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Hong Kong Employment Law Changes in 2020 and What to Expect in 2021

Published on 24 Mar 2021. By Andrea Randall, Partner

2020 has brought about a significant number of changes to working life in Hong Kong. In light of the protests and COVID-19, there has been a widespread adoption of working from home ("WFH"). In addition, there has been new legislation enhancing the statutory rights of employees. In this article, we provide a review of these changes in 2020 and set out what we are to expect in 2021.

COVID-19 – Key vaccine considerations for employers

Published on 17 Mar 2021. By Andrea Randall, Partner

There have been a number of articles which have considered Hong Kong employers' rights to direct their workforce to be tested and vaccinated against COVID-19. The general consensus amongst legal practitioners in Hong Kong is that there is no statutory right to direct an employee to undergo testing and vaccination.

Is the promise of a severance payment a reasonable adjustment?

Published on 07 Aug 2020. By Kim Wright, Senior Associate and Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead

In this busy time, HR professionals would be forgiven for thinking that nothing beyond the realms of coronavirus is receiving any attention, however cases are still being decided and one Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) case, regarding employers' duties to provide reasonable adjustments for disabled employees, is worth some further consideration.

The summer of discontent?

Published on 31 Jul 2020. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead and Ben Roberts, Partner

What comes to mind when you hear the word "summer"? The unbridled joy of no more school for 6 whole weeks? Buckets, spades and wind-swept beaches? Perhaps the call of a sun-soaked tropical island? For most, summer means taking some time out to recharge and switch off.

COVID-19 legal update – Your workforce: Could workers who can work from home (and their employers) break the law by returning to the workplace too soon?

Published on 20 May 2020. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead and Joanna Holford, Senior Associate

The government has stated that that those who can work from home should do so and those who cannot should go to work. Is it an offence to go to the place of work when it is possible to work from home?

COVID-19 HK: Employment Update

Published on 14 Apr 2020. By Beverly Yee, Senior Associate

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, it is anticipated that more and more businesses will need to make plans for cost-cutting measures.

COVID-19: Your workforce – furloughing - act to mitigate the risk of exposure to tax evasion offences as scheme could be open to abuse

Published on 09 Apr 2020.

Jim Harra, Chief Executive at HMRC, has informed a Treasury Committee meeting that he expects the government's multi-billion pound employee furlough scheme to be targeted by criminals seeking to exploit the £60 billion pledged in Chancellor Rishi Sunak's unprecedented Coronavirus protection package.

Hot off the Press: COVID-19 - Your workforce: a Q&A on claiming for wage costs through the Job Retention Scheme

Published on 27 Mar 2020. By Patrick Brodie, Partner and Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead

On 26th March, HMRC issued guidance on claiming for wage costs through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. We explore some answers to key questions and add some questions of our own.

COVID-19 Your workforce: a caution against putting equality on the backburner

Published on 27 Mar 2020. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead and Rachel Pears, Head of Responsible Business

UK business, like much of the rest of the world, is and will, for some time, remain firmly in the grip of COVID-19's tentacles.

Sharpen your blue pencil: the doctrine of severance in employment cases

Published on 15 Aug 2019. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead and Patrick Brodie, Partner

In Tillman v Egon Zehnder Ltd [2019] UKSC 32, one such business asked the Supreme Court to reconsider the law and to change it to be fit for modern day purposes. In its landmark judgment handed down in July, the Supreme Court has done so. The core facts of the case are not unusual. Egon Zehnder (EZ) is a global specialist executive search and recruitment business. EZ recruited Mary-Caroline Tillman in 2004. As the High Court judge observed, the company regarded Ms Tillman as “a bit special”. She was recruited into a senior role on a salary of £120,000 and first year bonus of £100,000 and then rose steadily through the ranks of the organisation. By 2012, Ms Tillman was joint global head of the company’s financial services practice and a shareholder in the Swiss holding company.

