Welcome to our APAC bulletin for 2026. The past year saw significant labour law reform across a number of APAC countries, with developments in 2025 setting the direction of travel for the year ahead.

In some jurisdictions, newly elected leaders and shifting political priorities prompted a re‑examination of workplace regulations, most notably in Australia and South Korea. Elsewhere, long-awaited reforms moved from proposal to legislation, meaning that 2026 will be a year in which employers begin to feel the impact of substantial new obligations as these changes take effect.

In preparing this bulletin, the Freshfields APAC team has valued the opportunity to engage in wide-ranging discussions with colleagues across our regional offices and our network of Stronger Together firms, helping bring together diverse perspectives from across the region.

While the issues facing our clients across the region are inevitably varied, three themes stand out:

• A heightened focus on workplace behaviour and ‘non-financial misconduct’. Reflecting trends in the US, UK, Australia and Continental Europe, a number of Asian jurisdictions are taking bolder steps to introduce or strengthen regulation addressing workplace discrimination, bullying and the mental wellbeing of individuals in the workplace. Measures such as Japan’s introduction of criminal liability for retaliation against whistleblowers and Hong Kong’s tightening of mandatory reference‑checking requirements signal a clear regulatory expectation: accountability for behaviour and culture is now central to modern employment governance.
• Reform of post-termination restrictive covenants. For employers with operations in China in particular, close attention should be paid to reforms affecting the enforcement of post-employment restrictive covenants. These changes  will narrow the category of employees who may be subject to such provisions and place more onus on the employer to justify their scope, duration and application.
• An ongoing focus on the gig economy. Courts and legislatures continue to redefine and strengthen the rights and protections afforded to platform‑based and contingent workers. New Zealand, in particular, is moving towards greater clarity on the status of gig workers and the obligations of organisations engaging them, while Hong Kong has signalled its intention to introduce proposals strengthening protections for digital platform workers.

Our ‘jurisdiction to watch’ for 2026 is India. The long-awaited consolidation and reform of India’s complex tapestry of labour regulations is expected to bring significant change for international employers with Indian operations. How the four new Labour Codes will be interpreted and applied across the country remains the subject of active debate among multinational employers and local practitioners alike, and will undoubtedly shape the compliance agenda for the year ahead.

We hope you find this bulletin insightful and practical. Please do reach out to any of our team for further information or to discuss what these developments may mean for your organisation.