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Employment law exists to protect workers’ rights and to set out rules around pay, working conditions and health and safety requirements. Employment law varies significantly around the world. Workers in countries where employment law is lacking or is not enforced are open to exploitation and unsafe working conditions.
In this article we will highlight some of the key trends in employment law across the world and take a look at some predictions for how things may shape up in 2025.
Key Global Trends in Employment Law
Employment laws are not equal across the globe, with some countries placing strict requirements on employers and some having very few safeguards in place.
In this section we will explore some key trends that are visible across the world, including the rise in the gig economy, the rise in older workers and expectations around higher rates of pay to reflect increased costs of living.
Remote and hybrid working models
Many workers were forced to start working from home due to the global pandemic, which has caused a cultural shift in attitudes towards remote and hybrid working models.
- A recent Forbes Advisor survey showed that, of 1,100 respondents, 63% of workers worked remotely either all or some of the time.
- According to the 2023 State of Remote Work Report, 98% of workers surveyed would recommend remote work to others, 91% had a positive view of remote work and 70% reported that they were not paid less for working remotely.
The benefits of working from home include it being more flexible and inclusive, allowing some disabled people and single parents back into the workforce. It is also reported to enhance worker wellbeing.
In the UK, one key change to employment law that happened in 2024 is the right for a worker to request flexible working arrangements from day one. Flexible working may include remote or hybrid options.
As more people begin working from home across the globe, employment law may need to change to reflect:
- Health and safety considerations (including mental health)
- Fair pay for remote workers
- Employer responsibilities around flexible working
- Key details of employment contracts
- Safeguarding relating to data privacy and information sharing
Gig economy
An increasing number of people are thought to be working in the ‘gig economy’. The UK government defines the gig economy as:
‘The exchange of labour for money between individuals or companies via digital platforms that actively facilitate matching between providers and customers, on a short-term and payment by task basis.’
This includes people driving for ride-share companies (Lyft, Uber etc), working via food delivery apps (Deliveroo, Doordash, Just Eat) or working online freelance jobs (such as administration, copywriting, web design and graphic design) often facilitated through platforms such as Fiverr, PeoplePerHour or Upwork.
- 200 million people are thought to work in the gig economy in China.
- The number of workers in the UK gig economy is contested, with estimates ranging from 1.4% to 14.7% of the workforce.
- In America, gig workers increased by 170% between 2019 and 2021.
- The gig workforce in India is estimated to consist of around 7.7 million workers and is expected to rise to over 23 million in 2029-30.
The rise of the gig economy has led to concern that people may be being exploited by being paid per task which ends up equating to less than minimum wage. Gig work that is not done from home (such as food or parcel delivery) is often cited as having poor working conditions, including lack of rest breaks and unrealistic output expectations.
Some companies also use the gig worker model to avoid paying workers certain benefits, such as holiday pay. These workers are referred to as disguised workers, even though the company will class them as self-employed. Uber got themselves in trouble for this in 2021 and a court ruled that Uber drivers should in fact be treated as employees.
Gig work and the self-employed status does need some extra protection and definition in employment law to ensure that workers are being treated fairly and are paid everything they are entitled to, otherwise more legal cases may follow.
The gig economy also has a dark side as it attracts illegal workers who rent or buy legitimate accounts from others when they are not allowed to work under their own identity due to their immigration status. This raises both legal and safety issues.
Rise in older workers
The average age of workers across the globe continues to grow. In 2019, the median age of the workforce was 38.9 years; in 2025 it is predicted to increase to 39.6. In the last decade, the rise of people working in their 70s has doubled in the UK. In response to the pressure ageing populations are placing on societies, retirement ages are increasing in a number of countries, as well as changes to pension payments.
China has one of the lowest statutory retirement ages in the world – age 60 for men and 55 for women in white-collar jobs, 50 in blue-collar jobs; however, in response to their ageing population the Chinese government has decided to raise it. From 2030, workers will also have to make more contributions to the social security system in order to receive their pension.
Wage increases
An increased cost of living and high rates of inflation in 2024 have led to more and more workers demanding higher rates of pay.
Several countries have raised the minimum wage or will be implementing a minimum wage increase to reflect this:
- The UK’s most recent increase saw the minimum wage rise over £1 per hour from £10.42 to £11.44, one of the biggest increases ever given.
- Poland is making preparations for the EU’s Pay Transparency Directive and recently has increased the minimum wage (relating to both monthly and hourly pay).
- Following approval from the Council of Ministers, Spain increased the minimum wage in February 2024 and now pays the eighth highest minimum wage in Europe.
- Australia is closing loopholes around casual labour, meaning that casual workers who do the same job as employees at a host’s workplace should expect equal pay.
The USA is somewhat of an outlier here as they will not be increasing the federal minimum wage in 2024. Currently set at US$7.25 per hour, the federal minimum wage has not increased since 2009. Individual states can, however, set higher minimum wages. Some states have tied their minimum wage increases to inflation, including Alaska, Montana and Vermont – the District of Columbia had the highest minimum wage in the US, at US$17 per hour
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) regulations
Barely a day seems to go by without a story about diversity, equity and inclusion being in the news relating to the workplace, sports or the arts.