Gender Pay Gap Reporting – are you ready?

Published on 27 Apr 2016.

Hear Patrick Brodie and Kelly Thomson discuss the requirements on businesses to comply with Gender Pay Gap Reporting legislation.

Some holiday pay reading

Published on 26 Feb 2016.

A new decision on holiday pay and commission.

Employment update, December 2015

Published on 09 Feb 2016.

Implied terms: when can a term be implied into a contract?

Employment update, November 2015

Published on 17 Dec 2015.

Penalty clauses: what is the test where a clause is claimed to be unenforceable?

Employment update, October 2015

Published on 23 Nov 2015.

Whistleblowing: A dispute about terms of employment can be a matter of “public interest”

Employment update, September 2015

Published on 07 Oct 2015.

HR assistance in disciplinary procedures: how much is too much?

Restrictive Covenant Clause Enforced Despite it Containing a Drafting Error

Published on 17 Apr 2014.

The High Court has just handed down its judgment in the case of Prophet Plc v Huggett.

Different Emails, Read Together, Can be a Qualifying Whistleblowing Disclosure

Published on 21 Mar 2014.

In the case of Norbrook Laboratories (2B) Limited v Shaw the EAT considered whether emails sent to different recipients could be taken as a whole to amount to a qualifying disclosure for the purposes of a whistleblowing claim.

British National Working Overseas Has No Right to Bring a Claim in the Employment Tribunals

Published on 07 Feb 2014.

For employers who engage staff to work overseas, determining whether the can bring a claim in the Employment Tribunals is becoming increasing difficult.

Collective Redundancy Consultation: Expiry of Fixed Term Contract Does Not Count Towards 20+ Headcount

Published on 07 Feb 2014. By Patrick Brodie, Partner

University College v University of Stirling [2014] CSIH 5.

Report Card

Published on 28 Jan 2013.

We're casting our critical eye over the Government's employment law proposals and writing its school report.

Faith and Freedom

Published on 27 Jan 2013.

In a debate that has lasted several years, one of my colleagues and I have been at odds on the case of Lillian Ladele, the Islington registrar who refused to conduct civil partnership ceremonies.

Whistle-blowing on illegal cartels drops 70% in 5 years

Published on 18 Sep 2023. By Chris Ross, Partner and Arash Rajai, Partner

Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently increased award to £250,000 Calls to the CMA hotline have plummeted from 1,442 in 2017 to 427 in 2022

What in the AI is going on… April to June 2024

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

Meta launched its newest generation of its open-source LLM (large language model), Llama 3, which is the technology that powers its AI systems. The launch of Llama 3 signals a step closer to human-like AI that can reason and bestow a memory. OpenAI also discussed plans for its next AI model, GPT-5. Like Llama 3, GPT-5 will see improvements to the model’s planning and reasoning capabilities, going beyond its current capability to deal with discrete tasks. GPT-5 is expected to be released later in the year.

CMA publishes update paper on AI Foundation Models

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

What is the state of play for the market of AI Foundation Models (FM) and what issues in the market is the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) most concerned about?

EU AI Act is signed!

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

What are the core elements of the EU’s Artificial Intelligence Act and how does it impact the regulation of AI systems?

Online Safety Act: Ofcom consults on draft codes to protect children online

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

What must businesses do to ensure online safety for children under the latest codes of practice published by Ofcom?

UK’s Digital Regulation Co-operation Forum announces new AI and Digital Hub Pilot

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

What is the AI and Digital Hub and how can AI innovators use it?

EU designates Apple a gatekeeper for iPadOS but not for iMessage

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

Can a business avoid being designated a “gatekeeper” under the Digital Markets Act (DMA) even if it satisfies the quantitative criteria under the DMA?

New EU guidelines on mitigating risks for electoral

Published on 01 Aug 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner and David Cran, Partner, Head of IP & Tech

What are the European Commission’s new guidelines and how do they protect the integrity of electoral processes?

