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2025年3月13日
Work/Life – 16 / 129 观点
Work/Life - international employment news update
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Issue 114
Welcome to the latest edition of our international employment news update.
In this edition we look at:
- Christian school worker wins appeal over posts about LGBT+ lessons
- GSK nods to the US market over DEI
- Office attendance: a new performance metric?
- Meta accused of preference for visa holders
- Polish lower house backs new rules for hiring foreign workers
- Dutch couples embrace part-time work
- Closing the gap: women in the UK still work almost '50 days unpaid' in 2025
- Updates to UK Employment Rights Bill
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Christian school worker wins appeal over posts about LGBT+ lessons
Kristie Higgs, a Christian school worker, has won her Court of Appeal battle against her former employer, Farmor's School in Gloucestershire. Ms Higgs was dismissed in 2019 after private account Facebook posts criticising plans to teach LGBT+ relationships in primary schools. The court found her dismissal 'disproportionate', stating that neither the language of her posts nor potential reputational damage to the school justified her termination. She had not said anything similar at work or displayed any discriminatory attitudes towards pupils. The case highlights a technical legal issue in UK law about the boundaries between free speech and workplace policies in a diverse society.
GSK nods to the US market over DEI
Where diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies are under some pressure, GSK has taken a bold stance. The British pharma company has joined major companies in the US in scaling back their DEI initiatives, with references to 'diversity' being scrubbed from the company's website and DEI programmes being paused. The debate around DEI has intensified following President Trump's reversal of government anti-discrimination measures in the US, prompting companies like Amazon, Disney and Google to scale back DEI policies. The decision to comply with the US executive orders is interesting considering GSK is a British company, headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange. GSK's internal communications commented that the company was obliged to comply with the orders because the US is the company's largest market and GSK's No 1 customer is the US government. But AstraZeneca, GSK's British pharma rival, which also has a number of US employees, has not changed its DEI policies.
Office attendance: a new performance metric?
In a surprising twist to the ongoing return-to-office saga, some companies are starting to use office attendance as a performance metric. Companies like Lloyds Banking Group, PwC UK, and most recently Deloitte's US tax team, are incorporating office attendance into bonus considerations and monthly performance tracking. However, this approach carries risks. It may help to identify 'underperforming' staff, but could also drive away valuable employees who prize flexibility and autonomy. Studies show that high-performers, women and millennials are most likely to leave if forced back to the office full-time. Strict attendance enforcement could lead to discrimination claims, particularly if they disadvantage certain groups like parents, carers or disabled employees. As companies navigate this area, many are opting for a carrot rather than stick approach, offering modest perks like free lunches or overseas placements to encourage office attendance.
Meta accused of preference for visa holders
Meta is facing a lawsuit of hiring bias with it being alleged that the company systematically favours foreign workers to qualified US citizens because of lower wage expectations. US Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler in San Francisco ruled that three US citizens could pursue a class action claim. Beeler referenced the agreement Meta made in October 2021 to pay up to USD$14.25 million to settle federal government claims that the company refused to consider US workers for jobs it reserved for temporary visa holders. The plaintiffs' lawyer commented that he hoped the lawsuit would address the 'favoritism towards visa workers' which he believes is prevalent in the technology industry.
Polish lower house backs new rules for hiring foreign workers
Poland's lower house of Parliament, the Sejm, has passed a new law easing the hiring of foreign workers. The legislation aims to simplify procedures and fully digitise administrative processes while increasing penalties for illegal employment. A key change is the abolition of the 'labour market test', which required confirmation as to whether an unemployed Polish citizen could fill a job before offering it to a foreign worker. The law is part of Poland's National Recovery and Resilience Plan and aims to address labour shortages.
Dutch couples embrace part-time work
The Dutch labour market is experiencing an interesting shift towards more part-time employment. The number of Dutch couples in which both partners work part-time has doubled in the last decade, according to figures from CBS, a national statistics agency. In 2024, 419,000 couples both had part-time jobs compared to 229,000 in 2014. The research by CBS found that generally both partners work similar hours, especially in couples working between 20 to 35 hours a week. This trend is driven by higher incomes in the Netherlands making part-time work more appealing than it has been previously. Additionally, VNO-NCW, the employers' organisation, reported that tax burdens on middle incomes are prompting many to opt for part-time roles as working extra hours is less financially worthwhile.
Closing the gap: women in the UK still work almost '50 days unpaid' in 2025
According to recent analysis by the Trades Union Congress, women effectively worked the first 48 days of 2025 without pay compared to men. This is a marginal improvement from 52 days in 2024, with the overall pay gap now at 13.1%. While this is movement in the right direction, significant disparities remain. Women in finance and insurance face a 29.8% pay gap, while those in healthcare and social work work 41 days unpaid.
The analysis also reveals a worrying trend of the pay gap widening with age. Women aged 50 to 59 experience the greatest disparity, largely due to unpaid caregiving responsibilities. This highlights how societal expectations around childcare can impact women's earning potential throughout their careers. While progress is being made, this data underscores the urgent need for continued action to achieve true pay equity.
This is an issue across Europe. Click here to watch a webinar from our German office considering new European legislation aiming to reduce the gender pay gap (please note that this is available in Germany language only).
Updates to UK Employment Rights Bill
Eagerly awaited amendments to the Employment Rights Bill have been announced and they may not be as substantive as employers facing increased tax costs had initially feared.
The 'right to switch off', which would allow employees to ignore after-hours emails, texts and calls without concern of the consequences, has been scrapped. This right would have seen the UK follow the lead of other European countries, such as France, Belgium and Ireland.
But statutory sick pay is proposed to be amended to allow for payment from the first day of sickness rather than after the third consecutive day of illness under the current law. This amendment would mean that more than one million low-paid workers would be entitled to 80% of their weekly salary as sick pay. This change would cost employers an estimated GBP5 billion annually.
Agency workers are proposed to be included in the increased regulation of zero-hour contracts by ensuring they are offered contracts guaranteeing a minimum number of working hours per week.
A further proposal is for mothers and their partners to be given the right to bereavement leave of two weeks if they suffer a pregnancy loss before 24 weeks' gestation.
We will continue to update you as these proposed amendments are considered by Parliament.