Awareness around the need for equality, inclusivity and celebrating diverse workforces is being reflected in legislative changes made across a range of countries:
- Brazil has passed legislation (Decree No.11,795/2023) demanding pay parity between men and women.
- Spain has implemented an LGBTI plan aimed at reducing discrimination and promoting equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex workers.
- Singapore has plans for a Workplace Fairness Act that requires employers to have procedures in place for handling discrimination based on protected characteristics (age, nationality, sex, marital status, pregnancy status and caregiving responsibilities, race, religion and language, disability and mental health conditions).
Predictions for the Future of Employment Law
Key predictions for the future of employment law may reflect changing attitudes towards women and sexual harassment as well as addressing some noticeable societal changes including the rise in economic inactivity since the pandemic, increased life expectancy and falling birth rates in some developed countries.
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment remains a major topic of concern across the globe, which is highlighted in several recent, highly publicised cases of public figures and celebrities being accused of abusing their positions of power. The EU has published a new directive on combatting violence against women which includes protection from cyber harassment. Member states now need to make preparations to implement the new laws by 2027.
In the UK, a new law has already been passed that requires employers to take ‘reasonable steps’ to protect workers from sexual harassment. The government has further plans to strengthen this rule, meaning that employers should take ‘all reasonable steps’ to protect workers from sexual harassment, including from third parties (such as clients or contractors).
Other countries that have published recent legislative changes relating to sexual harassment include:
- Brazil
- Australia
- South Korea
- China
It is possible that with an increased understanding of the prevalence of sexual harassment and violence against women, more countries will decide to adopt this kind of proactive approach, putting an increased responsibility on employers to put safeguards in place and focus on prevention.
Economic inactivity
Unemployment and economic inactivity remain an issue across the world.
Economic inactivity fell across the G7 countries in the years prior to the onset of the pandemic, with the UK consistently doing well, with one of the lowest inactivity rates. Unfortunately, since then, inactivity has risen in the UK and the US but fallen across the rest of the G7 countries.
Recent research has suggested that the number of people out of the workforce due to sickness in the UK is set to rise by up to 300,000 per year.
Data is currently limited on the reasons why people are economically inactive in advanced countries, although available data does suggest ill health has consistently been a bigger factor behind inactivity in the UK than in most other advanced economies, with post-pandemic trends likely to have amplified these differences.
The steps necessary to tackle the rates of unemployment and inactivity in the US and UK and to try to get back to pre-pandemic levels may include:
- Changes to who can access welfare and benefits payments and for how long.
- Changes to laws on flexible working, hybrid working and sickness leave.
- Investment in health and wellbeing initiatives with an emphasis placed on employers looking after the health of their staff.
- Further research into countries that are performing well economically to see what they are doing differently.
To get people back into work will be a challenging task that requires effort from both the government and employers and will not be solved by employment law or policy changes alone.
Retirement
With life expectancy increasing, it is likely that more countries will change the law regarding retirement ages or rules around when a person can access their pension.
- Several proposals have been made to increase the age at which you can receive full retirement benefits in America to 69, starting in 2026.
- A story in the Bangkok Post, Thailand’s leading English language paper, suggested that the Thai Labour Ministry had shown interest in raising the retirement age beyond 55, especially in the business sector, to accommodate their ageing population now that over-60s make up more than 20% of the 66 million people in Thailand.
- The state pension age in the UK is set to rise from 66 to 67 (between 2026-28) for both men and women and is expected to rise again to age 68 in the future.
It is likely that as ageing populations increase and birth rates fall, more countries will follow the examples of the UK and China and will begin to raise the retirement age to keep people economically active for longer.
In countries where automation is used less frequently and manual labour is still common, especially in rural areas, legislation will need to reflect this to prevent older workers from being forced to work for longer in jobs that are physically unsuitable. One potential trend may be a wider use of a two-tier retirement system where white-collar workers are expected to stay in work for longer than blue-collar workers.
Falling birth rates
A number of countries across the world are suffering from low birth rates including the UK, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan. An ageing and declining population can put an economic strain on a country, resulting in a smaller workforce in relation to the number of elderly people.
It is possible that in the future, to try to tackle falling birth rates, changes will be made to employment law in the countries that are most affected, for example:
- Improvements to maternity leave and pay to make having a baby more attractive to working women
- Increased equity in maternity/paternity leave
- Changes to parental leave or holiday entitlement for parents
- Tax breaks for new parents
- Relaxing of visa and immigration rules to enable businesses to bring in workers from elsewhere if there are not enough working-age people locally
Singapore has already decided to take some steps to try to improve conditions for workers who are also parents. They have recently enhanced paternity leave, allowing male employees of Singaporean children born on or after 1 January 2024 to be able to take up to four weeks of government paid paternity leave. Additionally, employees with a child under two years old are now entitled to 12 days of unpaid leave for infant care (this has doubled from the previous 6 days).
