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 30 October 2022, the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China adopted the revised Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests.
Initially passed in 1992, the updated legislation came into force on 1 January 2023.
On 13 January 2023, Beijing Human Resources and Social Security Administration implemented the revised Law regulating the administrative punishments from human resources and social security departments in the new "Punishment Benchmark Table."
It has significantly increased the punishment for employers' gender discrimination compared to 2022.
On 22 February 2023, The European social partners in the metalworking sector (Ceemet and IndustriAll Europe) adopted joint conclusions to guide the social partners in the metal, engineering, and technology industries on “Artificial Intelligence in the MET industries.”
They published the joint conclusions in view of their social dialogue meeting on competitiveness and employment on 15 March 2023, aiming to set out guidelines for approaching AI in the workplace.
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.
On 21 February 2023, Spain published in the Official State Journal Law 2/2023 on protecting persons who report breaches of law and combating corruption.
It entered into force on 13 March, transposing Directive (EU) 2019/1937 of 23 October 2019, known as the Whistleblowing Directive.
On 30 March 2023, the European Union Parliament adopted the Pay Transparency Directive, approving the legislative proposal of the European Commission based on equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women.
The Council will have to formally approve the agreement before the text is signed into law and published in the EU Official Journal, and the new provisions will come into force twenty days after their publication.
On 23 March 2023, The Governing Body (GB) of the International Labour Organization (ILO) concluded its 347th session.
This particularly challenging session included topic issues for the world of work, from decent work in the platform economy and supply chains to the Russian aggression against Ukraine and the situations in Myanmar, Belarus, and Venezuela.
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