In the decision in Rustenburg Platinum Mine and SAEWA obo Meyer Bester and Others, the Constitutional Court dealt with the question of whether an employee referring to a colleague as a “swart man” (“black man”), within the facts set out below, constituted misconduct justifying dismissal.The adjacent large 4x4 vehiclesThe employee in this matter, Mr Bester, was employed by the Rustenburg Platinum Mine (the “employer”) ...
The political dispute between Qatar and its neighbors escalated with the announcement by Qatar that it would impose a ban on goods from the four boycotting countries, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Egypt. As we reported earlier, these four countries imposed a trade embargo on Qatar. The measures that were introduced prohibited the direct shipment of goods and the direct transport of passengers to or from Qatar and closed the land border between Qatar and Saudi Arabia ...
On May 21, 2018, the United States Supreme Court issued its 5-4 decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285; Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris, No. 16-300; and NLRB v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc., No. 16-307 holding that an employer may require its employees to sign a dispute resolution arbitration agreement that includes an employee’s waiving the right to bring a claim on a class or collective action basis ...
In a much anticipated opinion, the Supreme Court on Monday held that class action waivers in arbitration agreements are enforceable. In a 5-4 decision written by Justice Neil Gorsuch, the Court stated that “Congress has instructed in the Arbitration Act that arbitration agreements providing for individualized proceedings must be enforced, and neither the Arbitration Act’s saving clause nor the NLRA suggests otherwise ...
Earlier this year, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, resolving an issue on which several Courts of Appeals and various federal agencies and administrations had disagreed. At issue in Epic Systems (and two companion cases presenting the same issue: Ernst & Young LLP. v. Morris and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc ...
As Lord Sumption’s leading judgment of the Supreme Court inRock Advertising Limited v MWB Business Exchange Centres Limited[2018] UKSC 24 states, it is rare that modern litigation raises truly fundamental issues in the law of contract. This case, however, raisedtwosuch issues, although as a result of the Court’s decision on the first issue, it was not necessary to decide the “difficult” second issue ...
The International Labor Organization (ILO) defines sexual harassment as “any conduct of unwanted sexual nature that, according to the reasonable perception of the recipient, interferes with their work, is established as a condition of employment or creates an intimidating hostile or offensive work environment ...
A common question we receive from school systems relates to whether certain employees (both service personnel and professional personnel) recapture their seniority if there has been a break in their employment with the school system but they later return to employment. Often a break in employment is the result of a voluntary break or unfortunately a reduction in force ...
By this time next year, Singapore will have a rather different employment regime from any it has had since independence. One aspect of this needs to be carefully thought through. About ten years ago, a distressed Norwegian client consulted me. His company’s Singapore office had a toxic employee who not only performed poorly and shirked responsibility, but was also habitually insubordinate to management and offensive to his peers ...
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court rejected a delivery company’s challenge to a trial court’s decision to certify a class of delivery drivers in a wage and hour class action case, embracing a standard that presumes workers are employees instead of independent contractors. The high court’s ruling adopts a much broader definition of the term “employ,” which as a result expands the meaning of the term “employee ...
On April 30, 2018, the California Supreme Court in Dynamex Operations West Inc. v. Superior Court (Case No. S222732) modified the test for determining whether a worker is an independent contractor for purposes of California wage orders. The Court expanded the definition of "employee" and rejected its long-standing independent contractor test ...
In March 2018, the new Serbian Law on Foreigners was adopted, replacing the 2008 version of this law- in force until recently without any amendments. The new law will enter into force on 3 October 2018 ...
Artificial intelligence is a burning topic in many sectors today and the legal industry is no exception. Recently, at the World Services Group’s annual employment law1 conference held in February, AI was heavily debated along with its’ impact not only on the legal profession, lawyers, clients, the way business is done, but also our traditional understanding of concepts such as “law” or “justice” ...
Personnel Season is nearly over for county boards of education. Now that Personnel Season is coming to an end, a common question we often see relates to W. Va. Code 18A-4-7a(k)(2) and how to handle the statutory provision of reserving vacancies for individual professionals subject to release (i.e. reduced in force) ...
Employers in New York City and New York State will be required to conduct mandatory sexual harassment training and take other steps designed to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace in response to new legislation passed by the City and the State. New York City On April 11, 2018, the New York City Council passed the Stop Sexual Harassment in New York City Act, which is expected to be signed promptly by Mayor de Blasio ...
On April 12, 2018, the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Wage Hour Division released three opinion letters regarding the legality of certain arrangements under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), and Title III of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA). The first letter addresses a question commonly faced by employers—whether an employee is entitled to compensation for time spent traveling away from the employee’s home community ...
In our GDPR for Employers guide, we look at the key areas where employers will need to implement change and how to manage the impact of these regulations on the business ...
Due in part to the #MeToo movement, employers have experienced an influx of workplace sexual harassment claims. More than ever, employers have been reminded of their legal and ethical duties to create harassment-free workplaces. These duties involve preventing foreseeable sexual harassment including proactively training employees about discrimination and harassment. This also entails properly investigating sexual harassment claims and immediately correcting known harassment ...
The decision in National Education Health & Allied Workers Union on behalf of Sinxo & others and Agricultural Research Council is important primarily for two reasons. Firstly, it deals with when an employee can claim that he or she has been discriminated against on an arbitrary ground as envisaged in section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (the “EEA”) ...
A modern, technologically driven society generates large amounts of information about members of that society. Think, for example, of the information regarding statuses and activities that banks, credit card providers, medical aid schemes, cell phone networks and employers have in their possession. Think further of the information that Google, Facebook, Uber and Amazon have in their possession ...
The relationship between the periods set for pursuing unfair dismissal claims in terms of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”), and the prescription periods set in the Prescription Act, 1969 (“PA”) has been the subject of some confusion and debate. At the heart of the debate is the interpretation and application of section 16(1) of the PA ...
Effective January 1, 2018, California employers are prohibited from asking an applicant about their salary history. Now a Ninth Circuit decision, Rizo v. Yovino, (9th Cir. 16-15372 4/9/18), has made it clear that employers are prohibited from making a salary determination based on the applicant’s prior salary history ...
Hiring an employee is exciting — it’s an opportunity for both employer and prospective employee to develop a mutually beneficial and profitable relationship. However, when done incorrectly, hiring can create liability. To avoid turning a potentially promising encounter into a problematic one, VARs and MSPs need to adhere to a few best practices. Ask the right questions. Candidates should be asked similar questions geared toward determining if they can perform the job ...
On April 2, 2018, the United States Supreme Court in Encino Motor Cars, LLC v. Navarro, Justice Thomas writing for the majority, held that car dealership “service advisors” are “salesm[e]n… primarily engaged in… servicing automobiles” and therefore are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime requirements under 29 U.S.C. § 213(b)(10)(A) ...
The Employment Insurance System Act 2017 (“EIS Act”) came into effect on 1 January 2018. For the first time in Malaysia some form of unemployment benefits are provided for private employees. Previously, employees who were terminated or retrenched did not receive any benefits during the period they were unemployed ...
