Pensions analysis: The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has issued its levy rules and associated guidance and appendices for the 2023–24 levy year. Suzanne Burrell, Partner at Shoosmiths, examines the latest rules and guidance, the changes made since last year, the implications for pension schemes and what happens next. What is the background to the PPF’s consultation on the 2023/24 levy rules? The PPF’s consultation ran during the autumn of 2022 ...
In a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) release, HMRC announced that it has nine live corporate criminal offence investigations, with a further 26 live opportunities currently under review. The investigations span 11 different business sectors, including software providers, labour provision, accountancy and legal services and transport. No charging decisions have yet been made ...
February 2, 2023 By: Manuel Fishman In what may turn out to be a lesson on the limits of the application of equitable doctrines supporting rent relief in the face of good lease drafting, a California court of appeal panel in San Diego has taken a narrow view on the application of the doctrines of quiet enjoyment, frustration of purpose, impracticability and impossibility as a defense to the payment of rent under a lease following State and local closure orders issued in response to the COVID 1
In the decision Beijing Judian Restaurant Co. Ltd. v. Wei Meng, 2022 FC 743, rendered by the Honourable Angela Furlanetto on May 18, 2022, the Federal Court clarified what constitutes bad faith in trademark law. Prior to the decision, the concept of bad faith in relation to trademarks was interpreted rather cautiously in Canadian jurisprudence. Background Beijing Judian Restaurant Co. Ltd ...
The opportunity to hire temporary personnel to the same extent as temporary employment in order to cover a temporary need has been repealed. This means that there will no longer be access to hire employees from staffing companies on the grounds that the work is of a temporary nature ...
HSR Notice Thresholds Have Increased. On January 26, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced its revised annual threshold that determines whether companies may be required to notify federal antitrust authorities about a proposed merger or acquisition due to the size and value of the transaction. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act (Section 7A of the Clayton Act) requires parties to certain mergers and acquisitions to notify the FTC and U.S ...
Contents Introduction Background to the appeals Summary of the Privy Council's decision Point 1: A trustee's right of indemnity confers a proprietary interest Point 2: The proprietary interest survives the transfer to a new trustee Point 3: There is no priority as between the competing proprietary interests of successive trustees, which rank pari passu Point 4: A trustee's indemnity extends to proving its claim Jersey law Comment Introduction On 13 October 2022, the sev
With effect from 1 February 2023, the index applicable to employee wages increases from 877.01 to 898.93, resulting in a 2.5% increase in gross salary paid to individuals with employment contracts subject to Luxembourg law. Wage indexation is an automatic mechanism to adjust salaries in line with evolving living costs, as determined by STATEC[1]. Salaries are automatically raised when the cost of living increases by at least 2.5% ...
The idea of achieving purpose alongside profit has been part of the business world for centuries, but the importance placed on it has reached new heights in recent years. How can charities help? “In every corner of our lives and our country, civil society can be found ...
Developers have been given six weeks to sign a contract to commit an estimated £2 billion to the repair of unsafe buildings. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) previously announced that over 49 developers had signed a pledge committing to remediate “life critical fire safety works” in buildings over 11m that they were involved in developing and refurbishing in the last 30 years in England ...
On 24 January 2023 the government launched a consultation seeking feedback on its draft statutory Code of Practice on Dismissal and Re-engagement (sometimes known as “fire and rehire”). The consultation remains open until 18 April 2023. The draft code does not apply to redundancy situations ...
Back in July 2021, the Women and Equalities Committee produced a report on menopause in the workplace. The report recommended that the Government amend the Equality Act 2010 to include menopause as a protected characteristic and make it an obligation for employers to provide reasonable adjustments for staff going through the menopause. The report also put forward a proposal for dual discrimination claims to be allowed at employment tribunals ...
The key objective of the Building Safety Act 2022 is to improve building safety across the built environment, with a particular focus on the residential sector. The BSA received Royal Assent in April 2022 and will be implemented in stages ...
The Government has published its response to questions regarding “in occupation” higher-risk buildings. Part 4 of the Building Safety Act 2022 (BSA) contains provision about the management of building safety risks in occupied higher-risk buildings. The draft Higher-Risk (Key Buildings Information etc) (England) Regulations 2023 sets out in more detail the allocation of responsibilities and obligations to be provided under that Part ...
The U.S. does not have a federal data privacy law. In the absence of an all-encompassing data privacy law, the U.S. has a myriad of individual state privacy laws. The significant state data privacy laws that are often used as models are the California Privacy Rights Act (which amends that California Consumer Privacy Act), the Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act, the Colorado Privacy Act, and the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act ...
As previously discussed in our January 5, 2023 legal alert, the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (“Pennsylvania DHS”) issued a Medical Assistance Bulletin (the “Bulletin”) in late December, 2022 that had the potential to put 340B savings at risk in Pennsylvania ...
On January 26, the Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) threw up its hands, concluding cannabidiol (“CBD”) products are not a good fit for the agency’s food and supplement framework. Instead, the FDA is calling on Congress to develop a new regulatory pathway for CBD “that balances individuals’ desire for access to CBD products with the regulatory oversight needed to manage risks ...
Pursuant to Department of Labor and Employment (“DOLE”) Labor Advisory No. 18, series of 2020, employers, including contractors or subcontractors in the private sector, shall shoulder the cost of COVID-19 prevention and control measures, such as, but not limited to, testing, disinfection facilities, hand sanitizers, personal protective equipment (i.e.,face masks), signages, and proper orientation and training of workers on COVID-19 prevention and control ...
On April 27, 2022,Republic Act No. 11712, or thePublic Health Emergency Benefits and Allowances for Health Care Workers Act(“RA 11712”), was signed into law in recognition of the critical role of health care workers in providing quality health care and ensuring disease prevention in the general population, especially during the pandemic. It seeks to promote the welfare of health care workers through the grant of mandatory benefits and allowances with utmost efficiency ...
The new guides provide the latest legal information on litigation funding, initiating a lawsuit, pre-trial proceedings, discovery, injunctive relief, trials and hearings, settlement, damages and judgment, appeals, costs, alternative dispute resolution and (ADR) arbitration. To access our guides please click on the jurisdictions below: Bermuda British Virgin Islands Cayman Islands Guernsey Jersey To access the complete series of guides, please click here ...
Following the successful uptake of a similar initiative in 2022, the European Commission has re-launched its fund to support small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) in safeguarding their intellectual property assets ...
1. Background and Rationale The Thai financial market has been revolutionized by rapid changes in technology, particularly, with the advent of distributed ledger technology (“DLT”) and digital assets in recent years. This has led to a surge of interest from traditional investors and corporate entities, both small and large, eager to participate in this dynamic market. These technologies have been driving financial innovation and progress ...
