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In December 2021, the European Commission proposed a directive creating five criteria for the presumed classification of platform economy workers as salaried employees. The issue is timely, of course, as the digital organisation of work continues to grow rapidly. Our article contrasts the merits and limitations of this initiative to the Canadian experience concerning so-called independent contractors in the platform economy. In fact, Canadian labour law has long recognised a third status of workers—dependent contractors. It permits collective bargaining, while platform workers remain autonomous, notably for tax purposes. Immediately, the striking similarities between the European Union’s five criteria and judicial tests applied by Canadian labour tribunals seem to indicate that both entities are moving in the same direction. However, the federal structure of labour law in Canada and the single market’s social dimension also pose important challenges regarding the uniform implementation of new protections. Based on recent fieldwork in Toronto, and as the European Union directive moves into the approval and implementation stages, our article addresses the research question of how basic labour rights in the platform economy progress similarly (or differently), and which actors are driving the change on each side of the Atlantic. We argue that this policy field provides labour market actors with opportunities for “institutional experimentation” navigating the openings and limitations of federalism.

The subject of the author’s analysis is the performance of work for digital platforms, which is currently developing very dynamically and is significantly ahead of legal regulation. The first legal regulation of work performed for digital platforms at the level of the European Union will be the upcoming directive on improving the working conditions of persons working through digital platforms. The author examines the draft of the aforementioned directive, especially its legal consequences for the legislation of the Slovak Republic. Since the work for digital platforms with algorithmic management often does not meet either the legal characteristics of “dependent work” or the legal characteristics of “independent work”, the author de lege ferenda proposes a legislative solution to the status issues of persons working for digital platforms also by means of a reassessment of the current normative definition of the term “dependent work” as well as the term “employee” which, according to the legal status de lege lata, is defined significantly narrower compared to the personal scope of the proposed directive. In this way, it would be realistically possible to ensure the social protection of natural persons working for digital platforms in the near future.

Economic expansion requires jobs and safe, dignified workplaces. India’s growth story has remained incomplete due to a lack of required employment growth. The new law consolidates 44 primary labour laws into four main labour codes: pay, industrial relations, occupational safety, working conditions and social security. It was a conniving move on the part of the government to completely overhaul our labour laws. Given that we typically lack mean labourers by a significant margin, the question that remains is whether or not this can attract investors. There are several challenges that must be overcome before the economy can reach $5 trillion in 2025.

L’articolo tratta il sistema della contrattazione collettiva di Italia, Germania, Francia e Spagna: analizza la storia della contrattazione, la distribuzione funzionale e settoriale del reddito, e il rapporto tra salario e valore aggiunto settoriale, concentrando l’attenzione sul numero dei lavoratori coinvolti nei contratti collettivi e le rispettive quote salariali sul valore aggiunto. L’articolo termina con la proposta di due criteri per riscrivere la matrice dei contratti nazionali: in termini di numero di lavoratori per contratto, e di un minimo valore aggiunto settoriale. Lo scopo è costruire un benchmark quali-quantitativo per ridurre il numero dei contratti collettivi nazionali di lavoro settoriale in Italia, con l’intenzione di restituire la necessaria forza contrattuale ai sindacati per adempiere al ruolo di autorità salariale.

