This region covers a quarter of the earth’s land area and is home to 19% of the world’s population. The largest country in the region is Algeria and the most populous country is Nigeria. This entire region is the most politically unstable in the world – with huge disparities in wealth distribution, abject poverty in many areas, major cultural and religious divides and mineral wealth (mainly copper, bauxite, gold and oil) making it a focus for huge economic rivalries and terrorist movements. These problems are compounded by widespread corruption in political life.

Africa is largely made up of developing countries and has the lowest average age for any region of the world – at 19.7 years compared to a global average age of 30.4 years. The Middle East (which sometimes also includes Egypt) is part of the Asian Continent and principally an arid region bounded on the north by the Caucasus mountains and Black Sea and to the south by the Red Sea and Persian Gulf. It contains the strategically important Suez Canal that allows a high volume of trade between Europe and the rest of Asia.

The legal systems owe a great deal to both the region’s colonial past and, in the middle East, to Islamic Sharia law. In most Arab states Sharia law relates largely to family status and personal conduct but in states such as Iran it pervades the entire legal system. In Africa the legal systems range from the Anglo-Dutch framework in South Africa to Xeer law based on median through “elders” used in the horn of Africa. An important aspect of employment in this region is the rising emphasis on retaining a certain proportion of available jobs for country nationals. For instance, in Angola companies with 5 or more workers must have 70% of jobs reserved for Angolan nationals.

Another important issue in the region is tax. Tax revenues average account for around 30% of GDP around the World, but in SubSahara Africa they only account for around 20% of GDP. This is partly due to a large informal economy in many countries, but also to a reluctance of those in higher earnings brackets to fund adequate public services and a welfare system.

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The world economic system remains dominated by the USA, which continues to outpunch its weight in terms of population and physical size. The NAFTA trade agreement linking the USA with Canada and Mexico has allowed for the free flow of goods and services across the region since 1994. However, in 2017 the USA signalled that it wished to re-establish stricter controls, particularly on imports.

The legal systems of Canada, Mexico and the USA are well developed and generally progressive. However, enforcement is generally low in Mexico and in the USA many legal rights are influenced by traditional constitutional rights that set it apart from other modern, western jurisdictions. The federal system is also a complicating factor in both the USA and Canada – leading to significant disparities across each country.

Trade unions have differing significance in all three countries. In Mexico, where a trades union can be formed with just 20 people, there is a big difference between working with a union start up and one generally recognized and part of the Confederación de Trabajadores Mexicanos. In Canada unionization stands at 28% of the working population. Although this is well down on the 37.6% recorded in 1981, it remains high by international standards and collective agreements remain an important aspect of wage determination. In the USA unions account for only one in ten workers and their members are principally in the public sector. However, where they exist, wage and salary levels tend to be 10-30% higher than in non-unionised organisations.

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This is the biggest and most populated region of the world, even if we exclude the Middle East. It contains the two dynamos of economic growth – India and China. These two countries together account for 35.5% of the world’s population and 47% of global GDP.

Much of India’s legislation still dates back to the colonial era and only recently have there been concerted steps to modernise key statutes. The rule of law in China has been given greater importance under the current President and many poorly regulated practices such as the use of despatched workers and length of the working week are now being generally enforced in Chinese-owned enterprises. Australia is still recovering from problems with the labour hire industry and report of the Royal Commission into trade union governance and corruption. The Fair Work Act continues to be a key framework for establishing terms and conditions for workers in Australia. In Singapore recent reforms have made labour law more employer-friendly, but also imposed new obligations such as giving employees itemised payslips and the right to have their employment terms in writing.  In Taiwan amendments to the Labour Standards Act are increasing the cap on monthly overtime hours and allowing compensation by way of time off in lieu.

Much of the recent focus of employment law developments across Asia have concerned the operation of contract labour, temporary employees, the emergence of the gig economy and phenomenon of overwork. In spite of Supreme Court pronouncements equal pay practices in India barely touch the wages received by temporary workers. In the Philippines labour-only contracting is prohibited by law, but the practice remains widespread. In China the law does not officially recognise self-employed contractors. However, the courts have made distinctions between contractors and employment relationships and accepted that the latter may be valid. In Japan the thorny issue remains overwork and it will be sometime before the culture relaxes to a point that employees are willing to work effectively over shorter periods.

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This region of 743m people covers over 50 countries or largely self-governing entities. and an even greater number of languages and local dialects. At the heart of Europe is the European Union (EU) – which is more than simply a free trade area and operates with its own laws, Court of Justice and – as such – acts more like a federal state. Other economic entities operating in Europe include the Council of Europe – with a Human Rights Court in Strasbourg and the Commonwealth of Independent States Free Trade Area (CISFTA) covering several of the old Soviet Republics.

Many of the employment-related EU Directives and Regulations are based on conventions of the International Labour Organisation. But they contain significant gaps in provision – such as having no control over individual dismissal. However, although the EU Treaty does not give EU institutions powers in respect to pay (other than equal pay for men and women) this has not stopped them from introducing many pay-related measures such as the requirement to pay part-time workers at the same hourly rate as equivalent full-time workers and for posted workers to be paid in line with minimum pay or collectively bargained rates in countries to which workers are posted. The European Court of Justice has also refused to accept the anti-trust nature of labour wage cartels – such as the practice of imposing sectoral agreements in France over companies not party to the agreement. This makes the state a party to the practice of preventing new, rival companies undercutting established pay rates in order to gain a competitive advantage.

The departure of the UK from the EU in 2019 has dealt a severe blow to the European superstate model. However, there are many countries in Eastern Europe wishing to join the EU over the next few years. Whether it remains a united and viable entity will largely depend on how much the rise of undemocratic and right-wing parties will undermine its principles. Already immigration has become a major issue in Eastern Europe and Poland could face suspension over its latest judicial reforms.

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