On 17 April 2024, the UK Supreme Court declared Section 146 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (TULRCA) incompatible with Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The Court has identified a critical gap in the protection offered under TULRCA, particularly relating to detriments workers face when engaging in lawful industrial actions.
While the law remains unchanged immediately, this decision prompts potential legislative reform.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) recently released, on January 2024, the Law and Practise report in the emerging field of digital labour platforms and their impact in the World of Work.
The Law and Practise report (known as White Report), is intended to inform the discussions at the 2025-2026 Standard Setting on Platform Economy and to help Member States in responding to the appended questionnaire.
The inputs and responses provided by the Member States will set the base for the Yellow Report, which will be the draft report discussed in the first sitting of the Platform Economy Standard Setting in 2025.
On 29 November 2023, the ILO presented its new Approach to Good Governance and Decent Work in Uzbekistan's Cotton, Textile, and Apparel Sectors.
The ILO approach aims to achieve important objectives, such as respecting fundamental principles and labour rights in the cotton supply chain, developing inclusive and sustainable enterprises, and strengthening the capacity of employers' and workers' organisations to promote decent work.
In ruling C-331 of 2023, Colombia's Constitutional Court declared the right to disconnect from work a human right that applies to all employees, regardless of their role and function, including those who perform public functions and those in managerial roles.
On 17 April 2023, UK Government published “Positive action in the workplace: guidance for employers,” explaining how employers can help people who share a particular protected characteristic to overcome specific barriers with positive actions without unfairly disadvantaging other groups as this could amount to an unlawful ‘positive discrimination.’
It covers all protected characteristics, including sex, sexual orientation, age, and ethnicity.
It is a part of the ongoing government’s inclusive strategy to support employers in creating opportunities for underrepresented groups within their workforce.
Last March, the South Australian district court rendered the first decision under Australia's whistleblowing laws, stating that a former civil servant could not be protected for alleged wrongdoing while collecting evidence to support his revelations about the Australian Taxation Office's unethical and aggressive pursuit of debts.
The judgment that caused considerable debate in the country is based on the Court's narrow interpretation of the scope of whistleblower protections, which would apply only to whistleblowing and not to the preceding preparatory conduct.
There is a growing trend that implies that mental health be discussed alongside labour and employment regulation.
In Mexico, for example, the secretary/department of labour is competent to perform audits on working conditions and fine employers when the mental stability or mental health of employees is compromised by certain situations. Furthermore, employers with more than 50 employees are required to perform tests regarding employment conditions and their impact on the mental stability of employees (known as NOM 035). This trend has several implications, only two of which we will touch upon.
On 14 February 2024, the European Court of Human Rights clarified the criteria for assessing whether disclosure of confidential information obtained in the workplace is protected by freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR).
It stated that the State that convicts a former employee of an auditing firm for disclosing confidential information obtained in the workplace violates Article 10 of the ECHR on freedom of expression if that information is of particular interest to the public.