Earlier this month, we recorded an action-packed webinar with several of our Baker McKenzie colleagues to discuss the major developments impacting multinational employers operating in Asia. For your convenience, click here for a link to the recording.
And, for a tl;dr of sorts, read on!
Several jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region have held key elections in the first half of 2025, resulting in some degree of political uncertainty in certain jurisdictions and also impacting policy priorities (e.g. in Australia where the newly elected Labor government may embark on significant reform of workplace laws). And, in the wake US tariffs, broader geopolitical tension and inflation across the region, there is marked economic uncertainty which is causing many employers to make changes to ‘right-size’ their business. Of course, this can be challenging in certain jurisdictions where unilateral termination of employment is difficult (e.g. in China, Japan, Indonesia, South Korea and the Philippines).
We have witnessed an uptick in labor litigation, including unlawful or wrongful dismissal claims (which are increasingly partnered with equity incentive disputes). Authorities in a number of jurisdictions in APAC (e.g. in Australia, China, Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam) are increasing the scrutiny of employee-like workers and/or ramping up restrictions on labor dispatch/labor subleasing.
At the same time, there is an increased focus on supporting women in the workplace through targeted legislative changes (e.g. expanding family leave laws like in Japan and Singapore) and requiring gender pay gap reporting in some jurisdictions (e.g. in Australia and Japan). Further, several APAC jurisdictions now require employers to take proactive steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace (e.g. in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan).
Tune in to learn more, and as always, reach out to your Baker McKenzie employment lawyer with any questions.