The Internal Revenue Service has released a Private Letter Ruling ("PLR") allowing a plan sponsor to make contributions to employees' 401(k) accounts if the employees are repaying student loans. This is exciting news for employers sponsoring 401(k) plans who hope to attract and retain employees as student loan debt rises to unprecedented levels. The PLR confirmed that some student loan repayment programs linked to 401(k) employer contributions are acceptable ...
The Austin Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked implementation of an Austin city ordinance that would require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. The ordinance was set to take effect on October 1, 2018. The City of Austin passed the paid sick leave ordinance in February of 2018. The State of Texas immediately filed suit to challenge the ordinance claiming that it was preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act ...
Two significant events this week raised eyebrows in the lucrative world of live sports broadcasting. Firstly, Facebook agreed an exclusive deal to show La Liga to users in Asian territories including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. It will live stream all 380 matches this season for free to its 348 million users in the region. The move fits with Facebook's ambition to grow use of its social networking platform outside markets that have reached saturation ...
All employers who were required to publish a Gender Pay Gap Report1 for the financial year 2017-2018 have now done so. A report published by the UK Parliament’s Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committee2 has confirmed that 78% of organisations have gender pay gaps that favour men, and that the national gender pay gap median is around 18%. The picture is worse in certain sectors, where it was found that gender pay gaps of over 40% were “not uncommon” ...
Photography by promoters and artists is an integral part of any kind of event. Since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into effect, the legal requirements for videos and photos depicting people however have to be reassessed. In the past, most member states of the European Union had their own regulations regarding photos that show individual persons ...
Last year Panama joined the list of countries that have established quotas as a mean for reducing the gender gap. Law 56 of 2017 creates a women quota of 30% on corporate boards of public entities and certain private entities. The Law was recently regulated through Executive Decree 241-A of 2018 ...
In an interesting and (as yet) unreported judgment handed down by the Labour Court, which considered an appeal against a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) award (rather than a review), the court confirmed the principle that an employer cannot be held liable in terms of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (the “EEA”) for unfair discrimination resulting from actions towards one of its employees by one of its customers ...
The primary remedy for a substantively unfair dismissal is reinstatement, which aims to place an employee into the position he or she would have held had it not been for the substantively unfair dismissal. Generally speaking, reinstatement awards are coupled with orders for back pay, that is, payment of the remuneration that the employee would have enjoyed over the period between the dismissal and the reinstatement order ...
Earlier this year, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (the “MEMR”) issued Regulation Number 10 of 2018 on The Second Amendment to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 10 of 2017 on the Principles of Power Purchase Agreements (“MEMR Reg 10/2018”) which came into effect on 13 February 2018 ...
The regulation on the national payment gateway has finally been issued. Bank Indonesia (“BI”), through its regulation No. 19/8/PBI/2017 (“PBI 19/8”) aims to establish national payment system interoperability by implementing switching interconnectivity. The following is a general overview of PBI 19/8 ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY DISCUSSES THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR INDUSTRIAL HARMONY Introduction The Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony (“the Code”) was agreed upon between the then Ministry of Labour and Manpower[1], the Malaysian Council of Employers’ Organisation[2]and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress to lay down principles and guidelines to employers and workers on the practice of industrial relations for achieving greater industrial ha
IN THIS ARTICLE PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY DISCUSSES WHETHER AN INDUSTRIAL COURT ACTION CAN PROCEED WITHOUT COMPLYING WITH SECTION 226(3) OR SECTION 263(2) OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1965. Introduction In the civil court, any action or proceeding pending against a company after the presentation of a winding-up petition may be stayed by the court ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, REENA ENBASEGARAM LOOKS AT THE LAW RELATING TO COMPETING UNIONS. Introduction The strength of a trade union is derived from its membership which is its paramount asset. Upon being accorded recognition, a trade union will bargain on behalf of the employees and, in this regard, acts as a principal and not as an agent of its members[1]. The contracting rights - including those of non-union members and future employees - are transferred to the trade union ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, NADIA ABU BAKAR DISCUSSES AN EMPLOYER’S PREROGATIVE TO TRANSFER EMPLOYEES Introduction There may be an instance where you receive a letter from your company with the following content: “In light of the business requirements of the Company, you shall be transferred to xx with effect from xx ...
Top 10 Questions Employers Should Ask When Hiring and Firing in Malaysia HIRING IN MALAYSIA: Does the employee have a right to work in Malaysia or does he/she need a work permit? Is the employment offer subject to any condition precedent (e.g ...
IN THIS ARTICLE PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY LOOKS AT THE IMPORTANCE OF ASCERTAINING THE IDENTITY OF THE EMPLOYER WHEN LODGING A COMPLAINT OF UNFAIR DISMISSAL ESPECIALLY IN SECONDMENT CASES. Introduction The correct identification of an employer is essential in the lodging of an unfair dismissal complaint pursuant tosection 20of theIndustrial Relations Act 1967where the relationship between the employee and the company is unclear ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, WONG KIAN JUN CONSIDERS A RE-LOOK AT THE LAWS ON RETRENCHMENT Introduction During uncertain times and shrinking profits, organisations may decide to reorganise their business structure in order to create a leaner workforce thereby reducing their operating costs to weather the impact of a slowing economy. Inevitably, the reorganisation would result in the retrenchment of its employees who are considered surplus to the needs of the organisation ...
The Autonomous Bus and Minibus Pilot Project 1 (the “Pilot Project”) came into effect in Quebec recently. The project provides guidelines for the regulated driving of the first autonomous vehicles on Quebec’s roads ...
"The global healthcare deal frenzy is set to continue for at least another 18 months as technology giants including Amazon, strategic players and private equity firms step up their fight for limited assets ...
Can An Infringer Have Locus Standi As An Aggrieved Party? This case raised a few important and novel issues that dealt with the locus standi of an aggrieved person, Internet searches as evidence for use of a trade mark and the role of a sub-brand as a source identifier when used together with a house brand ...
During the course of recent months, South African Parliament has considered four bills proposing significant changes to South Africa’s labour legislation. These are the National Minimum Wage Bill, the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill (the “BCEA Bill”), the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (the “LRA Bill”) and the Labour Laws Amendment Bill ...
Legislation to update US controls on foreign investment has been signed by the President and enacted into law. The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (“FIRRMA”) expands the scope of review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (“CFIUS”) of foreign investment in critical and foundational technologies that impact US national security, broadly defined ...
Legislation and agencies 1 What are the main statutes and regulations relating to employment? The Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended) (the Labor Code) and the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code ...
