In our January 2014 bulletin, we provided an overview of the Quebec government’s action plan aimed at [Translation] “correcting and restoring the situation of pension plans”. Also in that bulletin, we noted that in February 2014, the government was planning to introduce the first bill designed to set up the restructuring process for municipal pension plans. The government made good on its promise ...
The government announced radical changes to the existing rules regarding the way in which people access and use their pension savings in the UK as part of the 2014 Budget. It is proposed that from April 2015 DC pension savers will no longer have to buy an annuity and will be able to access their full fund on retirement and invest it as they wish. In addition, the existing rules around lump sums on retirement and drawdown have been relaxed with effect from 27 March 2014 ...
On April 15, 2014, the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (the “Privacy Commissioner”) issued a report regarding the use of police information checks in British Columbia (the “Report”). The main focus of the Report is the scope of information provided in police information checks ...
With food and nutrition key issues for growing markets such as China, investment in Agribusiness is about supporting Asian partner objectives to grow "safe food" and "harvest protein", according to Adam Handley, President of the Australia China Business Council (WA) and a senior partner at law firm Minter Ellison ...
CCTV surveillance is becoming increasingly prevalent in every aspect of our lives. Recognizable images of people captured by CCTV cameras constitute "personal data" as defined in the Data Protection Acts 1988 and 2003 ("the DPAs"). Accordingly, all use of CCTV by employers must be undertaken in compliance with the DPAs ...
Foreign manpower recruitment procedures as set out under Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Regulation No. PER.02/MEN/III/2008 were considered no longer applicable given the development of manpower nowadays, and therefore the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration promulgated Regulation No. 12 of 2013 on Procedures for Recruiting Foreign Manpower which came into effect as of 30 December 2013 ...
After 80 years using a very old Dutch trade law (Bedfrijfsreglementerings Ordonnantie 1934, Staatsblad 1938 Number 86), Indonesia has finally introduced its own Bill on Trade. The Bill on Trade was passed by the House of Representatives on 11 February 2014 and will come into effect on 13 March 2014 at the latest ...
The latest tribunal statistics published by the Ministry of Justice this month indicate a significant fall in the number of employment tribunal claims following the introduction of tribunal fees in July of last year.The number of claims brought in October to December 2013 was down to only 9,801, a whopping 79% fewer than the same period in 2012, and 75% fewer than the previous quarter ...
On Sunday 6 April 2014 a number of changes will be made to employment law. We have put together this list of 5 changes we think you need to know about: Discrimination questionnaires abolished. Section 138 of the Equality Act 2010 allowed employees to serve a formal questionnaire on employers about discrimination matters. If an employer failed to answer fully, the tribunal could draw an adverse inference from such failure. From 6 April 2014 this formal process will be abolished ...
“Desperate times call for desperate measures”. We are all aware that the global crisis is impacting employers worldwide. Companies have been forced to close production lines, non-core activities have been transferred to outsourced service providers and numerous workplaces have been forced to close all together. It has become a struggle to merely hold onto one’s job. Such circumstances have facilitated the increase of workplace harassment (i.e. mobbing) ...
From Sunday 6 April 2014 anyone wanting to raise an employment tribunal claim will be directed to Acas first to try early conciliation. ere are the key things to be aware of:While early conciliation will be launched on 6 April, it will only be from 6 May that the scheme becomes mandatory for most claims and the tribunals will reject an ET1 if the Claimant hasn’t contacted Acas first.Parties do not need to actively engage in conciliation ...
SerbiaIncreased number of applications for industrial property protection It seems that the promotional efforts of the Intellectual Property Office of Serbia have been effective. According to statistics from the IP Office for 2013, the number of trademark applications increased by 40%, the number of patent applications increased by 5% and industrial design applications increased by 42% compared to last year ...