The fourth industrial revolution is changing many aspects of life. Technological changes and certain aspects of labour law are dealt with by many authors. This paper, however, examines a less focused but equally important issue. This issue is the social and societal aspect of the issue. We cannot, of course, disassociate it from labour market developments, but we try to treat it as an issue of equal importance at every stage of the analysis. It is for this reason that the changing social structures generated by the Fourth Industrial Revolution are presented through the lens of social issues. Primarily through literature and the interpretation of legal texts, but where possible, the practical side will be included. __________ La cuarta revolución industrial está cambiando muchos aspectos de la vida. Muchos autores abordan los cambios tecnológicos y determinados aspectos del derecho laboral. Este artículo, sin embargo, examina una cuestión menos específica pero igualmente importante. Esta cuestión es el aspecto social y social de la cuestión. Por supuesto, no podemos disociarlo de la evolución del mercado laboral, pero intentamos tratarlo como una cuestión de igual importancia en cada etapa del análisis. Es por esta razón que las estructuras sociales cambiantes generadas por la Cuarta Revolución Industrial se presentan a través del lente de las cuestiones sociales. Principalmente a través de la literatura y la interpretación de textos legales, pero siempre que sea posible se incluirá el lado práctico. __________ 第四次工业革命正在改变生活的许多方面。许多学者都在研究技术变革和劳动法的某些方面。然而，本文探讨了一个较少受到关注但同样重要的问题。这个问题是社会学和社会层面的问题。当然，我们不能将其与劳动力市场的发展割裂开来，但我们在分析的每一个阶段都试图将其视为一个同等重要的问题。正因如此，第四次工业革命带来的社会结构变化才通过社会问题的视角来呈现。本文主要通过文献和法律文本来解释，但在可能的情况下，也会包括实践方面。

Labour power has significantly declined across affluent democracies in recent decades, resulting in a widening scale of power inequality within the contemporary employment relationship. Employee voice is a key component of labour power that represents a human capability according to Amartya Sen's conceptualisation: a real freedom to achieve states of being that one has reason to value. Employees deficient in the capability for voice lack sufficient bargaining power to influence workplace decision-making, which threatens their wellbeing by increasing their risk of exposure to work-related stressors and limiting their opportunities to improve their welfare. In this article, employee voice legislation is argued to be a necessary social conversion factor of employees' capability for voice that can promote further advantage. However, research assessing its effectiveness at enhancing wellbeing is greatly limited due to an over reliance on neoliberal and new institutional forms of economic analysis that reveal little about the quality of employees' lives. A comprehensive framework for evaluation based on Sen's capability approach is proposed that when operationalised for empirical analysis, can advance our understanding of employee wellbeing in the twenty-first century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Anales de Derecho is the property of Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad de Murcia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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Copyright of Conference Journal of Social Policy / Sosyal Siyaset Konferanslar Dergisi is the property of Journal of Social Policy Conferences/Sosyal Siyaset Konferanslar Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Lan Harremanak - Revista Relaciones Laborales is the property of Lan Harremanak and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Since the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, the Palestinian refugees are still waiting to exercise their right of return, which was articulated in General Assembly Resolution 194 and approved by dozens of international resolutions. Despite the wait, Palestinian refugees continue to live in unsustainable conditions in many host countries. In these waiting stations, they are still deprived of many rights. Perhaps Lebanon is one of the most extreme waiting stations in depriving Palestinian refugees their rights, especially the right to work. Indeed, Palestinians are facing considerable obstacles to exercise their right to work in Lebanon because of policies and regulations enacted by the Lebanese government which limit this right. This paper attempts to identify the various Lebanese partisan and sectarian points of view that stand in the way of granting Palestinian refugees their right to work and the recent administrative attempts of the Lebanese government (2021) to grant them this right. In addition, it uncovers the legal and political obstacles faced by these attempts. This paper highlights the continued need of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon for various social, political and international actions to grant them their basic rights in order to preserve human dignity, which cannot be achieved without these rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista de Derecho UNED is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista de Derecho UNED is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

