(2017/0355 (COD)) On 16 April 2019, the European Parliament adopted a new Directive aimed at ensuring transparent and reliable working conditions for employees in the area of crowdworking. On 13 June 2019, the Council of Ministers also adopted the Directive. In the following the main content of the new Directive ...
Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht; BAG) dated February 19, 2019 – 3 AZR 150/18 A clause in a preworded pension commitment stipulating a minimum of ten years of marriage as per the date of death as a prerequisite for the disbursement of survivors’ benefits violates German general terms and conditions law and is thus void and invalid ...
In order to make Germany more appealing to skilled international workers and meet the increasing demand for skilled workers by way of labor-based migration, the German Parliament (Bundestag) adopted the Skilled Worker Immigration Act (FEG) on June 7, 2019. The Act is expected to become effective in early 2020. The administrative obstacles for non-EU citizens have been rather immense when it comes to being employed in Germany ...
State Labor Court (Landesarbeitsgericht; LAG) Baden-Württemberg dated December 20, 2018 - 17 Sa 11/18 Pursuant to Art. 15(1) GDPR, the employee may request information and a copy of the personal information which the employer has recorded of him/her. A general refusal by the employer to provide information or hand over the information due to justified third-party interests is not sufficient, but must be adequately explained by the employer ...
German State Labor Court (Landesarbeitsgericht; LAG) of Cologne, decision dated April 9, 2019 – 4 Sa 242/18 In their decision dated April 9, 2019 (4 Sa 242/18), the Cologne LAG implemented the requirements of a high-profile decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) made in November 2018 according to which a directive-compliant interpretation of Sec ...
FACTS OF THE CASE The plaintiff and the defendant, who operates a horse-riding facility, agreed on a three-month internship for career orientation (professional horse farmer; Pferdewirt). The internship started on October 6, 2015. The plaintiff was involved in saddling and cleaning horses, putting them on a belt, feeding them, taking them to the pasture and back, and helping with stable cleaning. During the period from November 3 to 6, 2015, the plaintiff was ill and not fit to work ...
Beginning next month, used car dealers in West Virginia may sell vehicles directly to consumers without a single warranty that the vehicles are operational or safe to drive. The so-called “As Is” bill – approved last March by the West Virginia Legislature – will allow merchants to make sales on an “as is” basis, effectively eliminating any implied warranties about a vehicle’s merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose ...
On 12 June 2019, the Dubai International Financial Centre (the DIFC) announced the enactment of DIFC Law 2 of 2019 (the New DIFC Employment Law) to replace the existing DIFC Law 4 of 2005 (the Old DIFC Employment Law). The New DIFC Employment Law is to come into force on 28 August 2019 and will directly affect almost 24,000 employees based in the DIFC ...
Executive Decree No. 238 of June 10, 2019 Requirements to apply for permanent residency for executives of Multinational Headquarters offices (“SEM” for its acronym in Spanish) As of June 11th, 2019, the requirements to apply for the Permanent Resident Permit for Executives of SEM companies who i) continue working at a SEM company, and ii) no longer work for a SEM company ...
It is here. The German Trade and Business Secrets Law (Geschäftsgeheimnisgesetz; GeschGehG) came into effect on April 26, 2019. Companies wishing to ensure protection of their business and trade secrets (such as customer, supplier and staff lists) in the future are required to take and document appropriate non-disclosure measures. This is effective immediately ...
Federal Labor Court (Bundesarbeitsgericht; BAG) dated January 23, 2019 – 7 AZR 733/16 The unfounded limitation of the term of an employment contract, when an employee is employed again by the same employer, is only permissible when and if the application of the prohibition of unfounded fixed-term employment under Sec. 14(2) s. 2 Part-Time and Fixed-Term Employment Law (Teilzeit- und Befristungsgesetz; TzBfG) would be unreasonable for the parties ...
