News Flash

Changes have just been made to the federal maternity insurance system to allow for women who have premature births. The benefit is, however, still capped at 15 weeks. Parental benefits may now be taken at 33% of average normal pay

The European Union and Japan have concluded a new economic union. This will establish the largest free trade area in the world. The main beneficiaries from the agreement are likely to be Japanese carmakers and European food and beverage producers.

A total of 372 employers employing 250+ workers have so far reported under the gender pay gap reporting obligations – a small fraction of those that must report by the April 2018 deadline. Although the Financial Times has recently reported

The Labour Laws Amendment Bill has now passed through parliament and now awaits approval by the National Council of Provinces. This gives all couples the right to take parental leave if they adopt or use the services of a surrogate

Following success at the mid-term elections the government has launched plans to cut taxes over the next five years. Corporation tax would be cut from 35% to 25% if re-invested and both personal taxation and social security cut considerably. It

The Tamil Nadu government is undertaking a study to determine the extent of bonded labour in the state. So far 65,000 of the 300,000 workers rescued from bonded labour in India have been found in Tamil Nadu. This illegal practice

The EU Council of Ministers and MEPs are knowingly exceeding their powers by seeking to approve a measure which the EU Treaty clearly gives them no power to introduce. The revised EU Posting of Workers Directive will require employers to

A China-UK research and innovation non-disclosure agreement (NDA) has been mutually drawn up by officials in each government. This is designed to encourage collaboration and is fully compliant with laws in both countries.

Although the true annual rate of consumer price inflation (including owner-occupied housing) had been predicted to hit 3.1% in September, it officially rose by 2.8%. Curious difference? Our statistical analysis of the weights used for calculating the index indicates fabrication.

An agreement has finally been reached between the airline Lufthansa and its 5,400 pilots. The deal will run until 2022, reduce pension costs, delay retirement ages, increase salaries by up to 10.3%, add a one-off bonus and open the way

The private carrier UPS has started negotiations with the IBT (Teamsters) union over changes due next July for 250,000 US employees. There are 30 supplemental agreements and top of the list for the union will be improvements to health care