Conversation starter - innovative workplace laws around the world
Authors: Ronelle Barreto and Rocio Carracedo Lopez
Having difficulty thinking of an ice-breaker to launch your Monday huddle? Got some important things to say in the Teams strategy meeting this afternoon but don't want to go too far, too fast? Or simply just looking for a friendly way to open a chat with a new colleague? Then why not try this conversation starter…
Even in our increasingly globalised and homogenised world, employment laws and workplace practices vary significantly across different jurisdictions. Did you know, for instance:
1. In Nova Scotia, Canada…
...an irrational fear of contracting an illness or disease is a protected ground of discrimination.
2. In India…
...if an employer does not provide a pregnant employee with free prenatal and post-natal medical care, it must pay the employee a "medical bonus" of INR 3,500.
3. In the Netherlands…
...dismissal can be quite tricky. If it is for reasons such as poor performance, frequent sickness absence or culpable conduct on the part of the employee, the employer must ask the courts to dissolve the employment contract.
4. In Puerto Rico…
...employees are entitled to two hours' paid time off to renew their driving licence.
5. In Sweden…
...employees have the right to take six months' leave to start or run their own business. The employer is not obliged to pay them during their absence but employees have the right to return to their job at the end of the leave period.
6. In Switzerland…
...employees aged under 30 are entitled to up to one working week of unpaid "youth leave" each year to carry out voluntary work with young people for a cultural or social organisation.
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