Asia Employment, Pensions and Incentives Update: August 2022

Our August update covers the following:

• our review of a recent Hong Kong case, Tan Shaun Zhi Ming v Euromoney Institutional Investor (Jersey) Ltd [2022] HKDC 622, where a male employee accused of sexual harassment by a co-worker succeeded in arguing that his termination of employment amounted to sex discrimination due to the employer’s pro-female bias.
• a summary of the health and safety measures that PRC employers need to take as employees resume on-site work.
• in South Korea, the Supreme Court held that to show an urgent business need for dismissal, imminent insolvency was not necessary; a potential future crisis was sufficient; read our update here. 
• our Compliance Check this month focuses on Malaysia, where the Employment Act 1955 will be expanded to cover all employees regardless of salary levels. The changes (including changes to the substantive provisions) will kick in on 1 January 2023.
• finally, our Asia Comparative Article looks at employers’ obligations in relation to mental wellbeing at the workplace in Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

The next episode of our Employment Data Protection Series will be on the 20th September, where we will look at key considerations for employers in designing a locally compliant privacy policy in Asia, specifically focusing on employee data. To register for this in-person series, click here (note the changes and timing for upcoming episodes).