At a glance
- Monitor: Expanding family rights
- Review: Remote work and flexible working regulatory changes
- Prepare: EU regulation implementation
- Americas: Compliance updates
- Attend: Upcoming events.
Monitor: Expanding family rights
The UK government has confirmed it will expand statutory bereavement leave to cover immediate family members and pregnancy loss (including miscarriage and IVF embryo transfer loss), with up to two weeks‘ unpaid leave. This day one right is expected to come into force in April 2027. Ireland is also progressing a Pregnancy Loss Leave Bill proposing statutory paid leave for loss before 23 weeks‘ gestation.
Mauritius has significantly strengthened statutory leave entitlements. Maternity leave will increase from 16 to 26 weeks on full pay (with an optional further 26 weeks on half pay) from January 2027, paternity leave rises from four to six weeks, and a new one-day-per-month paid menstrual leave took effect in August 2026. Brazil‘s Supreme Court has confirmed equal maternity leave for adoptive mothers (120 days, with a possible 60-day extension). France has expanded protections for employees caring for seriously ill children.
Review: Remote work and flexible working regulatory changes
The UK government has published its response to the consultation on improving access to flexible working. From autumn 2027, employers will be required to follow a prescribed process, including a meeting to discuss feasibility and alternatives, before rejecting a statutory flexible working request, and a new reasonableness test will apply.
The Australian Fair Work Commission is inserting a new working-from-home clause into the Clerks Award, creating a formal process for employees to request arrangements. Employers with clerical staff working from home should formalise existing informal arrangements in writing.
In Portugal, the Lisbon Court of Appeal has confirmed that employers must permit chronically ill employees to work remotely where medically advised.
Prepare: EU regulation implementation
The EU Commission has adopted the Fair Labor Mobility Package, with five legislative proposals now entering the ordinary legislative procedure. The European Social Security Pass will digitalise the portable document A1 for posted workers, while the Skills Portability Act will standardize qualifications across Member States.
Gender Pay Transparency Directive transposition continues to progress, although the deadline has passed. Bulgaria has submitted a revised draft bill to the National Assembly. The Netherlands has published a package of measures clarifying employer obligations. Finland is advancing its implementation, and Spain launched a consultation on draft rules.
As EU Member States must implement the Platform Workers Directive by 2 December 2026, Poland has published a first draft Platform Work Act introducing a rebuttable presumption of employment, algorithmic transparency obligations, and fines of up to PLN60,000. To implement the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive, Spain has approved a Royal Decree requiring employers to provide comprehensive employment information, including pay, algorithmic management criteria, and working-time arrangements, from the start of the relationship.
Americas: Compliance updates
September delivered several noteworthy employment law changes in the US. New York’s Trapped at Work Act (effective 19 December 2026) broadly prohibits stay-or-pay arrangements, and a new personnel file access law grants employees rights to inspect and copy their employment records. In California, San Francisco has shortened the paid parental leave eligibility period and expanded restrictions on the criminal history information employers may consider in employment decisions. The District of Columbia reduced family and medical leave benefits under the Universal Paid Leave program (effective 1 October 2026). At the federal level, the US Department of Labor has eliminated disability self-identification requirements for federal contractors (effective 21 September 2026).
The Brazilian Supreme Court‘s confirmation of equal maternity leave for adoptive mothers has immediate compliance implications, while a bill to reduce the standard workweek to 40 hours is advancing through Congress. Chile has introduced a new gender equity reporting obligation requiring employers to publish gender pay and representation data - part of the region‘s growing alignment with global pay-transparency trends.
In Canada, Manitoba‘s new sick note restrictions (effective 1 October 2026) follow Ontario and other provinces in limiting employer documentation requests for short absences.
Attend: Upcoming events
In-person half-day workshops, DLA Piper London: International Employment Law Training - Autumn 2026.
Catch up on quarterly trends and developments across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC through our Quarter 3 Global employment briefing. Finally, have a look at our new article series on Global M&A issues for employers, which can viewed here and here.
More to explore
