With more than 13 million working days a year lost to stress at an estimated cost of £3.8 billion to the economy, managing employees’ anxiety levels has never been more important Although the figure of half a million workers in the UK experiencing work-related stress at intolerable levels appears manageable, this is really only the tip of the iceberg with up to five million people feeling 'very' or 'extremely' stressed by work ...
Out of general interest, we are forwarding the following Informative Note with respect to the first oral trial in Mexico, something that took place in the Municipality of Montemorelos, State of Nuevo Leon, in February 2005. Oral trials have been possible since November 25 of last year when the law of Nuevo Leon changed to allow this in non-serious culpable felonies. The trial was an example of judicial speed. Within a period of five hours, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m ...
From Land’s End to John O’Groats, roving reporters, tabloid writers and broadsheet columnists, have been riding on the wave of the new freedom of information acts. As a result of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002, and its UK counterpart, the Freedom of Information Act 2000, the public now has a statutory right to recorded information held by most public sector bodies. Although the new right only came into force on 1 January 2005, its effect is retrospective ...
On 26 October 2004, Lithuanian Parliament adopted the Law on Works Councils which came into effect from 11 November 2004. In this memorandum please find short comments regarding the procedure for formation of national works councils, their role in the enterprise, obligations and additional legal possibilities of employers related to works councils ...
Employers often find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place when trying to manage employees who are pregnant. If the employer gets it wrong, he faces the potential for claims of sex discrimination and the possibility of a finding of automatic unfair dismissal. This can not only tarnish his reputation but hit him hard in the pocket too ...
In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, the ownership and rights to intellectual property conceived and put into to practice by researchers employed by the universities have historically rested with the researchers themselves. This system is now rapidly changing to a model more similar to the way in which US universities handle their intellectual property; universities become responsible for stakeholders in such intellectual property ...
In this article, we have summarised several recent employment cases that address the issues of maternity protection, summary dismissal, notice of termination of employment, payable wages and vicarious liability. Some of these cases ascertain the established position of the law whilst others shed new lights on some areas of uncertainties. The case of Sun Min v. Hong Kong Ming Wah Shipping Co. Ltd ...
Even if an idea for a new invention only exists in the mind of an employee, that idea belongs to the company…unless the contract of employment clearly states otherwise! The importance of ensuring that contracts of employment cover this area has been brought into sharp focus by a recent case in Texas, where the rules are very similar to those in the UK ...
All companies must manage their excessive absenteeism files. Repeated absences, even when they only involve a small percentage of employees, have a substantial negative impact on all employees. An employer should therefore intervene immediately to prevent its employees from thinking that they can be absent whenever they wish. Also, many employees use the example of other employees to justify their own absences, causing the problem to grow out of proportion ...
Introduction As of June 2004, the Commission des lésions professionnelles (“CLP”) will implement guidelines (“Guidelines”) stating its expectations of expert witnesses, both as regards their written reports and the content of their testimony. Over the past years, there has been much criticism by CLP adjudicators concerning the involvement of expert witnesses in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings. Their impartiality and objectivity were often in question ...
On June 1st, 2004, new recourses for psychological harassment at work will come into force. The imminent arrival of these remedies should motivate employers to implement effective mechanisms to prevent and settle situations of psychological harassment at work. However, June 1st is quickly approaching and most employers are not properly prepared ...
For quite a while now, Québec legislation, like that of most Canadian provinces, provides that the directors, officers, employees or representatives of a legal person (for example: an incorporated company) can be sued personally for the commission or omission of acts that could directly and seriously compromise the health, safety or physical integrity of a worker. This offence is covered under section 237 and 241 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (R.S.Q., c. S-2.1) ...
International companies can now breathe a sigh of relief following the Court of Appeal’s decision in Serco – v- Lawson which considered the vexed issue of whether Employment Tribunals can hear claims of unfair dismissal notwithstanding the fact that the employee might not work in Great Britain. Section 196 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 used to prevent employees ordinarily working outside Great Britain from complaining of unfair dismissal to an Employment Tribunal ...
Whether your company engages in maintenance activities, manages or rents space in a building,1 you should give serious consideration to applicable construction industry rules before agreeing upon a price: a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal may be of interest to you if, under Québec legislation, your employees are required to be members of a construction trade (carpenter, plasterer, plumber, electrician) in order to perform their work ...
An Act to amend the Labour Code (S.Q. 2003, c. 26) This is a revised edition of a November 2003 bulletin pertaining to Bill 31 prior to its enactment ...
The Labour Code approved by Law no. 99/2003 of 27 August will come into force on 1 December next, the first stage of the labour law reform thus coming to a close. Driven by the pressing need to endow the country with more flexible and investment, productivity and employment generating labour laws, the reform was at first enthusiastically backed by the employers’ confederations and firmly opposed by the trade unions ...
From among the innovations brought by the Labour Code, noteworthy is the express recognition of what are known as “personality rights” set forth in Articles 15 to 21 of the Code. To be considered, however, is that our legal system has long acknowledged the existence of this category of rights, which characteristically encompass the vital aspects of human personality and are acquired at birth and, as such, classifies such rights as universal ...
From among the special forms of contracting employment, special reference should be made, as it is an innovation, to the possibility of an employee being bound simultaneously to several employers provided there are corporate or organisation relations between them, by way of a contract in writing stating which of the employers represents the others in the performance thereof. Where these requirements are not met, the employee will be free to choose to which employer he/she wishes to be bound ...
In the area of salary, to be emphasised is that the Code has established that the calculation of supplementary and fringe benefits must be based on the basic salary and length of service payments. Also noteworthy are the new rules relating to special pay for exemption from regular working hours, which is after all justified by the fact that the Code provides for three different forms of exemption (vide III above) ...
The amendments made to occupational mobility, also known as functional polyvalence, are quite significant and resorting to this mechanism has become more flexible. This matter, which was governed by Article 22 (rendering of work by the employee not included or object of his/her contract) of the Employment Contract Law, is now addressed by Article 151 (Performance of Duties), Article 152 (Effects on Remuneration) and Article 314 (Occupational Mobility) of the Code ...
In terms of geographical mobility, the Labour Code has maintained the prohibition of the employer transferring the employee to another workplace, save where the interests of the company so require and this change does not entail a serious loss for the employee, where the transfer results from the total or partial moving of the establishment where the employee works, in the cases provided for in collective bargaining agreements or where the employee agrees to the transfer ...
The system applicable to the transfer of a company or part thereof set forth in Articles 318 to 321 of the Labour Code is aimed at rendering this system compatible with Community Law, notably with Council Directive of 12 March 2001, which focuses on this issue on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees' rights in the event of transfers of companies or establishments ...
