A Texas federal court recently ordered an insurer to reimburse an oil and gas company for costs and expenses incurred while defending against environmental claims. The court found that a duty to defend existed even though the insured failed to immediately notify the insurer of the occurrence, giving rise to the claim as required by the insurance policy, and despite alleged willful miscon- duct that was excluded from coverage under the policy ...
This is the age of government regulation. Businesses pay millions of dollars each year to comply with ever-increasing regulatory requirements intended to avoid catastrophic loss to persons and property. While corporate America underwrites the lion’s share of the cost associated with enhanced safety, the benefits are realized primarily by consumers, politicians and insurers. Yes, insurers. A dollar spent on preventing loss is a dollar saved by insurance companies ...
On July 6, 2015, in response to an executive order signed by President Obama, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed rule that could significantly impact overtime regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Among other changes, the proposed rule will increase the minimum salary threshold to qualify for the “white collar” exemptions to $50,440 per year, which could affect an estimated 4.6 million workers ...
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has proposed significant changes to the overtime pay regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) ...
Last year California passed the Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (the “Act”), which requires employers to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked starting on July 1, 2015. Recognizing some of the ambiguities of the Act, this month California passed Assembly Bill No. 304, which clarifies and amends certain aspects of the Act. The amendments of AB 304 took effect on July 13, 2015 ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
Continuing a trend of increased scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued new guidance to employers warning that "most workers" should be classified as employees and not independent contractors ...
On 29 June 2015, a new regulation on the procedure for employing foreign manpower (ie Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 16 of 2015) entered into force, revoking the previous regulation, Minister of Manpower Regulation No. 12 of 2013. Some important provisions in the new regulation include the following: • In general, an employer of foreign manpower must employ at least ten Indonesian workers for every one foreign worker ...
Last June 12, Bill 42, entitled «An Act to group the Commission de l’équité salariale, the Commission des normes du travail and the Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail and to establish the Administrative Labour Tribunal1» (the «Loi Act to group the CÉS, the CNT and the CSST and to establish the ALT” or the “Act”), received Royal Assent ...
Last week, the Second Circuit delivered a highly anticipated ruling on whether companies may continue to use unpaid interns. In what represents a clear victory for companies, the Court adopted a flexible “primary beneficiary” test to determine whether workers should be properly classified as interns or employees ...
On Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) unveiled its highly anticipated proposed changes to the overtime pay regulations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”). These proposed changes are predicted to broaden coverage to nearly fivemillion additional workers ...
On June 15th, the Court of Appeal of Quebec, inCommission de la santé et de la sécurité du travailv.Caron,1issued an important judgment that changes the law governing an employers’ duty to accommodate employment injuries ...
Multilaw’s Labour & Employment practice group has released the 2015 edition of How to Hire and Fire: A Global Guide. The collaborative electronic guide serves as a quick but practical guide for everyday labor and employment concerns by providing a summary of key employment law principles across 105 jurisdictions. The guide reflects the law in each jurisdiction as of January 1, 2015 ...
A recent Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision reinforces the Fifth Circuit’s willingness to enforce private settlements of Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) claims while simultaneously making clear that there are limits to such enforcement ...
On April 29, 2013, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) launched the Temporary Worker Initiative (“TWI”) with the purpose of increasing its focus on temporary workers in order to highlight employers’ responsibilities to ensure these workers are protected from workplace hazards. A temporary worker is defined by OSHA as one hired and paid by a staffing agency and supplied to a host employer to perform work on a temporary basis ...
FIFA Kickback and Bribery Allegations & Insurance For Related Third-Party Investigations Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash and a$10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates ...
Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash, and a $10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates. The indictment contains charges of racketeering, wire fraud and money laundering arising out of alleged kickbacks and bribes that the defendants gave or received ...
Bill on restrictive employment covenants revoked due to call for parliamentary elections in Denmark, scheduled to take place in June 2015. Due to the Danish Prime Minister's call on 27 May 2015 for parliamentary elections, all bills that have not yet been passed are revoked, including Bill No. L 196 on Restrictive Employment Covenants which should have entered into force on 1 July 2015 ...
On June 1, the United States Supreme Court reversed and remanded Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc.1 to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and held that in order to prove a disparate-treatment (or “intentional discrimination”) claim, an applicant need only show that his need for a religious accommodation was a motivating factor in an employer’s decision not to hire him ...
Prolonged and torrential rains have caused widespread flooding in Texas, Oklahoma and surrounding areas. It is important that policyholders remain mindful of the substantial benefits that may be available to them for resulting economic and physical losses under ordinary business insurance policies ...
Since 2 years ago Ecuador is going through a deep actualization process of its legal regulations. The Criminal Code, the Companies Act has been reformed and the Civil Code reforms, as well as procedural rules reforms of trials are in the final step of approbation. One of the most important reforms performed in the last days are the ones related with the Labor Code, which regulates labor relationship between employers and employees ...
Vol. XIII, Issue 1 of the Employment & Immigration Update includes the following articles:ILO 2015 Report: World EmploymentFlexible working conditionsPHL Employment OutlookGender EqualityAccessibility Law (Batas Pambansa Blg. 344)Mobile Training LaboratoriesDefinition of Missing Persons under Employees' Compensation Commission Board Resolution No. 14-07-20The issue also contains information on recent Supreme Court decisions, labor and immigration news and circulars, and SyCipLaw updates ...
In employees’ compensation or personal injuries claims, it is not uncommon for the employer or its insurers to directly settle a claim with the injured person before any legal proceedings are commenced. The recent case of Chan Kwok Man v New World First Bus Services Limited DCEC No.186 of 2013 highlights the importance of ensuring that the wording used in discharge forms is clear, unambiguous and consistent and that the discharge form is properly executed ...
While the worst of the housing crisis may be over, a significant number of existing foreclosures remain, and new foreclosures continue apace. According to RealtyTrac, there were 122,060 new foreclosure filings in March 2015,and there are 842,773 properties in the U.S. in some stage of foreclosure.For those properties that are subject to judicial foreclosure, many will involve borrowers, who have asserted a variety of counterclaims against the mortgagee ...
