Employers’ Guide to 2020 so far: impact of National Security Law and other key changes
10 September 2020, 12:30 - 1:30pm
Speakers:
Kathryn Weaver, Head of Hong Kong Office and Head of Employment team, Lewis Silkin
Catherine Leung, Employment Partner, Lewis Silkin
2020 has been a year of change for employment law. Employers have had to adjust to their workforce working from home as a result of coronavirus, and the related health and safety, confidentiality, policy and performance implications. The restrictions and economic impact on companies have led to salary and hours reductions, employees being asked to take unpaid leave, redundancies being implemented and/or employers applying for funding from the government’s Employment Support Scheme. There have been changes to the anti-discrimination and maternity leave laws, the introduction of the BNO visa scheme and the Black Lives Matter campaign forcing employers to consider how they monitor diversity and address diversity imbalance in their workplaces.
Then came along the National Security Law and with it a raft of questions from employers about its impact, such as: How does it relate to them? Are they vicariously liable for their employees’ actions? Do they have to change their policies and practices in light of the new law? Should they be concerned for their non-Hong Kong group companies and overseas employees? What are the data privacy implications of the new law? Is the new law likely to have an impact on talent attraction and retention?
Join Kathryn Weaver and Catherine Leung, employment partners at Lewis Silkin, to hear their views on these questions relating to the National Security Law and for a general update on the main employment law changes that have occurred in Hong Kong in 2020 so far.
Details on how to join will be sent via email by 5pm the day before the webinar.
About the speakers
Kathryn is Head of Lewis Silkin in Hong Kong and Head of the Employment team. She is dual-qualified in Hong Kong and England & Wales and has specialised in employment law for over 12 years. Kathryn acts for a mixture of FTSE 100 companies, household-name brands, gig economy clients and start-ups. She advises on the full range of employment issues in Hong Kong, including complicated terminations, negotiated separation agreements, restrictive covenant disputes and litigation, defending claims in the labour tribunal and courts, discrimination issues, redundancies and restructuring, and data privacy.
Across the Asia Pacific region, Kathryn undertakes a broad range of cross-jurisdictional work such as implementing partnership programmes, coordinating multi-country employment law projects, carrying out disciplinary and grievance investigations, and advising on senior ex-pat relocation packages. Kathryn is recognised as a Hong Kong employment law practitioner in Chambers & Partners and Who’s Who Legal.
Catherine is an employment partner at Lewis Silkin Hong Kong and advises clients across the tech, financial services and luxury retail sectors. She is a qualified solicitor in both Hong Kong and England & Wales. Catherine works closely with legal, HR and senior executives and provides strategic advice on a full range of employment law issues including redundancies, bonus entitlement disputes, team moves and complex discrimination and sexual harassment cases. Catherine also advises clients in relation to investigations brought by the Labour Department and the Equal Opportunities Commission and has close knowledge of the local market. Catherine routinely works with Ius Laboris firms across APAC on regional employment law projects and has been recognised as a next generation partner in Legal 500.
Pricing
- Member: HK$140
- Non-Member: HK$220
Terms & Conditions
- Reservations in advance are required. Please consider your booking confirmed unless notified otherwise.
- Cancellations must be made in writing 24 hours prior to the event. No shows will be charged.
- This event is closed to the media.
- The event will be cancelled if the No.8 Typhoon signal or the Black Rain Storm warning is in force.
- By attending this event, you agree to be photographed, recorded, and/or filmed and give permission to use your likeness in promotional and/or marketing materials.
- For further information please email [email protected]
- All payments for this event need to be settled by credit card through PayPal. Please note you do not need a PayPal account to complete payment.