To address the issue of persistent unemployment, the UK Government implemented a conditional welfare scheme. Prompted by Mantouvalou's argument that the scheme forces people into exploitative work, this paper addresses the 'pressing' question of whether the scheme is compatible with the prohibition on 'forced or compulsory labour' under Article 4(2) of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is argued that, whether the scheme imposes the menace of a penalty, is involuntary, seriously exploitative or a normal civic obligation, ultimately depends on different understandings of the demands of distributive justice. Given the politically contested nature of those demands, Article 4(2) is a poor weapon to use when challenging the UK's conditional welfare scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to show the importance of a correct understanding of formally undefined EU labour law norms for the successful European integration of Ukraine. The analysis focuses on legal acts of the European Union. The drawbacks of the inequality of approaches to determining the content of norms with evaluative concepts are highlighted, as is the need to use doctrinal recommendations for the application of evaluative provisions with the purpose of preventing the misconception that evaluative concepts can be interpreted as, and to whom, it pleases. This article thus demonstrates the necessity of the analysis of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU, which is rich in the interpretation of evaluative concepts and is considered to help clarify the meaning of many terms of labour law, which, due to their undefined formulation, may cause difficulties in implementing them in the legal system of Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Direito e Práxis is the property of Editora da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (EdUERJ) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The next big step in technological development is the expansion of the physical world and the emergence of virtual worlds. The technology is now reaching the right level for this to spread, so it is predicted that the virtual presence of individuals will become more common in the coming years. This will naturally bring with it the emergence of working in virtual worlds, as the virtual presence of firms can provide a clear competitive advantage. However, the question arises as to whether labour law, with its current instruments, is suitable for the legal regulation of work in the virtual world and whether this type of work can be understood at all within the framework of the classical employment relationship. The very notion of work, the contracting parties, the contract's content, the place of performance, etc., can be called into question. In this article, I will examine these issues and consider the challenges facing future legislation.

The paper focuses on some labour law questions which arise from work in the metaverse. The first question is whether meta-work could be the next new type of work as standard employment relationship, which is going through a transformation in general. Indeed, the idea of personal work – as a main pillar of the employment relationship – was challenged by platform work in the recent years, but metaverse seems to further question the old paradigms. The article shortly examines the question of wages, for instance, as the metaverse generally relies on cryptocurrency (CC) to pay for transactions and purchases. Subsequently, the paper mainly concentrates on the analysis of health and safety at work and of the discrimination ban in metaverse.

In recent years, the interest in supporting working parents has become a more and more popular motivator for companies. Employers notice that introducing work-life balance support strategies may be crucial to the development of an organization by the better access to skilled employees who require some flexibility in working conditions due to their caring responsibilities. Therefore, they do not limit themselves only to the fulfilment of obligations under the law, but grant additional rights to caregivers and the children themselves. Because although, as a rule, in the Polish legal system, the care of employees is regulated by the Labour Code and other acts, various forms of supporting care may also be provided in corporate sources of labour law, collective agreements, work regulations, and other documents. The principle of satisfying the living, social and cultural needs of employees expressed in Article 16 of the Labour Code is interpreted most often as an axiological basis for the functioning of the company's social benefits fund, while the content of Article 16 of the Labour Code should be understood as an instrument of social and employment policy, especially in the context of supporting parenthood. Further research is recommended on this principle, which is essential for the content of the labour law.

The end of the world’ has been predicted in many ways: one claimed the conscious robots would turn against the humans. ‘The end of the world as we know it’ is less murderous, yet worrying enough, because it means a radical change in one of man’s defining features: labour, with the Fourth Industrial Revolution as one of its causes. Structural challenges to the labour environment and tools set the background for this development. Labour’s fundamental components like who is performing it; how its results impact on the human being that performs it; and what laws must govern the interactions among labourers and society are all subject to change hereafter. The increasing role of technology, knowledge-based economy, and the continuous diversification of man’s needs and aspirations to safeguard the paramount human dignity outline the mandatory demand of adapting the labour law and social security law to these developments. Automation and robotisation are unavoidable and are to be implemented by continuously observing said needs and aspirations. Competence and ever higher levels of professionalism are mandatory for present and future lawyers and legislators in this domain.

According to the current Slovak legislation, which also determines the conditions for important personal obstacles at work, the employer is obliged to excuse the absence of an employee for the reason of accompanying his or her child to a medical facility for examination or treatment. The scientific paper deals with situations where it is necessary for an employee to accompany a child to various other diagnostic examinations which are not carried out in medical institutions. These obligations are imposed by specific legislation and must be fulfilled by the employee as the legal representative of minors in compulsory schooling or pre-primary education in relation to establishments operating under the education regulations. However, there is no excuse for the absence of an employee in the Labour Code or in other legislation in the area of education. Since these cases cannot be explicitly covered by any statutory regulation of personal obstacles to work on the part of the employee, a dispute arises in application practice between the employee and the employer as to the justification for the employee’s absence from work. This is also based on incorrect information provided by the education’s authorities who instruct the legal representatives that the employer must excuse the absence, as their child is undergoing certain examinations.

