In an article published in the 09 August 2012 issue of Law Technology News, lawyer and media consultant Robert J. Ambrogi of Massachusetts gave some tips to keep social networking in line with ethics. First, remember that the same rules apply. Blogs, social networks, Twitter, and the like remain relatively new forms of media, but the same old ethical rules apply. Second, do not betray client confidences ...
The General Medical Council has issued definitive guidance on doctors' duties when they fear a child in their care is suffering from abuse. The GMC's 2012 Guidance on Child Protection came into effect on 3 September 2012 after a two-year working group - chaired by a senior family court Judge, the Right Honourable Lord Justice Thorpe - listened to evidence given by child protection experts ...
On 15 October 2012, the Federal Government announced the appointment of an expert panel to review pharmaceutical patents in Australia (Review). The Review will focus particularly on the extension of term provisions in Chapter 6, Part 3 of the Patents Act 1990 (Cth). Those provisions currently allow the extension of pharmaceutical patents up to five years beyond their standard 20-year term ...
With election fever in full swing, you might expect governing to take a back seat to politics. However, on September 28, 2012, President Obama signed Senate Bill 3245 into law. Senate Bill 3245 renews four U.S. Department of Homeland Security-administered programs, including E-Verify and the EB-5 Regional Center program. As such, both programs have been extended by three years from their original termination dates of September 30, 2012 to September 30, 2015 ...
Temporary Suspension of the Definition of Pension Plans (employees' deductible expenses) as those approved by the “Corresponding Authority” Provisional Suspension of mandatory use of Banking System to evidence Payments and Disbursements of Expenses Higher than Q.30,000 ...
Last summer, North Carolina adopted into law "An Act to Require Counties, Cities and Employers to Use the Federal E-Verify Program to Verify the Work Authorization of Newly Hired Employees" (the "Act"). What this means to private employers is that depending on the size of your workforce, you may be required to use the E-Verify program for all hiring. Effective October 1, 2012, all North Carolina employers with more than 500 employees must use the E-Verify program ...
Currently a large part of politicians, economists and lawyers are working hard to ensure that a recent Lithuania’s bank bankruptcy story would not repeat itself. Sometimes people still associate the term “bank” with instability, possibility to lose something or lack of transparent governing. Maybe this is the reason why there are no biobanks in Lithuanian which are widespread in the EU and other countries of the world ...
On September 17, 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) announced a $1.5 million settlement with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Associates Inc. (“MEEI”) for potential violations of the HIPAA Security Rule ...
On June 14, 2012, the Quebec Court of Appeal confirmed the validity of the second paragraph of section 56 of the Act Respecting Industrial Accidents and Occupational Diseases1 (hereinafter the “AIAOD” or the “Act”)2. Although this paragraph establishes a distinction based on age, the Court of Appeal is of the opinion that it is neither invalid nor discriminatory. The Court came to this conclusion in particular because the appellant, Mr ...
As the U.S. involvement in conflicts around the world continues to draw down, hundreds of thousands of veterans are returning to the civilian work force. In fact, more than 100,000 troops are estimated to return to the workforce in the next three years. Many of these service members were employed in the private sector prior to their military service. The Uniform Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (“USERRA”), 38 U.S.C. § 4301 et seq ...
The Centers for Disease Control has ranked West Virginia as having the third highest percentage of obese adults in the United States, and the percentage of obese adults in Virginia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania rival that of West Virginia. Such a high percentage of overweight adults renders the possibility that obesity could become a protected class, and thus could become an issue to all employers ...
The United States Supreme Court has recently armed employers with two new defenses while settling an issue that may otherwise have been of fairly limited direct interest to most employers. The Court resolved a recent circuit split – the issue was largely resolved until 2009 regarding whether pharmaceutical representatives qualified as outside salesmen under the Fair Labor Standards Act ...
A number of laws and regulations have been promulgated in the past few years to introduce a series of changes to the PRC Labour Law, among which the key legislations are the PRC Labour Contract Law effective on 1 January 2008 and its detailed implementing regulations effective on 18 September 2008 ("Laws") ...
The employer, Centre Jeunesse de Montreal - University Institute (Hereinafter the "Centre") adopted a dess code as well as a piercings, tattoos and personal appearance policy for its employees (Hereinafter the "Policy") Although the validity of the policy was contested by the CANADIAN UNION OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEES, local 4268 (Hereinafter the "Union"), the arbitrator, Mr ...
On August 9, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada granted the application for leave to appeal filed by Vivendi Canada Inc. against the decision rendered in February 2012 by the Québec Court of Appeal. This decision authorized Mr. Michel Dell’Aniello to bring a class action against Vivendi Canada Inc. in connection with revisions made unilaterally by Vivendi Canada Inc. to the group medical insurance benefits plan for retirees ...
For employment lawyers, the elements of an employment discrimination lawsuit are second nature: a plaintiff must belong to a protected class,the employer must make an adverse employment decision, and the employermust act based on the plaintiff’s protected status. And, for the most part, employment lawyers have mastered the art of defending clients against these claims and advising on strategies and policies to avoid them altogether or minimize the likelihood of success ...
For employment lawyers, the elements of an employment discrimination lawsuit are second nature: a plaintiff must belong to a protected class, the employer must make an adverse employment decision, and the employer must act based on the plaintiff’s protected status. And, for the most part, employment lawyers have mastered the art of defending clients against these claims and advising on strategies and policies to avoid them altogether or minimize the likelihood of success ...
Employers who consider arrest and conviction records when making employment decisions should be aware that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (the "EEOC") has issued new enforcement guidance regarding the issue ...
Third Amendment to the Employment CodeLaw 23/2012, which was published on 25 June, introduces the third amendment to the Employment Code. The new legislative text results, to a great extent, from the commitments made by the Portuguese State in the Memorandum of Understanding of 17 May 2012, and its aim is to improve employment legislation by updating, organising and speeding up processes ...
On January 24, 2011 the Attorney General of the Federal Republic of Brazil signed a document restricting the powers of ANVISA (Brazil’s regulatorybody) in the examination of pharmaceutical applications, giving the rights to the Brazilian PTO to do so without any interference of ANVISA. The dispute between ANVISA and the Brazilian PTO in the examination of pharmaceutical applications had apparently been solved ...
The question of liability for the work environment is increasingly in focus as are the demands on those parties who are responsible for knowing what applies and for taking action in accordance with these demands. Below, we address two aspects of the work environment issue and the importance of both investigating and being aware of the applicable provisions. I ...
Employers and employees in B.C. will soon benefit from a long-awaited and wide-ranging overhaul to the Pensions Benefits Standards Act (PBSA). Significant changes to how pensions are structured and administered in B.C. have followed the passing of Bill 38 on May 31, 2012. The Bill repeals and replaces the PBSA, which has remained largely unchanged since it was first introduced in 1993 ...
In a recent decision, Jean C. Omegachem Inc.1. The Court of Appeal answered that question by ruling that an employee's refusal to sign a non-competition agreement during employment, which had been discussed when the employee was hired but presented to him three years after commencement of employment, is not a just and sufficient cause for dismissal ...
Employers preparing for the phasing in of the new pensions auto-enrolment regime should not overlook their data protection obligationsBackground: the new pension regimeFrom October 2012 a new pensions regime will start to be phased in which will eventually require all employers in the UK to automatically enrol eligible staff into some sort of pension scheme and, importantly, for the first time, to pay minimum contributions ...
