Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1440672
12 Strategic Update on APAC • The Hong Kong government passed a bill to progressively increase the number of statutory holidays under the Employment Ordinance from 12 to 17 days by 2030. Starting January 1 2022, one additional statutory holiday will be added every two years until the annual total reaches 17 days. An employer must grant such additional statutory holiday (or arrange substituted holiday) and must not "buy out" any statutory holiday, which is prohibited by law. • New Zealand is expected to introduce the Fair Pay Agreements Bill in early 2022. The new system is designed to put a floor under wages by allowing unions to negotiate on an industry-wide basis. If 10% of a workforce, or 1,000 workers agree, a new Fair Pay Agreement can be enacted. The relevant union will then have power to negotiate directly with an employer group covering the sector that will be compelled to negotiate to create the agreement. Any resulting agreement will set minimum ordinary time wages and conditions, overtime, penalty rates across the country. Regional variations to account for cost of living will be able to be built into the system along with some limited exemptions and strikes will be prohibited during negotiations. The agreements will cover all workers – union and non-union – but as part of the deal unions can apply for union members to receive extra wages up to the value of their union fees. • Japan will expand the Act on the Promotion of Female Participation and Career Advancement in the Workplace in April 2022. The Act currently obliges companies with more than 300 regular employees to formulate and file action plans for the promotion of female employees; and publish information on the activities of female employees at the company. Starting April 1 2022, it will apply to companies with more than 100 regular employees. • South Korea is set to enforce a number of significant employment law changes including a new minimum wage for 2022, new penalties for workplace harassment and remedies for gender discrimination and sexual harassment claims, plus leave and working hour adjustments for pregnant employees. • Taiwan announced that Taiwan's monthly minimum wage will increase by 5% on January 1 2022. The minimum monthly wage will increase from from NT$24,000 (~$857) to NT$25,250 (~$909) and the minimum hourly wage from NT$160 (~$5.76) to NT$168 (~$6.05). • In China, companies are laying off tens of thousands of workers as Beijing's regulatory clampdowns weigh on the technology, education and property sectors, which in many cases offered higher salaries than other industries and helped drive economic growth. This contrasts with the country's booming manufacturing industry, which continues to suffer from a shortage of workers. Many factory owners have raised salaries or relocated to less-developed regions, where labor supply is more abundant. Meanwhile more people are looking into government jobs for stable, guaranteed employment. This year, more than two million candidates registered for China's civil-service exam, a 40% surge from last year, making it one of the most intensely competitive in the past decade. Talent Solutions - Global QMR Q4 2021