On May 11, 2023, the Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, S.C. 2023, c. 9 (the ?Act?) was passed. The purpose of this Act is to implement Canada?s international commitment to contribute to the fight against forced labour and child labour, and to require certain entities to report on the measures they have taken to reduce the use of forced labour and child labour ...
Quebec is currently facing a major shortage of physicians. To remedy the situation, several ministers in the CAQ government announced in early 2024 that significant changes would be implemented to reduce physicians? administrative burden. And so, on May 31, 2024, Minister of Labour Jean Boulet introduced Bill 68, An Act mainly to reduce the administrative burden of physicians ...
Effective July 29, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has issued a final rule that expands the scope of its existing Health Breach Notification Rule (“HBNR”) to include health and wellness applications (“apps”) typically associated with wearable technologies such as smart watches ...
Texas recently enacted a new Workplace Violence Prevention law to protect healthcare employees from violence in Texas healthcare facilities. Texas also implemented a complementary notice requirement applicable to all Texas employers to encourage reporting incidents of workplace violence. Texas implements statutory protec- tions to prevent workplace violence against healthcare workers ...
Nearly two years following passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA), Treasury and the IRS released the unpublished version of the final rule (Final Rule) for compliance with the IRA’s prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements (PWA requirements). Taxpayers seeking to claim the highest available investment and/or production tax credits for renewable energy projects must comply with the PWA requirements ...
Introduction In 2020, faced with statistics showing that nearly one in two women and three in ten men believed they had suffered sexual harassment or assault in the workplace,1 the Minister of Labour expressed its intention to help prevent and address this issue. The government began by setting up a committee to examine cases of sexual harassment and assault (the ?Committee?). Its mandate was to analyze how such cases are handled in workplaces across the province ...
July 15, 2024 By: Roger L. Scott In September of 2023, Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Senate Bill 553, which amended Labor Code section 6401.7 and created new section 6401.9 to require employers (with few exceptions) to develop and implement a detailed workplace violence prevention plan and to train their employees in addressing workplace violence. Employers were required to comply by July 1, 2024 ...
On July 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final rule[1] outlining financial penalties, referred to as “disincentives” throughout the rule, for healthcare providers that engage in conduct that is considered “information blocking.” The 21st Century Cures Act defines information blocking as a “practice that interferes with, prevents, or materially discourages access, exchange, or use of electronic health information ...
On June 28, 2024, Exempt Resolution No. 1,160 of May 31, 2024 was published in the Official Gazette, which approved the “Technical Guideline of the Public Health Institute that establishes the requirements for the application for modifications to the sanitary registration of biological products (M-MOBI)” ...
The UAE recently amended its legal framework on abortion to expand the circumstances under which abortions are permitted and ease the rules regarding the circumstances under which abortions are permissible. Cabinet Decision No. 44/2024 (the Decision) came into effect on 21 June 2024 and progressively changed UAE’s law on abortion ...
A recent appeal case upheld a breach of contract claim over a lifetime rail travel benefit delivered by a third-party provider. We examine the case and how employers can avoid such disputes through clear terms and conditions for employee benefit schemes ...
Continuing the series on protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 we focus on gender reassignment and the need for employers to understand the legal protections and the potential consequences of failing to comply with them. What is gender reassignment? A somewhat misunderstood protected characteristic, gender reassignment protects those who are either proposing to undergo, are undergoing or have undergone a process designed to change their sex ...
Introduction On July 2, 2024, the Superior Court rendered a decision in Lallier c. Société d?assurance Beneva inc.,1 ruling on an insured?s claim against his insurer for an insurance benefit further to a loss, as the insurer had denied coverage, alleging the insured?s intentional fault. Despite the absence of hard evidence of the insured?s intentional fault, the Court ruled in favour of the insurer based on evidence established by presumption ...
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) recently cited Circles of Care, Inc., a Florida behavioral health company, for failing to provide a workplace free of recognized hazards. This citation followed an incident where a patient assaulted a mental health technician at a nurse work station ...
As previously reported, on April 24, the Federal Trade Commission passed a Final Rule that would render almost all non-compete agreements with workers unlawful, effective September 4, 2024. However, a recent decision from the Northern District of Texas blocked enforcement of that Rule for a short list of litigants and casts doubt on the Rule’s enforcement in the future ...
Roskomnadzor (Russian Data Protection Authority) plans to make it easier for personal data subjects to revoke consent to the processing of personal data Roskomnadzor proposes making it possible to ****revoke consent**** to the processing of personal data “in one click” ...
Recently, the Ohio General Assembly passed a bill, Substitute S.B. 40, which will enter Ohio as a party to the new Dentist and Dental Hygienist Compact, and ultimately allow dentists and hygienists practicing in other compact states to practice in Ohio. This summer, the compact will form its commission, and will continue to work on operationalizing into 2025 before officially opening privilege applications ...
On August 1st, 2024, Law No.21,643 which amends the Labor Code regarding the prevention, investigation and sanctioning of labor, sexual harassment and workplace violence (the “Law”), will enter into force. General Ruling No.3813 (“General Ruling”), issued by the Superintendence of Social Security ("SUSESO") on June 7th, 2024, provides technical assistance in all matters covered by the new Article 211-A of the Labor Code ...
On August 1st, Law No.21,643, which amends the Labor Code regarding the prevention, investigation and sanctioning of labor, sexual harassment and workplace violence (the “Law”), will enter into force. In this context, on June 7th, 2024, the Labor Board issued ruling No. 362/19, which establishes the meaning and scope of the amendments introduced by the Law (the “Ruling”). The most relevant aspects of the Ruling are the following: 1 ...
June 14, 2024 By: Tricia A. Pham and Alexandra M. Shulman On Thursday, June 13, 2024, in Starbucks Corp. v. M. Kathleen McKinney, Case No. 23-367, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that district courts must apply a strict, four-factor test when adjudicating requests for preliminary injunctions brought by the NLRB against the employers it charges with unfair labor practices ...
In a unanimous decision today, the Supreme Court rejected efforts to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone, overturning an earlier decision by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court ruled that the physicians and medical associations who brought the case did not have the right to challenge the FDA's regulation of the drug. To have standing, plaintiffs must show they have a “personal stake” in the case ...
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles have emerged as a crucial framework for assessing the sustainability and societal impact of businesses ...
The gig economy was created out of a desire for services to be on demand with limitless flexibility. If elected, Labour has pledged to provide greater job security and remove the distinction between worker and employee – are the two in conflict? The gig economy is a term that describes a labour market where workers are hired to perform tasks on a short-term, flexible basis, rather than into permanent or full-time jobs ...
A recent Supreme Court decision means that owners of closely held companies with company-owned life insurance policies should take extra precautions to avoid an unexpectedly large estate tax bill from the IRS. On June 6, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States decided in Connelly v ...
Employees have a statutory right not to suffer discrimination in the workplace and it is essential that employers, and those responsible for managing the workforce, fully understand the legal provisions and the potential consequences of failing to comply. Sexual orientation is one of nine characteristics that are protected by discrimination legislation ...
