven weeks for each qualifying parent.

Details of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 Published

Proposed Bill or Initiative

Authors: Niall Pelly, Partner, and Alison Finn, Senior Associate – GQ | Littler

The Government has published details of the Work Life Balance and Miscellaneous Provisions Bill 2022 (the Bill). The Bill will implement the EU Work-Life Balance Directive, which is due to be transposed by August 2022. It is proposed that the legislation will introduce a right to request flexible working for employees with children of up to 12 years of age (or 16 years where the child has a disability or long-term illness) and those with caring responsibilities. It also proposes to introduce a right for employees to take up to five days' unpaid leave each year to provide medical care for family members or those in their household and proposes to increase the period in which mothers are entitled to take paid time off work to breastfeed.