A New Collective Bargaining Agreement (“GCBA”) was signed last week in Montenegro. The new GCBA introduces a broader scope of existing labour rights and has also included several additional rights. Subsequently, many questions have come up and are expected to be answered through their application in the upcoming period. The GCBA comes into force on 30 March 2014 and Montenegrin employers must take care of the entire set of new employment rights and employers obligations ...
In Dollo v. Premier Tech Ltée,1 the Superior Court of Québec declared a clause contained in the Stock Option Plan (the “Plan”) offered by Premier Tech Ltée (“Premier Tech”) to some of its employees to be abusive and also declared Premier Tech’s conduct towards a dismissed senior executive to be oppressive within the meaning of the Canada Business Corporations Act (“CBCA”). THE FACTS In May 1999, Premier Tech hired Christian Dollo (“Dollo”) as vice‑president, finance ...
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued its response to the consultation on the exemption of certain categories of worker from the scope of automatic enrolment. While the DWP considered a range of potential exemptions, it has decided that exemptions are only appropriate in a limited number of situations ...
On 14 February 2014 the South African Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) gave notice of its intention to prohibit the use of a large number of European food and drinks names in terms of section 15 of the Merchandise Marks Act (MMA) - confusingly the notice also makes reference to section 13 of the MMA, a section that no longer exists ...
On February 28, 2014, the Colombian Government issued Decree 456 of 2014, whereby it established special tariffs applicable to the imports of clothing and shoes. The measure is a compound ad valorem (10%) and specific tariff (US$5) for imports of products classified under chapters 61, 62 and 62 of the Colombian Tariff Code, with prices under US$10 per kilogram, and to imports of products classified under chapter 64, with prices under US$7 per pair ...
For many HR professionals the responsibility for ensuring that their organisation can continue to employ migrant workers falls squarely at their door. This can prove daunting, especially for those with little or no business-immigration experience ...
Same sex couples will have the right to marry in England and Wales from 29 March 2014. Generally, same sex marriages will be treated in the same way as opposite sex marriages. However, in occupational pension schemes, surviving same sex spouses need only be treated in the same way as surviving civil partners and not as opposite sex spouses ...
THE FACTS On January 22, 2014, the Court of Appeal of Québec confirmed the 2012 decision of the Superior Court of Québec in Gilman v. Fieldturf Tarkett inc.2 At issue in this case was whether the payment of so-called “phantom share” bonuses were to be paid to employees whose employment was terminated by the company. The incentive program at issue was established for certain non- shareholder key employees of the company ...
Every year, several judgments are rendered in penal law cases involving occupational health and safety issues. However, judgments in an occupational health and safety context resulting from the laying of criminal negligence charges are more rare. While the sections of the Criminal Code1 which facilitate the filing of criminal negligence charges are now ten years old2, criminal negligence convictions in Quebec based on breaches of section 217 ...
The Central Bank of Brazil initiated a public hearing on 6 February to facilitate foreign investment. The Internet-delivered hearing will end on 7 April. The idea is to include under a single normative act the scattered provisions relating to fixed and variable income investment, as well as to portfolio investment. The measure is one of initiatives taken by the Central Bank within its Otimiza-BC program of cost reduction ...
Reform Scotland, the Edinburgh-based think tank, has proposed a wholesale reform of the UK public and private sector pension system. In its paper The Pension Guarantee, published on 27 February and available in full here, it identifies a number of issues with the current system and sets out recommendations for a possible solution ...
Last year, we reported on the Employment Tribunal’s decision in Walker v Innospec Limited (ET 2411316/2011) that a pension scheme’s failure to provide survivor’s benefits for civil partners equal to those provided for spouses was unlawful discrimination ...
The Government has announced that the right to request flexible working will extend to all employees from 30 June 2014. At the moment, only employees who have children under 17 (18 if the child is disabled) or other caring duties are able to request flexible working under the statutory regime. The new provisions had been due to come into force in April but delays to the Children and Families Bill caused a set-back. The Bill is expected to receive Royal Assent in March ...
