Shifting World Dynamics and the Evolving Workplace: Global labour law conference - 6 October 2017

Speakers from the UK, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan and Hong Kong will give two panel discussions: one on the labour law implications of Brexit, Macron and the Belt and Road initiatives, and the second on legal and compliance considerations regarding flexible working and workforce stress management. This is a unique opportunity to gain insights into forthcoming changes in labour law that may affect your business or you as an employee, and to receive guidance on dealing with challenging workplace issues.

Conference itinerary

9.00am: registration and breakfast

9.30am – 10.30am: Macron Economics, Busting Brexit Myths and the Rise of the Dragon

As world dynamics change, what impact is this having on employment and immigration law in Europe and Asia? Our panel of four leading labour lawyers from the UK, France, China and Hong Kong will address this and the following:

Macron Economics

• Liberalising the French labour market – who will be the winners and the losers?
• More legal security – proposed changes to severance payments and dismissal on economic grounds
• More flexibility – merging employee representative bodies and increased opportunity to determine through in-house collective agreements the social rules applicable to a    company

Busting Brexit myths

• Will Brexit happen and, if so, will it be hard or soft?
• Brexit from a globalisation and free trade agreement perspective
• Changes to employing people in the UK post-Brexit

Rise of the Dragon

• The major Belt and Road initiatives and their significance
• Anticipated increase of the hiring/accepting of international employees by Chinese companies
• Protection of Chinese employees sent on overseas assignments

10.30am – 10.45am: coffee break

10.45am – 11.45am: Work/life balance or work/life chaos? Managing flexibility and stress in the modern workplace

This panel discussion will examine the following topics from a Hong Kong, Japanese, Italian and German perspective:

• The development of flexible and remote working across Asia and Europe
• The legal framework for requesting and responding to flexible working requests – could it be discriminatory to turn down a request
• The advantages and disadvantages of flexible working arrangements – from an employer and employee perspective
• Identifying and managing stress in the modern workplace – policies and practice
• Stress as a disability

11.45am – 12.00pm: questions and closing remarks

12.00pm – 12.45pm: networking lunch