We Must Stop the Corona Crash Becoming a Depression, with Ten Social Rights
The corona virus has triggered a stock market crash sharper and faster than the global financial crisis. It threatens a depression unless we aggressively protect social rights. Companies with plummeting...
Foodora Couriers are ‘Dependent Contractors’ Rules Ontario Labour Relations Board
In August 2019, couriers working for Foodora Inc. (Foodora), a web services company that provides an online marketplace platform connecting consumers to restaurants, voted on whether to join the Canadian...
French Court of Cassation Rules that Uber Drivers are Employees
On 4th of March 2020, French Court of Cassation (the country’s highest court for civil matters) in a landmark ruling confirmed the Paris Court of Appeal’s finding that Uber drivers...
Campaigning for a Living Wage and Fair Contracts at Oxford University
Last week, the University of Oxford announced its commitment to pay the Oxford Living Wage (OLW) to all of its employees starting August 1, 2020. Currently set at £10.21/hr, the...
Equal Pay for Equal Work? Flaws in the Indian Law
The Equal Remuneration Act 1976 (‘ERA’), a legislation in India dealing with equal pay for equal work for men and women, was repealed in August 2019, and replaced by the...
Domestic Workers in South Africa Lead the Way in Advancing Social Protection for Precarious Workers
In a recent South African High Court judgement, the court held the failure to cover domestic workers under Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act (COIDA) to be unconstitutional. This...
From contract to role: using human rights to widen the personal scope of employment protections
The UK Supreme Court’s judgment in Gilham demonstrates how human rights can be used to widen the class of individuals who benefit from employment rights (the “personal scope” of the...
Brazilian Superior Court of Justice Decides that Victims of Domestic Violence are Entitled to Paid Work Leave – While New Legislation Could Hinder Their Right to an Adequate Standard of Living
The Brazilian Superior Court of Justice (STJ) established a new precedent asserting that women who suffer domestic violence are entitled to a court-determined paid work leave of six months or...
Updates on the Modern Slavery Act 2015: government showing signs of long-awaited leadership
In the past year, the UK government has made unprecedented efforts to increase its engagement with the Modern Slavery Act 2015 (MSA). Commentators have long criticised the Act for not...
The ILO adopts Convention concerning violence and harassment at work
Sexual harassment, an expression of violence against women (VAW), received remarkable media attention with the #MeToo Movement. It was a reminder of the law’s poor track record in curbing workplace...
Russian gig economy violates worker rights with society’s tacit acceptance
The term “gig economy” was coined during the global financial crisis in 2009, to describe a freelance economy where employers do not offer traditional work benefits. Like other gig economy...
California is Poised to Expand Labour Protections for Workers
California, many other states, and the United States government, have laws imposing minimum standards of employment (such as wages and hours), limited financial benefits for workers who become unemployed or...
