Legal system, currency, language
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Australia
Common law jurisdiction with employment laws that operate at both the federal and state levels. The official currency is the Australian dollar (AUD). The official language is English.
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Hong Kong, SAR
Common law. The Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) provides that courts of HKSAR may refer to the precedents of other common law jurisdictions when making decisions. The official currency is the Hong Kong dollar (HKD). The official languages are English and Chinese.
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India
India uses a common law legal system, except in the State of Goa, which has a civil code. The official currency is the Indian Rupee (INR). India is a multilinguistic country with many languages and dialects across the country. The official languages of the union government are Hindi and English. Individual states may set their own official language.
Additionally, in a major move to streamline, simplify and reform Indian employment laws, the Indian government has legislated 4 labor codes. These new codes are expected to significantly impact labor reforms, affecting more than 500 million organized and unorganized workers in India, including work structures such as “gig workers.” The codes are not yet in effect, nor has the government indicated when they will be put into effect. Below is a brief overview of the codes:
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 (SS Code) intends to consolidate, into a single code, 9 central labor statutes related to social security, which inter alia include the Employees’ Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; the Employees’ State Insurance Act, 1948; the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; the Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972; and the Unorganized Workers' Social Security Act, 2008. It proposes to extend the social security benefits to employees and workers, in both the organized and the unorganized sectors, including “gig”
- The Industrial Relations Code, 2020 (IR Code) intends to consolidate and amend the existing laws relating to conditions of employment in an industrial establishment and proposes to subsume, into a single code, 3 central labor statutes: the Industrial Disputes Act, 1947; the Trade Unions Act, 1926; and the Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Act (IESO Act). A key feature of the IR Code is that it proposes to increase the threshold for applicability of the provision relating to the requirement of taking the prior permission of the appropriate government before layoff, retrenchment and closure from 100 to 300 workmen. It also seeks to provide fixed-term employees with all the benefits akin to permanent workers (including gratuity), except for notice upon conclusion of a fixed period and retrenchment compensation. The employer has been provided with the flexibility to employ workers on a fixed-term basis based on requirement and without restriction on any sector.
- The Occupational Health, Safety and Working Conditions Code, 2020 (OSH Code) seeks to consolidate and amend the laws regulating the occupational health, safety and working conditions of the persons employed in an establishment. It subsumes and replaces 13 central labor statutes including inter alia the Factories Act, 1948; the Mines Act, 1952; the Dock Workers Act, 1986; and the Contract Labour Act (Regulation and Abolition) Act, 1970.
- The Code on Wages, 2019 (Wage Code) consolidates 4 central labor laws relating to wage, bonus and related matters: the Payment of Wages Act, 1936; the Minimum Wages Act, 1948; the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965; and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.