Employment law 5 in 5: August 2026

At a glance

• Monitor: The EU Quality Jobs Act.
• Review: Pay transparency implementation process in the EU continues to advance.
• Prepare: Changes in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands.
• Americas: Canada.
• Attend: Upcoming events.

Monitor: The EU Quality Jobs Act

In Q4 2026, the European Commission is expected to propose the Quality Jobs Act, aiming to modernise European Union workplace rules across six priority areas:

• Algorithmic management and artificial intelligence at work.
•  Health and safety, including extreme heat, psychosocial hazards, and sexual harassment.
• Workers' rights in subcontracting chains.
• Fair digital and green transitions.
• Enforcement and the role of social partners.
• The right to disconnect and fair remote work.

Review: Pay transparency implementation process in the EU continues to advance

The 7 June 2026 implementation deadline for the Gender Pay Transparency Directive has passed. Several countries have introduced final transposing legislation, while others are in the process of transposing. The latest developments span both EU-level initiatives and national transposition efforts. In August 2026, the European Commission published an FAQ document and a high-level flyer on the directive.

In France, a draft bill to transpose the directive introduces obligations for pay transparency, gender pay reporting, and job classification. The French Council of State has issued its opinion on the proposed legislation.

In Portugal, a draft bill has been published, and a public consultation was launched in August.

Prepare: Changes in the UK, Australia, and the Netherlands

On 30 July 2026, the United Kingdom’s Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service published a consultation on a revised draft Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures (Code). The Code’s language has been substantially revised: The term 'workers' has replaced 'employees' and, when discussing informal resolution, the Code refers to 'concerns' rather than disciplinary and grievance issues. Unreasonable failure to comply with the Code could lead to a compensation award increase of up to 25%.

The Australian government has announced plans to establish a Fair Work Court to operate alongside the Fair Work Commission (Commission), providing a specialist forum for workplace disputes. It would be Australia's first specialist industrial relations court since the Industrial Relations Court of Australia was abolished in 1997. Also in Australia, the Commission has introduced the first minimum standards for gig economy delivery workers, covering remuneration, recordkeeping, consultation, dispute resolution, and insurance requirements. The Commission has also published guidance on the use of generative AI.

The Netherlands Senate has adopted the More Protection for Flexible Workers Act (Act). The Act abolishes most zero-hour contracts, replaces minimum-maximum contracts with bandwidth contracts, and extends the interruption period for successive fixed-term contracts to 36 months. Separately, the Allocation of Workers Act's entry into force is now scheduled for 1 January 2027. That Act introduces a licensing system for companies that supply workers to hirer companies.

The Platform Work Directive will further regulate the gig economy in the Netherlands, Spain, and the Czech Republic.

Americas: Canada

The Ontario Court of Appeal has confirmed that contractual termination provisions must be interpreted using a practical and common-sense approach. It has also established that restricted stock unit provisions that immediately terminate vesting on dismissal may contravene Ontario's Employment Standards Act 2000.

Employers in New Brunswick must now disclose salary or pay range information in job advertisements and are restricted from requesting applicants' pay history. An employer with 100 or more employees must submit its first pay transparency report by 31 March 2029. A new job-protected leave of up to 27 weeks in a 52-week period has also been introduced for employees unable to work due to serious illness or injury.

The threshold for refusing religious accommodation requests in Quebec's private sector has been lowered from 'undue hardship' to 'more than minimal hardship.' This could have tangible implications for requests involving modifications to work schedules, leaves of absence for religious reasons, or adjustments to working conditions.

Attend: Upcoming events

DLA Piper’s quarterly global webinar for clients will take place on 30 September 2026. A UK-focused webinar is scheduled for 21 October 2026.