In the paper, the author deals with the issue of the current jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of the Czech Republic regarding the employee’s right to wage compensation due to an obstacle to work on the employer’s side in the case the employer does not assign work to this employee according to the employment contract due to his or her common illness. She then assesses the relevance and applicability of these opinions in relation to occupational accidents and occupational diseases. At the same time, she bases her conclusions not only on the interpretation of the applicable Czech legislation, but also on a whole range of case law. In the conclusions, she also deals in detail with the employer’s obligation to transfer such an employee to another suitable job for him or her. The fact whether the employer has another suitable job available for the employee (and decides of his or her own free will not to transfer the employee to it) or, on the contrary, does not have another suitable job available for the employee is, in the opinion of the author, a key distinguishing criterion for considering whether the non-assignment of work by the employer should be assessed as an obstacle to work on the employer’s side (with the right to wage compensation) or as an obstacle to work on the employee’s side.

The hotel, restaurant, café, and catering (HoReCa) sector has witnessed remarkable growth, particularly in Europe. However, this growth is accompanied by operational disparities in adhering to Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) regulations within the Polish catering industry. Rooted in the sociological paradigm of law and legal realism, this research delves into the divergence between Polish, European Union, and international labour laws, and the practical sociological dynamics within Polish catering establishments. Employing qualitative methods such as interviews, observations, and content analysis, our study identifies pressing challenges in OSH and labour regulations adherence. We aim to elucidate the ramifications for service quality and advocate for legislative enhancements. Our findings underscore that economic considerations often dictate the selective enforcement of standards, leading to legal violations, customer dissatisfaction, and workplace predicaments. This study also reveals the complicity of employees in these situations and the complexity of regulatory overload. It underscores the urgency of comprehensive legislation tailored to the specific needs of the Polish HoReCa sector, encompassing labour law, EU regulations, and international labour law. Furthermore, education, training, strengthened supervision, and employee involvement are deemed essential to foster compliance and create a safer, more customer-friendly environment.

The authors analyze the french law on influencers, focusing first on the legislature's choice to prioritize the economic dimension of the activity and then identifying points of contact with labour law, in particular the special discipline provided for artists and models and the provisions on child labor introduced to protect the kid influencers.

Examined through a legal prism, Canada is an officially bilingual federal state with a bi-juridical legal system based, for the most part, on the traditions of British common law as it has evolved over the years. But in Quebec, the private law is civil law, contained in a Civil Code, derived from the laws established in what was New France. Canadian public law is essentially British. The current Head of State is King Charles III, Head of the Commonwealth. Canada’s constitution sets forth, inter alia, the jurisdictional competence of the federal government and that of the provinces and territories. Over the course of the more than 150 years since Confederation, the respective governments have engaged in much litigation, testing the limits of their respective legislative powers. Beginning in the early years of the twentieth century, an increasing volume of legislation developed as Canada progressed from its colonial status to a fully autonomous state with full control of both its domestic and foreign affairs. The scope and volume of legislation increased substantially in the lead-up to the Second World War (and thereafter) as governments, in their respective spheres, sought to create a legal environment that was attentive to a broader range of social issues. The existence of a federal state complicated the development and enactment of policies that produce the same outcomes throughout the country, since the constitution confers legislative jurisdiction on the provinces regarding property and civil rights. Much effort is expended in intergovernmental negotiations, leading to achievement of substantially harmonised results.

The situation of young workers is determined by the legal regulation of work. Of particular interest in this context is the traineeship, which is statistically proven to be the basis for many young people entering the labour market. In this context, it is especially important that national regulations are clear and stable to ensure the security of young workers. The Hungarian national regulations will be examined in this study, starting with statistical data, i.e. the extent to which traineeships are present, and examining the related legal relationships based on the EU conceptual background, with the aim of exploring whether the Hungarian legal framework guarantees status security for young trainees. Based on the legislation, case law and relevant literature, it can be concluded that the Hungarian national legislation on traineeship is fragmented, non-transparent, complex, and generally does not provide an impeccable basis for improving the labour market situation of young people from a labour law or social security perspective, and shows a number of inconsistencies in national and EU labour law.