Commercial Court cracks down on crypto-fraudsters (if it can find them)

Published on 18 Feb 2021. By Dan Wyatt, Partner and Christopher Whitehouse, Senior Associate and Becky Baker , Associate

In the first initial coin offering 'ICO' fraud case before the Commercial Court, Ion Science Limited & Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown & Ors, the court granted permission to serve disclosure orders on two cryptocurrency exchanges through which the claimants' stolen bitcoin had been traced, granted a world-wide freezing order against persons unknown, and gave ground-breaking guidance on the lex situs of crypto-assets.

Penalty saved by CAS with a little help from English Courts

Published on 06 Jun 2016. By Joshua Charalambous, Partner

RPC @ London Tech Week 2024

12 Jun 2024

We are delighted to announce that we will once again be hosting several in-person official fringe events around London Tech Week in June 2024.

UK retail sector M&A deals increase to 34 – up 21% on last year

Published on 05 Sep 2022. By Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate

• M&A targeting fashion retailers particularly active

Changing retail landscape leads to decline in employee numbers

Published on 21 Nov 2019. By Kelly Thomson, Partner, ESG strategy lead

The retail sector continues to face change and challenge from every conceivable angle and employment within the sector is following this trend.

Collective actions under consumer law: proposed amendments to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Bill

Published on 17 Apr 2024. By Oliver Bray, Senior Partner

Are class actions under consumer protection law likely following the UK’s new DMCC Bill, and if so, what will the impact on businesses be?

Shift in consumer rights landscape increases risks for retailers

Published on 13 Dec 2021.

PLC QTRLY - Q2 2024

Published on 31 Jul 2024. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and James Channo, Partner and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q1 2024

Published on 17 Apr 2024. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and James Channo, Partner and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q4 2023

Published on 05 Feb 2024. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and James Channo, Partner and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q3 2023

Published on 12 Oct 2023. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and James Channo, Partner and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q2 2023

Published on 14 Jul 2023. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate and Rosamund Akayan, Knowledge Lawyer

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q1 2023

Published on 19 Apr 2023. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate and Rosamund Akayan, Knowledge Lawyer

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q4 2022

Published on 02 Feb 2023. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies and Karen Hendy, Partner, Head of Corporate and Rosamund Akayan, Knowledge Lawyer

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q3 2022

Published on 14 Nov 2022. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

US and Chinese regulators sign landmark agreement on inspection of Chinese audit work

Published on 02 Sep 2022. By Antony Sassi, Managing Partner, Asia and Samuel Hung, Partner and Jennifer Leung, Associate

On 26 August 2022, the US Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) and the PRC China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) and Ministry of Finance (MoF) signed a Statement of Protocol that would allow US regulators access to audits of Chinese companies listed on the US stock exchanges.

PLC QTRLY - Q2 2022

Published on 26 Jul 2022. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies

This is our regular quarterly update to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

PLC QTRLY - Q1 2022

Published on 13 Apr 2022. By Connor Cahalane, Partner, Head of Public Companies

Post-Covid and post-Brexit changes are on the horizon for the UK's public companies. This is the first of our regular updates to help our listed company clients and other market participants keep up to date with key developments relevant to issuers on the Main Market and AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

UK authorities seize £179m from suspected criminals – up 16% in a year

Published on 16 Oct 2023. By Adam Craggs, Partner and Michelle Sloane, Partner

UK authorities, including the SFO, HMRC and police, seized £179m last year[1] from criminals using draconian Confiscation Orders – an increase of 16% on £154m a year earlier, according to analysis of new data by international law firm RPC.

2023 Update - CAT Collective Proceedings

Published on 10 Feb 2023. By Chris Ross, Partner

A new era of consumer-focussed competition class actions is now well underway. It kicked off with the first collective proceedings order (CPO) granted by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in Merricks in the summer of 2021, opening the gates for further collective claims to be certified.