During the last two days, the Labour Court judgment in the matter of Solidarity and Others v The South African Broadcasting Corporation (“SABC”) (case no. J 1343/16, 26 July 2016) has been widely publicised and is well-known to South Africans. The judgment relates to a protest policy recently introduced by the SABC, in terms of which it would no longer broadcast footage of destruction of public property during protests ...
On June 17, 2016, the Superior Court1 affirmed the 2014 decision of the Commission des lésions professionnelles2 ("CLP") in Canadelle, s.e.c. and Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail ...
On July 1st, 2016 the Pilot Patent Prosecution Highway agreement (PPH) executed by the member states of the Pacific Alliance (Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Peru1) came into force.The PPH Pilot Program is an agreement executed by the patent offices of said countries, which allows applicants to request an accelerated examination process of a patent application ...
Last June 24th, the Supreme Court of Canada (the ?Supreme Court?) rendered judgment in the case of British Columbia (Workers? Compensation Appeal Tribunal) v. Fraser Health Authority1 (?Fraser?). Briefly, this case involved seven laboratory technicians from the same hospital who had breast cancer. Each of them filed a claim for compensation under the Workers Compensation Act (the ?Act?), alleging that their cancer was an occupational disease ...
On June 23rd the United Kingdom (UK)1 decided, by means of a referendum, to exit from the European Union. This decision is known as “Brexit”. According to Art. 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the UK must notify the European Council – which for this purpose represents the EU – of its intention to exit, after which the parties will negotiate an agreement setting out the arrangements of that withdrawal and of the future relationship between the UK and the EU ...
The July 2016 issue of the Asian Legal Business (ALB) Asia Edition included a regional update article entitled "Single Entry Approach: Mandatory Conciliation and Mediation of Labor Disputes", contributed by SyCipLaw partner Marianne M. Miguel and SyCipLaw Associate Mary Grace L. Javier. The article discussed the Department Order No ...
The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals, overturning an earlier court ruling from a lower court, has held that the US Government cannot compel Microsoft to hand over emails stored on a server in Dublin in a narcotics case. The decision is a milestone victory for privacy rights and will be greatly welcomed by US technology companies storing data abroad ...
The European Commission has today adopted the Privacy Shield. The Privacy Shield is intended to provide a framework for EU-US data transfers. What is the Privacy Shield? European data protection law restricts the transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless the country to which the data is transferred ensures an adequate level of data protection ...
Dear Sir or Madam,We would like to inform you that in October 2016 significant changes in Russian labour legislation will come into force. The changes are as follows:Salary payment terms are specified. Salary shall be paid not later than 15th day of the month following the assessment one. Rate of interest for pay pause has increased. The rate of interest has increased twice: from 1/300 of the key interest rate to 1/150 ...
According to recent news reports, the Bosnian Ambassador in Podgorica, Đorđe Latinović, stated that a labour agreement between BiH and Montenegro on temporal employment is due to be signed soon. The main purpose of this agreement being to regulate the status of seasonal workers in the two countries and reduce the possibility of undeclared work ...
Emphasising the importance of the shift to green trends and sustainable development has become something of a global custom in recent years, although mostly through being associated with the production of green energy and its consequential distribution. However, an often overlooked aspect in this regard has been the need for labour force that arises from the development of the so-called "green economy" ...
Using muti or traditional preparations to intimidate, scare or threaten a colleague constitutes misconduct and employers have the right to “remove such purveyors of darkness from their environment”.This was the outcome of recent arbitration proceedings before the National Bargaining Council for the Sugar Manufacturing and Refining Industry in the case of NASARIEU obo Mngomezulu v Tongaat Hulett Sugar Limited (Darnall) (case no. NBCS5-15, 15 June 2016) ...
We would like to inform you that the draft Federal Law № 1015753-6 “On Amendments to the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation (hereinafter - the “Administrative Code”) for prevention of illegal engagement of foreign nationals to work on construction projects” (hereinafter - the “Draft Law”) is currently under consideration by the State Duma at the first reading ...