Decent Work is considered essential to the facilitation of a transition to greener, fairer, more prosperous, and more just societies. Decent Work represents a fundamental component of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and a crucial facet of European Union (EU) environment, social, and governance (ESG) norms. Despite its prominence, the precise definition and materiality of Decent Work is obscure and remains subject to limited consensus. To understand these critical gaps, we conducted a comprehensive review with a systematic search of the literature on the subject, encompassing both scientific research and institutional publications. Our review encompassed 517 papers, with a particular focus on three key areas: (1) delineating the constituents of Decent Work, (2) exploring the materiality of Decent Work, and (3) examining how firms value, measure, and report Decent Work. The domain of regulated reporting for Decent Work and its material impact is relatively nascent, resulting in limitations in effectively measuring its tangible, material effects towards a green and just transition. Consequently, our review, with a systematic search of the literature, uncovered notable gaps within the body of literature concerning Decent Work, its substance for ESG materiality regulations, and its conspicuousness for a just transition. Furthermore, our review serves as a critical foundation for fostering discussions and emphasises the practical implications of enumerating the materiality of Decent Work, without which a just transition would be unattainable. By highlighting these deficiencies, we aim to enhance the understanding and implementation of the materiality of Decent Work within the broader context of ESG and the green transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour law grants an employer the power to terminate an employment contract without the worker's consent when he is guilty of serious misconduct. This power can also be exercised when the employer has legitimate cause even if the worker has not committed any misconduct. This article compares how legislators in the UAE and Egypt regulate this power. The Emirati legislator has recently passed Law No. 33 of 2021, which updated the dismissal causes list and enabled the employer to terminate definite term contracts for a legitimate cause. The Egyptian legislator is currently debating the employer's power to terminate employment contracts in a discussion of the bill on employment law, which will soon replace the current Labour Law No. 12 of 2003. The article concludes that the various legal rules in the UAE and Egypt can be transplanted to balance the rights of employers and workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The full-scale military aggression against Ukraine by the Russian Federation has dramatically affected all walks of life in the country, and the world of work is certainly not exempt from this. During the first months of the war, the operation of many enterprises was significantly disrupted; a substantial proportion of the working-age population was conscripted into the armed forces, some were forced to seek employment in regions of the country not affected by the hostilities or even had to change occupations entirely. This circumstance necessitated the adoption of appropriate legislative measures to stabilise labour relations in the light of wartime. The article focuses on the specifics of Ukrainian labour law in wartime conditions, reveals the difficulties of legal regulation of labour in connection with martial law, and highlights the possible ways of solving the challenges for labour law in the period of armed conflicts based on the experience of Ukraine. Methods: The methods of legal reasoning and analysis were applied to present the main approaches to legal regulation of labour relations during martial law in Ukraine. Actual statistical and empirical data were used for proper argumentation of the conclusions. The method of analogy was used to assess possible ways of solving the challenges faced by labour law during armed conflicts, based on the experience of Ukraine. Results and Conclusions: The article stresses that there is no single approach towards regulating labour relations during armed conflicts. Such conflicts are always unique, i.e. they differ in scale, intensity, duration, technical capabilities of the parties, types of weapons used, etc. Given the diversity of armed conflicts in the world, it is impossible to develop uniform labour standards applicable, for example, at the international level. This demonstrates the priority of national law in adapting the regulation of labour relations to wartime conditions. In this regard, considering the Ukrainian experience, it is appropriate to take into account that: a) armed conflict is dynamic by nature; thus, it can have different stages of development, which can also affect the world of work and labour legislation may need to be systematically revised to reflect new realities; b) considering that the territory of a country may not be evenly affected by the consequences of an armed conflict, in some cases it might be appropriate to provide for the different legal regulation of labour relations for its different regions; c) armed conflict should never be considered a 'valid reason' for unjustified and long-lasting restriction of employees' rights, as it is at a period when they are more vulnerable and therefore require additional legal protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]