The sources we use
We start with the official source for each fact:
- Laws and regulations: the legislation itself and the government body that applies it, such as GOV.UK and Acas in the United Kingdom, the Department of Labor in the United States, the Fair Work Ombudsman in Australia or the Ministry of Manpower in Singapore
- Industry figures: professional bodies such as SHRM and CIPD, plus the salary budget surveys published by consultancies, each shown with the measure it reports
- Everyday practice: how recruiters and HR teams usually handle a task, which we describe as common practice and never present as a statistic
Forums and vendor blogs help us see what people ask, but we never use them as the only source for a fact. If a number has no source we can check, we leave it out.
Every guide, template and country page ends with its list of sources, and each source shows the date we last checked it.
Dates and law changes
Pages built around dates, such as the public holiday calendars and law change timelines on our country pages, get extra care:
- Each date links to the page we read it on
- When the official source gives only a month or a quarter, that is what we show. We never guess a day
- When a public holiday falls on a weekend and the day off moves, we show the day off
- Countdowns are worked out in your browser from your device’s date, so they stay right even if the page itself was saved earlier
Law changes carry one of four labels:
- In force: the change applies now
- Law passed: the law or rule is made, and the start date comes from the official source and can still move
- Announced: the government has said it will happen. Either the law or the date is not final yet
- Proposed: still in consultation or before a parliament; we list it so you can plan ahead, and you should wait for the final rule before you act on it
Before a page goes live
Every guide, template and country page goes through automated checks of its sources and links, and of the style rules we write by. Pages about country rules and dates then get a second, independent check that reopens each official source and compares it with the page.
Reviews after publishing
Pages with dates or legal rules are reviewed at least every six months, and sooner when an official source announces a change. The next review date on the page tells you when we plan to look again. A change found in a review goes onto the page right away, with a new Reviewed date.
Templates
Templates that name a country are written for it, and the rules they mention are checked against official sources as of the last review date. A template is a starting point: read the notes in the file, adapt it to your situation, and get legal advice before you use a document with legal effect.
If something looks wrong
Email [email protected] with the page link and what you found. Our editorial policy explains how we handle corrections, and our terms of use explain how far you can rely on our pages.