BAG, ruling dated February 7, 2019 - 6 AZR 75/18 A termination agreement under labor law cannot be withdrawn pursuant to consumer protection regulations (Sec. 312(1) in combination with Sec. 312g, Sec. 355 German Civil Code (Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch; BGB)) only because it was concluded in the employee’s private home. In its ruling dated February 6, 2019 (Ref. No ...
The Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will no longer offer coverage for OxyContin by the end of 2019. The agency announced this change, given the drug’s potential for abuse, misuse, addiction, and dependence. The BWC will no longer pay for OxyContin or generic forms of the medication for workers who suffer an industrial injury on or after June 1, 2019. Injured workers who are currently on OxyContin will have until Dec ...
In a short, unpublished opinion, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that an ERISA pension plan administrator should have treated a deceased participant's registered domestic partner as a surviving spouse and granted his claim for survivor benefits ...
Last month, a California appellate court rejected an insurer's arguments and affirmed a large punitive damages award against the insurer, providing a fresh roadmap for policyholders to obtain such relief when insurers engage in certain bad-faith practices. Mazik v. GEICO General Insurance Company (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 455 involved a policyholder's claim for the $50,000 limits under his underinsured motorist policy ...
On April 2, 2019, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its proposed “Modernizing Ignitable Liquids Determinations” rule in the Federal Register.[1] Ostensibly, the rule is, as described in its title, an effort to “modernize” – i.e., update – certain aspects of the regulations relating to determining whether a waste is a hazardous waste based on the characteristic of ignitability, which are found in 40 C.F.R. 261 ...
Dismissals for misconduct are required to be for a fair reason and in accordance with a fair procedure. A fair procedure entails that disciplinary action be taken within a reasonable period of time. In the recent decision inStokwe v Member of the Executive Council: Department of Education, the South African Constitutional Court highlighted this procedural requirement that disciplinary action must be taken within a reasonable period of time ...
Most employers are familiar with the principle of “no work, no pay” in the context of strike action, but what about the concept of “work, pay, extra pay”? Can employers incentivise or reward non-striking employees who pick up the slack? This question was recently considered by the Labour Court inNational Union of Mineworkers obo Members v Cullinan Diamond Mine A Division of Petra Diamond (Pty) Ltd ...
An amendment to the Non-Citizen (Employment Restrictions) Exemptions Regulations, published through GN 55 of 2019, removed foreign spouses of Mauritian citizens from the category of non-citizens who were exempted from the requirement of a work permit for working in Mauritius. All foreign spouses of Mauritian citizens were therefore under an obligation to hold a valid work permit to be entitled to work lawfully in Mauritius ...
At the end of March, UK Visas and Immigration closed both the Tier 1 (Entrepreneur) and Tier 1 (Graduate Entrepreneur) routes, replacing them with two new visa categories, the ‘Start-up’ and the ‘Innovator’, which are contained within a new Appendix W of the Immigration Rules ...
In an increasingly global world, an organisation’s ability to recruit and retain international talent plays an ever important and potentially business critical role. In the UK, the only way in which employers can directly employ many of these talented individuals is through obtaining a sponsor licence from the Home Office ...
The Brexit referendum vote and its potential impact on free movement has already resulted in many businesses struggling to meet their labour needs; the number of EU migrants has declined markedly at a time when Scotland and the UK is enjoying record levels of employment. As a consequence, immigration has risen to the top of many organisations’ agendas to ensure they can recruit and retain the talent they need to grow their businesses and remain competitive ...
The IRS recently issued a new version of its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS") that gives sponsors of tax-qualified retirement plans additional options for self-correcting plan failures. The new EPCRS allows plan sponsors to use the Self-Correction Program ("SCP") in several circumstances, rather than requiring a Voluntary Compliance Program (VCP) filing with the IRS and payment of the applicable user fee ...
Whatever your views on Brexit, the deferment of the UK’s leaving date from the EU provided British industry some welcome breathing space to prepare for Brexit. Given the issues that still divide the two main political parties, the UK may yet leave the EU without a deal on 31 October ...
