Video | Webinar Recording

    Now & Next: European Elections Special – What Do the UK and European Elections Mean for Your Workforce?

    October 2024
    Region: Europe
    Featuring:

    Key takeaways from our most recent Now & Next Elections Special webinar include:

    • EU Pay Transparency Directive – The pay transparency directive aims to level equal pay across various European countries, including for pensions. European countries have until 2026 to transpose the directive into local legislation. Once the directive is in effect locally, companies with over 100 employees must report their employee salary range for open job vacancies and their average pay level, although the start date and frequency of reporting will depend on the size of a company’s workforce.
    • New Deal for Working People in the UK – The new Labour government has proposed introducing wide-ranging employment reforms that will affect how UK businesses manage and recruit employees, including day one rights for employees, most notably a day one right for unfair dismissal, strengthened trade union rights and workers’ rights to certainty over contractual hours. Employees will be protected from unfair dismissal much sooner than they are at present, so recruitment decisions could be brought into sharper focus, as they might come with higher risk. A draft employment rights bill and consultation exercise are expected imminently.
    • Stable budget vs. popular demand to lower the retirement age in France – The new government is looking to secure, for now, its employment policies developed over the previous year, aiming to encourage investment in business and development in France while refraining from increasing tax and social charges. There has been substantial political support for reverting the retirement age from 64 to 62, but the government has stated such reform is not financially viable in terms of budget, so there may be a shift towards hardship negotiations within the workplace to help employees retire earlier.
    • Updated employment legislation pending a coalition in Belgium – Following the June elections, discussions on a coalition are yet to be concluded. Recent negotiations revealed a number of employment measures are being proposed, including reducing unlimited unemployment to two years; promoting flexible work so that people who want to work more (with overtime, additional employment, evening work, etc.) are incentivised to do so; and introducing employer contributions towards long-term sick leave. After the elections on 13 October, once Belgium has a government, it likely these measures will be introduced in some form.
    • What are the top employment law changes for businesses to consider? In France, employers should expect union employee representatives to look to negotiate and bring collective bargaining agreements and company agreements. In addition to retirement, demand for good working conditions will be a top priority to consider. Belgium is seeing a surge in employee terminations, so companies should remember to focus on retention of remaining employee talent. In the UK, businesses should prepare to react to the proposed employment bill that could affect how they manage their workforce.

    Featuring

    Matthew Kirk London
    James Pike Manchester
    Pauline Pierce Paris
    Marga Caproni Brussels

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