Germany published a guidance document titled, Safe Recovery and Disposal of Wastes Containing Nanomaterials on August 1, 2019. The document provides guidance on aspects of good product stewardship related to nanomaterials. It discusses the legal framework, conclusions from regulatory requirements, and the safe recovery or disposal of wastes containing nanomaterials. The guidance can be downloaded at the link below. 
 
Additional Information:
https://www.vci.de/vci-online/themen/chemikaliensicherheit/nanomaterialien/2012-02-09-sichere-entsorgung-von-abfaellen-die-nanomaterialien-enthalten-vci.jsp. 

If you are interested in EHS regulatory products for Germany, the Isosceles Group provides a number of tools covering this jurisdiction including: EHS Legal Registers, EHS Audit Checklists, EHS Audit Checklist Supplements, EHS Quarterly Regulatory Updates, and more. Please contact Brittany Palmer at 617.330.2800 or bpalmer@theisogroup.com for a customized quote.

The European Commission has a feedback period for a Commission Delegated Regulation amending Regulation (EC) No. 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on classification, labeling and packaging of substances and mixtures as regards information relating to emergency health response. The amendments would change Annex VIII on emergency health response to clarify the text and extend the first compliance deadline by one year to January 1, 2021. The feedback period closed on August 19, 2019. 
 
Additional Information:
https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/initiatives/ares-2019-4744568_en.

If you are interested in EHS regulatory products for the European Union, the Isosceles Group provides a number of tools covering this jurisdiction including: EHS Legal Registers, EHS Audit Checklists, EHS Audit Checklist Supplements, EHS Quarterly Regulatory Updates, and more. Please contact Brittany Palmer at 617.330.2800 or bpalmer@theisogroup.com for a customized quote.

​Author: Ellen Pinkos Cobb
​
South Korea has recently enacted, and Japan has recently passed, legislation to prevent workplace bullying. The South Korea bullying law, effective May 29, 2019, creates new employer obligations and provides a legal definition of workplace harassment for the first time. Japan passed revisions to several laws to prevent "pawa hara," or workplace bullying, requiring ​companies to combat bullying and abuse of power in the workplace.

Under an amendment to the South Korea Labor Standards Act, new employer obligations include prohibiting workplace harassment; promptly conducting an investigation once an employer is notified or made aware of workplace harassment allegations; protecting the victim through measures such as paid leave or changed workplace assignments; taking action such as disciplining the harasser or changing the harasser's workplace; not retaliating against either the victim or the individual who reported the harassment; and specifying in Rules of Employment how an individual can report workplace harassment.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor has published a Workplace Harassment Prevention and Response Manual which sets out criteria to determine conduct that constitutes workplace harassment.

The employer is not obligated to provide its employees with any harassment training or prevention education. Punishment is only provided for one type of violation - criminal punishments in the form of potential imprisonment for three years and a fine of up to KRW 30 million for employers that retaliate against an alleged victim during an investigation.

Japan will require companies to combat bullying and abuse of power in the workplace. Through revisions made to five laws, aspects of workplace harassment will be defined and prohibited for the first time, and companies will be required to take stricter action to prevent forms of workplace harassment. The revisions also encompass other forms of harassment, such as harassment against pregnant women. The legislation, however, does not stipulate what the punishment would be for companies that violate the new requirements.

Sources: MOEL, MOEL published Workplace Harassment Prevention and Response Manual at https://www.moel.go.kr/english/poli/poliNewsnews_view.jsp?idx=1506.

Japan Times Japan bolsters fight against workplace harassment, but laws lack punitive measures at https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/29/national/japan-bolsters-fight-workplace-harassment-punitive-measures-elusive/#.XXuo9ShKg2w.

Quartz at Work, Japan finally passed laws to prevent "pawa hara," or workplace bullying at https://qz.com/work/1631097/japan-passes-laws-to-prevent-pawa-hara-workplace-bullying/.

​The Isosceles Group offers Workplace Wellness Assessments and Workplace Bullying Assessments and Checklists. If you would like Isosceles to develop an assessment for a particular jurisdiction, please contact Brittany Palmer for a quote at bpalmer@theisogroup.com or (617) 330-2800.

Author: Ellen Pinkos Cobb

​​In light of surprising workplace sexual harassment statistics, the UK government is taking actions aimed at determining whether the current laws provide the protections they are supposed to provide to women. The most recent action is a public consultation aimed at gathering evidence about whether the current laws on protecting people from sexual harassment in the workplace are effective. The consultation acknowledged that sexual harassment in the workplace persists at "a startling rate".

The UK published the consultation on harassment in the workplace in response to concerns raised by the Women and Equalities Select Committee in their 2018 report. The consultation began on July 11th and ends on October 2, 2019, seeking comments on the following:

• The evidence for the introduction of a mandatory duty on employers to protect workers from harassment in the workplace;
• How to strengthen and clarify the laws relating to third party harassment; and
• Evidence to extend Employment Tribunal time limits in the Equality Act from three months.

 
This follows the Government's announcement in December 2018 that it will introduce a new statutory code of practice to tackle workplace sexual harassment.

Source:
Gov.UK, Consultation on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace athttps://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace.

​The Isosceles Group offers Workplace Wellness Assessments and Workplace Bullying Assessments and Checklists. If you would like Isosceles to develop an assessment for a particular jurisdiction, please contact Brittany Palmer for a quote at bpalmer@theisogroup.com or (617) 330-2800.

