A summary of the decision in Allay (UK) Limited v S Gehlen and a reminder to employers to keep equal opportunities training up to date to be able to rely on the all reasonable steps defence under s 109 (4) of the Equality Act 2010. It is common for employers to provide employees with equal opportunities training, to underpin workplace culture as well as to prevent discrimination from taking place. A recent case, however, provides a salutary reminder to keep such training up to date ...
With the ushering in of a new administration, several changes have quickly taken place at the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Within hours of taking office, the Biden administration removed Trump appointee NLRB General Counsel Peter Robb and replaced him with interim General Counsel Peter Ohr. (Ohr may only serve as acting General Counsel for 40 days, per the National Labor Relations Act, unless the administration submits a nomination to the Senate ...
South African law currently does not have any legislation that specifically requires employees to take the COVID-19 vaccination. The president was also emphatic that no one would be forced to take the vaccination, which is being rolled out in a governmental attempt to vaccinate 67% of the population (approximately 40-million people in South Africa) ...
The South African Airways (“SAA”) saga continues, with another Labour Court judgment handed down on 8 February 2021. Given the financially parlous position that SAA has been in, even throughout its business rescue proceedings, the Department of Public Enterprises (“DPE”), SAA’s sole shareholder and sole lender, offered SAA employees a salary settlement agreement ...
Workplace harassment is once again in the news given our former Governor General’s resignation from her post after a 132 page investigation report was issued following accusations of a toxic work environment at Rideau Hall. While the Government of Canada took the correct steps in hiring an independent investigator once the allegations surfaced, meeting with all witnesses, and then meeting with Ms ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) recently updated its Compliance Manual Section on Religious Discrimination, seeking to clarify how Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) protects individuals from religious discrimination in the workplace. The enforcement guidance also discusses the legal protections available to religious employers, which have been bolstered in recent years ...
Introduction The employee’s right to be represented on the Board of Directors («BoD») is governed in the Limited Liability Companies Act (Nw: aksjeloven) and the Public Limited Liability Companies Act (Nw: allmennaksjeloven). We will in the following refer to the Limited Liability Companies Act («the Company Act»), as the wording is the same ...
Please find, herein, the latest up-to-date digest of the most significant court decisions, concerning legal regulation in the field of labour and employment. Here are the key decisions of the Higher Courts of the Russian Federation, as well as precedents of regional judicial authorities, in the second half of 2020. Electronic Evidence <>1 ...
The judgment of the United Kingdom Supreme Court On 1 May 2020, the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”), the body that oversees the insurance industry in the United Kingdom, announced that it wanted to obtain a ruling from the English courts on the meaning and effect of the sample of business interruption clauses that it selected from eight insurers in particular ...
The Supreme Court has issued Supreme Court Administrative Matter No. 20-12-01-SC (Re: Proposed Guidelines on the Conduct of Videoconferencing) dated December 9, 20201 (Court Videoconferencing Guidelines) to ensure that hearings via videoconferencing are conducted in an orderly manner and that the constitutional rights of the accused are protected ...
Over the next decade, challenges around public funding and a shift in live/work priorities will create an increasing need for public-private collaboration as we seek to rebuild and regenerate our towns and cities in a post-Covid and post-Brexit climate ...
February marks the start of the second month after Brexit materializing. The Member States have finally understood that the United Kingdom (UK) is no longer in the Europen Union (EU) so that the fairy-tale of the Single Market that has lasted for decades is now over. Although many businesses resolved various legal or regulatory issues before 1st January, new challenges inevitably keep arising now, when Brexit is a reality ...
In recent years, with the continuous improvement of science and technology standards in China, the country’s cryptography technical capabilities have also begun to enter the global forefront. In turn, China has promulgated various policies and measures to fulfill its non-proliferation obligations, which have promoted the gradual implementation of control measures for the export of cryptographic technologies ...
You’ve attended the webinars on navigating COVID-19. You’ve read the trade publication tips. You have implemented measures to protect your workers. So, you’re ahead of the game, right? Well, you’re certainly ahead of the Florida sheriff who reportedly instructed his employees not to wear masks in the office. If a visitor entered Sheriff Billy Wood’s offce with a mask, they were reportedly instructed to remove it ...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released long-awaited guidance on the 2021 H-1B lottery process. The service announced it would continue with a random-selection lottery for 2021. The registration system will be open from noon Eastern March 9, 2021 to noon Eastern March 25, 2021 and the entry fee will be $10 for each case entered into the system. USCIS also announced plans to delay the Trump-era wage-based lottery registration through Dec ...
The Minister of Communication and Informatics (“MOCI”) has finally issued MOCI Regulation No. 5 of 2020 on Electronic System Organizers (“ESO”) in the Private Sector (“MOCI Regulation 5/2020”) that serves as the new implementing regulation of Government Regulation No ...
On 8 February 2021, two significant developments took place in the employment law arena. These will have far-reaching implications for employers and employees alike. New earnings threshold First, the so-called “earnings threshold” has been increased for the first time since July 2014. Previously the earnings threshold was ZAR205 433.30. As from 1 March 2021, the new earnings threshold will be ZAR211 596.30 per year (approximately ZAR17 633.00 per month) ...
The de novo medical device process is a little-used but potentially valuable means of securing approval for your medical device. The pathway was established in 1997 subject to the Federal Food Drug & Cosmetic Act, Section 513 (f) (2). It was designed to employ a risk-based strategy for novel devices that have not yet been classified. Basically, it establishes a new device type including classification, regulation, appropriate controls and product code ...
A recent UK Supreme Court Judgment, the Financial Conduct Authority v Arch Insurance (UK Ltd) & Ors [2021] UKSC 1, clarified whether a variety of insurance policy wordings cover business interruption losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and public health measures taken by UK authorities in response to the pandemic from March 2020 ...
Following the renewal of the state of emergency, Decree 3-A/2021 of14January of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, determines the closure of various types of establishments. Inthiscontext, the employment support measures were amended by Decree-Law 6-C/2021 of 15 January and Decree-Law 6-E/2021 of15January, which we summarised below. 1 ...
Early last year the Prime Minister dropped the “E-bomb” on British motorists, announcing a ban on cars powered wholly by petrol and diesel from 2030, and on the sale of new hybrid vehicles with the capability to drive a significant distance with zero emissions (such as plug-in or full hybrids) from 2035. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the world in an unprecedented manner ...
In December 2020, the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) published on its portal the Examination Guidelines for Inventions Implemented by Computer Program ...
Our latest Brexit Insight: Immigration series of webinars focusses on the impact of Brexit on workers and businesses since 31 December 2020. Our Immigration expert, Rachel Harvey, kicked off the first session by discussing the issues surrounding the new frontier worker permit and eligibility, including what a frontier worker is, what a frontier worker permit provides and what your obligations are as an employer for the next 6 months and beyond ...
Our latest Brexit Insight: Immigration series of webinars focusses on the impact of Brexit on workers and businesses since 31 December 2020. Our Immigration expert, Rachel Harvey, kicked off the first session by discussing the issues surrounding the new frontier worker permit and eligibility, including what a frontier worker is, what a frontier worker permit provides and what your obligations are as an employer for the next 6 months and beyond ...
The “right to be forgotten” (“RTBF”) has been central to the global debate over the balance between individual privacy and freedom of information and of the media in recent years. Such right has been affirmed by the European Court of Justice in a milestone case in 2014, as well as later in the UK, although its application in other countries remains uncertain ...