Cross-Border Catch-Up: Unlocking the Secrets of APAC Employment Laws

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Patty Shapiro: Hi, and welcome to the Cross-Border Catch-Up, the podcast for global employers who want to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide. My name is Patty Shapiro, and I am here today with my colleague, Goli Rahimi. We are cross-border attorneys here at Ogletree, and today we’re taking a closer look at one of the most dynamic and complex regions for global employers, the Asia-Pacific or APAC region. With over 40 countries, each with its own legal system, language and business culture, there’s truly no one-size-fits-all approach to employment law compliance there, which can make things tricky. In today’s short session, we will explore how employers balance regional themes with country-specific requirements.

Goli Rahimi: That’s right, Patty, and like you said, what makes compliance so tricky is that there’s really a wide range of employee protections compared to employer obligations. For example, some of you may be familiar with the fact that APAC is home to some of the world’s most employee-friendly jurisdictions like Japan and South Korea, while at the same time hosting some of the more flexible employer-friendly ones like Singapore.
Similarly, in some countries, whether authorities do in fact enforce noncompliance can depend on how visible a company’s operations are, meaning if a business has significant headcount or generates local revenue, it’s much more likely to attract scrutiny from regulators or the courts, while a similarly noncompliant entity with a small footprint may not catch the attention of these authorities.
Beyond the laws themselves are cultural values, things like family obligations, hierarchy and respect. These values strongly influence workplace norms and processes. Even where financial penalties may be modest or exposure less absolute, the bigger risks often come from reputational harm or reinstatement orders with back pay.

Patty Shapiro: Let’s look at the major stages where compliance risks tend to arise, and we’ll start with hiring and onboarding. Once you’ve identified a candidate, the next step is usually the background check. Here again, APAC can be tricky, and there’s a wide range of approaches. In general, background checks are permissible if they’re relevant to the role. For example, verifying education, or checking criminal history if it’s a position of trust.
There are two big questions to ask in each country. First, can the employer collect this information at all? Then second, if so, can it use it when making hiring decisions? For instance, India allows checks only if the information relates to inherent requirements of the position, whereas Australia and Singapore prohibit collection of spent convictions, meaning old or minor offenses, and then Taiwan requires employee consent.
The important point here is that even if you can legally collect the data, that doesn’t mean that you can use it, and since at-will employment doesn’t exist in APAC, a negative background check result doesn’t automatically allow an employer to terminate. This is particularly critical in lifetime employment markets like Japan or South Korea where dismissals must be justified, unfair dismissal claims are very common, and reinstatement is a common remedy.

Goli Rahimi: Now let’s move on to employment contracts. Most APAC countries require employment terms to be in writing, and even where oral agreements are technically valid, they’re rarely a good idea. This is because misunderstandings about what was promised can quickly turn into legal disputes, and of course, oral arguments, as opposed to written documents, can be difficult if not impossible to prove. That’s why it’s crucial to be careful about what’s said during the offer stage. Even casual statements in emails or interviews could later be interpreted as forming part of the employment agreement.
In addition, a question that we often get is, “Does the employment contract have to be in the local language, or is English enough?” The answer is it depends. Many countries only require that the employee understand what they’re signing, and this could be English, particularly for employees that work for multinational companies, but in some jurisdictions, Indonesia, as an example, there have to be bilingual contracts. Even where that’s not a mandatory requirement, using a bilingual version can be a smart move, especially if there’s any doubt about the employee understanding the document that they’re being given. What else is critical to flag here, Patty?

Patty Shapiro: Wage and hour issues. When we talk about wage and hour issues in APAC, it’s important to understand that very few countries follow the same exempt versus non-exempt model that we have in the U.S., and even in the few that do, those exemptions are much narrower. For example, in India, only a small group of genuine managers and supervisors, high-level employees, are considered exempt. They need to have real managerial authority, substantial discretion over their work, and they must earn significantly more than the employees that they manage.
In practice, much like in the U.S., we often see companies treating all white-collar professionals as exempt, and that can be a real issue when the employment relationship ends, because non-compliance with wage and hour rules can give employees considerable leverage in severance negotiations, which again becomes a problem in lifetime employment jurisdictions.

Goli Rahimi: Now, speaking of lifetime employment, we are going to shift gears to termination. This is another area where multinational or U.S.-based companies often need to reset their expectations. If you take away nothing else from today, remember this. There is no concept of at-will employment in APAC. In most countries, there are very few lawful reasons for an employer to unilaterally terminate employment, which is why exits are usually handled through mutual separation. That’s why building a strong and well-documented case for lawful termination is so important, because otherwise, the employee is the one that holds the bargaining power. In these lifetime employment systems like Japan, reinstatement with back pay is a very real and tangible risk.
This is also why, unlike in the U.S., poor performance alone is almost never enough to justify termination. The courts will expect employers to show that they have made substantial efforts to train, to warn, and even consider redeployment to other positions before letting an employee go. Documentation here is absolutely essential, because the courts will look for evidence that the employer actually tried to help the employee improve, sometimes even for months or years.

Patty Shapiro: Throughout the entire employment life cycle, it’s important to consider cultural norms, because they matter just as much as the legal framework. Concepts like hierarchy, respect for elders, and formality play a major role in how employment laws are applied and how disputes are resolved. In many Asian countries, maintaining personal pride are important cultural values. That’s why employees often prefer to resign voluntarily, rather than be terminated or put through a formal performance management process. Understanding these nuances can help terminations proceed more respectfully and effectively.

Goli Rahimi: Thanks, Patty, and thank you to everyone for joining us for today’s Cross-Border Catch-Up. Follow us to stay in the know about cutting-edge employment issues worldwide.

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