Author: Ellen Pinkos Cobb
​
Amid allegations of institutionalized harassment being built into the management system, a long awaited first of its kind workplace bullying trial took place in France this summer. A CEO and senior executives have been accused of harassing employees so relentlessly, that workers ended up committing suicide. This is the first trial in France for workplace bullying that involves a company of this size, currently the tenth largest mobile network operator in the world.

In 2016, following a seven-year inquiry into a wave of suicides at France Telecom (now Orange), the Paris prosecutor recommended that France Telecom's former chief executive and six other former senior executives be put on trial for bullying (known in France as moral harassment or psychological harassment). The accused faced charges linked to bullying and creating a climate that drove between 19 and 35 employees to take their own lives in 2008 and 2009.

The prosecutor found that the executives, needing to restructure and significantly downsize the business, resolved to make life so unbearable that the workers would leave. As the workers were state employees - employees for life - they could not be fired. The prosecutor alleged the following: that in order to encourage employees to leave, managers were trained to demoralize their teams and their bonuses were dependent on this; that work inspectors underlined the brutal management methods, which had an adverse effect on employees' physical and mental wellbeing; and that management failed to take into account alarms and warnings over the impact of its actions and the psychological risks to staff. When asked to explain the rash of suicides, the CEO described it as a "fashion", sparking widespread outrage.

Under French law, anyone who harasses another with repeated actions with the aim or the effect of degrading working conditions is liable to a year in jail and a fine of €15,000 ($16,500). A verdict is expected by year's end. 

Sources:
The Guardian, Former executives at France Télécom go on trial over staff suicides at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/may/06/former-executives-at-france-telecom-go-on-trial-over-staff-suicides-orange.

Fortune, France Asks a Devastating Question: What Role Did Telecom Executives Play in 35 Employee Suicides? at https://fortune.com/2019/05/08/french-telecom-orange-trial-suicide/.

The Isosceles Group offers Workplace Wellness Assessments and Workplace Bullying Assessments and Checklists. If you would like Isosceles to develop an assessment for a particular jurisdiction, please contact Brittany Palmer for a quote at bpalmer@theisogroup.com or (617) 330-2800.

Author: Ellen Pinkos Cobb

​For the first time, violence and harassment in the world of work are covered in new international labour standards, adopted at the Centenary International Labour Conference and now open for ratification by ILO Member States. Before adoption of the Convention, there had been no international legal standard that addressed violence and harassment in the workplace or provided a definition and scope for it.
 
On June 21, 2019, at the International Labour Conference's annual meeting, the ILO adopted the new Convention and Recommendation to Combat Violence and Harassment in the Workplace. Conventions are legally binding international treaties that may be ratified by Member States, while Recommendations provide advice and guidance.

The Convention defines violence and harassment as "a range of unacceptable behaviours and practices" that "aim at, result in, or are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm". This potentially covers physical abuse, verbal abuse, bullying and mobbing, sexual harassment, threats, and stalking, among other things. The Convention also takes account of the fact that nowadays, work does not always take place at a physical workplace; so, for example, it covers work-related communications, including those enabled by information and communication technology.

Convention No. 190 will enter into force 12 months after two Member States have ratified it.

Source: 
Convention 190, Convention Concerning The Elimination Of Violence And Harassment In The World Of Work at https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_711570.pdf.

​The Isosceles Group offers Workplace Wellness Assessments and Workplace Bullying Assessments and Checklists. If you would like Isosceles to develop an assessment for a particular jurisdiction, please contact Brittany Palmer for a quote at bpalmer@theisogroup.com or (617) 330-2800.

Author: Brittany Palmer 

This new standard applies to all workplaces in Mexico! Many of its provisions come into effect next month, with others taking effect in 2020.

In October 2018, Mexico issued NOM-035-STPS-2018 Psychological risk factors at work – Identification, analysis and prevention. The objective of the standard is to establish the elements to identify, analyze, and prevent psychosocial risk factors in the workplace and to promote a favorable organizational environment. It contains a number of requirements in the following areas:

• Establishing in-depth workplace psychosocial risk prevention policies, actions, and programs;
• Disseminating information to employees;
• Conducting trainings for certain employees;
• Performing identification and analysis of psychosocial risk factors; and
• Evaluating the organizational environment.

 
The new requirements that a company must comply with are dependent on the number of people in the workplace.
 
If you are unsure what the requirements are or want to assess your compliance, download our self-auditing checklist below and find out. There are four separate checklists included based on number of employees.

 
​If you have questions regarding the standard or have questions about any of our other global services and products, including workplace wellness and bullying, please contact Brittany Palmer at bpalmer@theisogroup.com. ​

Taiwan has issued the Regulations of Emergency Response Plan and Warning Notification for Air Polluting Accidents. The Plan requires the appropriate unit or personnel to use the air pollution emergency control substances in the table attached to the regulation to formulate an emergency response plan for air pollution emergencies and report it to the municipal, county (city) competent authority for verification and implementation. Within six months from the date of promulgation, September 9, 2019, private and public premises will complete the air pollution accident plan and report it in accordance with previous measures.
 
Additional Information:
​https://gazette.nat.gov.tw/egFront/detail.do?metaid=109834&log=detailLog.