An encouraging news update comes from Croatia, as some of the recent reports claim that the Croatian IT market reached a value of EUR 950 million in 2015. According to IDC Adriatic – a regional branch of the global market intelligence provider – this shows an increase of 10.8% when compared to the previous year.IDC Adriatic added that a continuation of the IT market's recovery is expected in 2016 as well. More precisely, further strengthening of the market at an average annual rate of 6 ...
Significant international sport and cultural events like Euro 2016 may, in some cases, result in conflict between employers and even the most disciplined and professional employees. So what is it like for employers? Obviously, football euphoria cannot stay outside the work place: plenty of discussions on victories and defeats of national teams during working hours, applications to work from home or leave, watching broadcasts on corporate devices and so on ...
The June 2016 issue of the International Financial Law Review (IFLR) included an international briefing article entitled “Employees in corporate reorganisations.” The article was contributed by SyCipLaw partner Ronald Mark C. Lleno and senior associate Easter Princess U. Castro.Read the article online at the IFLR website ...
The Hamburg data protection authority has imposed fines against the companies Adobe, Punica and Unilever, stating that they have continued to transfer personal data to the USA contrary to the stipulations of the Safe Harbor judgment. 1. The Safe Harbor judgment of the ECJ dated October 6, 2015 (legal matter C-362/14) makes it clear that European companies can no longer simply transfer personal data to the USA as a "non-secure third country" ...
One may say that Russian migration procedures are overly complicated but is it really so, especially for foreign nationals falling into the category of highly qualified specialists (the HQS)? In reality, the procedure is not so complicated. Its main peculiarity is that it is quite formalistic and requires attention to details of both the employer and the employee. Under the general rule, a foreign national planning to work in Russia shall have a work permit and work visa ...
One of the innovations introduced by the Companies Act, 71 of 2008 (“Companies Act”) is the mechanism of business rescue proceedings in South Africa. In particular, chapter 6 of the Companies Act was inserted to “provide for the efficient rescue and recovery of financially distressed companies, in a manner that balances the rights and interests of all relevant stakeholders” (see section 7(k)) ...
The Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016 (DTSA) - arguably the most significant change to U.S. intellectual property laws in the past decade - was signed into law by President Obama on May 11, 2016. The DTSA creates a federal, civil remedy for misappropriation of a trade secret that is related to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce ...
There’s no longer a basis to speculate or read or ignore the rumors. The Department of Labor (DOL) has finalized its changes to the regulations governing who may be exempt from being paid overtime. The changes will still be dramatic in terms of the number of employees impacted, but employers’ worst fears as to what they might contain did not quite materialize. Last Summer’s Proposed Regulations Early last summer, the DOL published its proposed changes to the overtime regulations ...
In 20141, major retailers Best Buy Canada Ltd., Costco Wholesale Canada Ltd., Gap (Canada) Inc., Old Navy (Canada) Inc., Guess? Canada Corporation, Wal-Mart Canada Corp., Toys ?R? Us Canada Ltd. and Curves International Inc ...
On May 11, 2016, OSHA issued a final rule, which is slated to go into effect January 1, 2017. This requires certain employers to electronically submit information regarding workplace injuries and illnesses. As with any new rule-making by OSHA, presumably legal challenges to the rule are on the way. Nonetheless, here are the relevant new provisions. Read the full alert ...
In a recent case, the Labour Court needed to consider the interplay between section 136 of the Companies Act, 2008 and section 189 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“the LRA”). The latter section enables an employer to terminate an employee’s employment based on operational requirements. Section 136(1)(a) of the Companies Act provides that, during business rescue proceedings, employees will continue to be employed by the employer on the existing terms and conditions of employment ...
Karanović & Nikolić recently organised a workshop in cooperation with the Faculty of Law, under the title of "Managing Emotions in Labor Disputes – More than Law", as part of the Trial Simulation and Case Studies course ...
