Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives Update January 2021

Happy New Year! Hopefully 2021 is a brighter and better one for all. Our first Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives update of 2021 covers:

• the recent Supreme Court decision in Thailand, that found that forwarding confidential work documents to a personal email account amounted to disclosure, even though there was no evidence that the documents were subsequently released to third parties;
• the case of Leiman, Ricardo and another v Noble Resources Ltd [2020] 2 SLR 386, where the Singapore Court of Appeal examined the extent to which the courts would review the decision-making process of a contractually designated entity in granting post-termination benefits;
• our Compliance Check, which this month considers the Philippines’ Department of Labor and Employment decision to amend the rules on suspension of employment to extend a suspension in the event of war, pandemic or similar national emergencies, subject to consultation with employees, for a further six-month period;
• in the PRC, the recent consolidation of the laws in the Trial of Labour Disputes Cases, and what happens to employment that continues beyond the expiry of the fixed term period; and
• our Asia Comparative Article, which this month continues with the second part of our investigations focus, and looks at the obligations on employers when conducting investigations in Singapore, Hong Kong, PRC, and Thailand.

Finally, we are delighted to announce the launch of a four part series on Managing Workplace Investigations. This series will help clients navigate the full life cycle of an investigation and is aimed at giving those involved in investigations an overview of the key areas. The topics that will be covered are:

• Scoping & Drafting (20 January);
• Interviews & Privilege (3 February);
• Gathering Evidence (23 February); and
• Reports & Regulators (9 March).

To register, click here.

As always, please do reach out if we can assist with any employment law queries across the region.