Additional future trends in employment law may include:
- Artificial intelligence – Increased legislation around the use of artificial intelligence (AI) at work, including laws to protect workers from redundancy due to the use of AI. Even highly developed countries are largely unable to keep up with the rapidly evolving pace of AI and it is likely that future legislation will follow around its safe and ethical use as well as how to address its potential for bias and discrimination in the workplace (particularly in recruitment).
- Health and wellbeing initiatives – Employee health and wellbeing is increasingly being discussed, especially in light of the high levels of depression and anxiety workers seem to be facing post-lockdown. It is likely that legislation around mental health and wellbeing will be tightened. The issue of burnout may be specially addressed in legislation, with employers required to take steps to address and control these issues, especially in Asia where 82% of workers have a medium to high mental health risk profile and levels of burnout are high.
- Flexible working – Workers increasingly expect a work/life balance and flexibility; this is especially true amongst Gen Z. Employment law may need to address this in future, requiring businesses in more countries to take steps to make the workplace more attractive and to increase productivity. Global employment laws may also need to change to allow workers to request flexible working options which may help to get people back to work or encourage them to have families and return to work.
- Climate change – Employers should be increasingly prepared to address the climate related concerns of employees. This may mean whistleblowing laws need amending and legislation protecting workers from discrimination in relation to their beliefs needs to be considered.
- Online work – As more people take up work online through different platforms, there may be a need to strengthen employment law to prevent people from being exploited. This may include a basic minimum wage for pay-per-task jobs, changes to definitions of ‘employee’, ‘worker’ and ‘self-employed’ and increased employee protections against scams and sham employment opportunities.
Regional Variations and Considerations
Global trends may vary across countries and regions due to various reasons, including:
- Local culture
- State of local economies
- Legal frameworks
- History of worker rights
- Attitudes to health and safety
Countries that still follow a strict religious way of life, for example, may still be behind in terms of equality between men and women and resistant to talk about diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives at work, particularly in relation to LGBTQ+ workers.
Additional key differences in employment law between regions reflect socio-economic and geopolitical factors. Areas with high levels of unrest and violence, for example, may not consider labour laws to be of fundamental importance at this time. Countries where poverty, malnutrition and disease are an issue are unlikely to have the same concerns as developed countries in terms of how certain trends affect their workforce, for example:
- Artificial intelligence
- Technological developments
- Hybrid working models and remote work
Key differences in trends between countries also reflect on specific societal issues that are unique to that country in the current time, for example:
USA
Despite still being an illegal substance under federal law, an increasing number of US states have legalised the use and possession of marijuana for adults. Furthermore, around three quarters of US states allow the use of marijuana for medical purposes, with millions of Americans now carrying medical marijuana cards. This has led to health and safety concerns and difficulty applying drug-free policies at work, due to state-by-state variations.
The US government now has the task of coming up with a comprehensive way to ensure worker safety and apply the law to make it clearer what is and what is not allowed in terms of marijuana use and the workplace, across the board.
United Kingdom
It has been revealed this week that the UK has the highest number of illegal immigrants. As discussed earlier in the article, there is evidence to suggest some of these people are finding ways to work illegally, particularly in the gig economy.
The UK government is under pressure to solve this situation and is it possible that they will place more responsibility on employers and companies who use the gig worker model, to apply more stringent checks on ID, establishing whether an individual has the right to work and whether the person who originally opened the account corresponds with the person actually running the account.
China
China is keen to be seen as a legitimate global superpower by the world, but this is undermined by its poor record regarding human rights.
At the beginning of last year, the Women’s Protection Law came into effect, followed by the Rules on the Elimination of Sexual Harassment in the Workplace in March 2023, which was jointly released by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security of China, and several other ministries and associations.
These pieces of legislation placed strict expectations on employers in China to establish strict anti-harassment codes in their businesses. We may start to see further, similar legislation coming out of China which aims to show the world that they are making a commitment to strengthening human rights at work.
Despite the cultural, religious and social differences that exist between countries across the globe, with the internet and social media allowing us to be more connected than ever, it is possible that employees in developing countries may begin to voice higher expectations and reject their current working conditions. A cultural shift on this scale may lead to a more comprehensive and harmonised approach to employment law, but this remains to be seen.
Conclusion
Employment laws vary significantly between countries, with some governments leading the way in employee rights and equality and others struggling to catch up. Many economies across the globe are still recovering from the pandemic and the long-term effects it has had on the mental health, productivity and expectations of the modern workforce.
In this article we discussed some hot topics and current trends that are affecting societies and shaping employment law, including the shift towards remote and hybrid work, the rise of the gig economy, the implications of the ageing population and falling birth rates, and the importance of mental health and wellbeing amongst workers.
If you have an interest in employment law, work in HR or are a business owner, keep your ear to the ground to listen for any changes in global employment law that may affect you, as this is a landscape that is evolving constantly.
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