The retail sector has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result employers therein might be considering dismissing employees for economic or technical reasons. Employers must be aware that most joint committees in the retail sector have entered into collective bargaining agreements obliging employers to first take measures to avoid dismissals and, if dismissals cannot be avoided, to comply with a specific procedure.

As of 4 November 2020 and 11 November 2020, the government introduced new COVID-19 restrictions, including the limited order to stay at home between 8:00pm and 5:00am. The law treats employment and business-related travel as a key exception from the rules. Thus, for business purposes, not only is cross-border travelling allowed, but so is travelling during curfew hours.

The mass move to homeworking triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the increasingly blurred boundaries between work and home and reignited the debate on the right to disconnect. Notwithstanding the protection afforded to employees under existing working time rules and health and safety legislation in Ireland, the current legal framework is inadequate to ensure a genuine right to disconnect. It remains to be seen how the government will choose to tackle the issue.

The Supreme Court recently ruled on whether hired personnel were entitled to a company bonus on an equal footing with permanent employees and apprentices in the company in which they were hired pursuant to the equal treatment rule in Section 14-12a of the Working Environment Act. This article analyses the ruling and highlights the key points for employers.

During the COVID-19 pandemic many companies have decided to let their employees work from home. However, the issue of remote work is often problematic for Polish employers as it is not regulated in the Labour Code, which regulates only telework. The current regulations have not kept up with the changing circumstances and therefore pose difficulties regarding interpretation for employers. Employers should be careful and monitor both the situation and opinions presented by officials.

Due to recent changes to the Posting of Workers Act, foreign employers may need to follow Swedish employment conditions for posted employees to a greater extent than before. In addition, Parliament has approved a proposal to introduce a so-called 'economic employer' concept in Sweden. Consequently, many foreign employers will also need to register with the Swedish Tax Agency in order to comply with Swedish tax reporting standards on a monthly basis.

The High Court recently ruled that the United Kingdom has failed to properly implement EU health and safety law by restricting protection from detriment on health and safety grounds to 'employees'. The extension of such protection to the broader category of 'workers' potentially increases employers' exposure to COVID-19-related health and safety claims.

The Home Office has issued new guidance for sponsors which replaces the Tier 2 and Tier 5 sponsor guidance. It covers the skilled worker, intra-company transfer and temporary worker routes and aims to provide information on sponsorship when these routes are launched from 1 December 2020.