Member Articles

Following the key judgments inFarber1 andCabiakman2 , thePotter3 judgment rendered on March 6, 2015 by the Supreme Court of Canada (the “Court”) emerges as another indispensable judgment in employment law. In this judgment, the Court decided that the administrative suspension with pay of an employee must be justified and reasonable, or otherwise it will, in most cases, constitute a constructive dismissal. THE CONTEXT Mr ...

Children are precious, and their health, safety and well-being are at the very heart of childcare providers’ responsibilities. Several actors work with or alongside children on a daily or occasional basis in order to provide them care and education. In selecting people who work with children, providers collect and use a great deal of information about them, including their studies, experience, qualifications and abilities ...

A country’s competitiveness depends in part on its capacity to attract foreign investorsinterested in the acquisition of local companies ...

Vol. XII, Issue 4 of the Employment & Immigration Update includes the following articles:Doing Business: 2015Gender Equality in the WorkplaceStrengthening TripartismRecent Immigration Advisory and CircularsThe issue also contains information on recent Supreme Court decisions, labor and immigration news and circulars, and SyCipLaw updates.Download the Employment & Immigration Update 2014 4Q ...

Practical Law Company’s Employment and employee benefits: Philippines Q&A Guide has now been published online and is available to access or download as PDF. The Guide was contributed by SyCipLawEmployment & Immigration Department Head Luisito V. Liban ...

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of Culture jointly issued a Notice on the Relevant Formalities for Foreigners Entering China for Completing Short-Term Work Assignment (for Trial Implementation) ("Notice") on 6 November 2014 which provides for new visa and residence requirements on foreigners entering and staying in China for work for no more than 90 days ...

SyCip Salazar Hernandez & Gatmaitan has updated the Philippine Chapter of the International Background Checks Summaries. Published by the Employment Law Alliance, it is a free online resource guide that provides clients and ELA-registered website users with the general requirements and practices for conducting background checks on potential employees in selected countries around the world.Register to access this free resource ...

In a decision rendered on December 30, 20141, arbitrator Nathalie Faucher concluded that the dismissal imposed by a hospital centre on an employee for breach of confidentiality was well-founded. The employee, an administrative agent at the emergency room of the hospital centre, was dismissed for breaching her obligation of confidentiality. The employer stated that she had disclosed to a work colleague the fact that a patient had HIV ...

 In a decision rendered on December 30, 20141, arbitrator Nathalie Faucher concluded that the dismissal imposed by a hospital centre on an employee for breach of confidentiality was well-founded. The employee, an administrative agent at the emergency room of the hospital centre, was dismissed for breaching her obligation of confidentiality. The employer stated that she had disclosed to a work colleague the fact that a patient had HIV ...

On 26 January 2015, President Joko Widodo swore in Mr. Triawan Munaf as the Head of the Creative Economic Board (BEK – Badan Ekonomi Kreatif). BEK is tasked to strengthen the role of creative economic businesses, including protection for Indonesian creative crafts ...

A recent decision1 by the Commission des relations du travail (“CRT”) highlights the plight of an employer faced with an employee who oversold his abilities during the job interview and later proves incapable of delivering on his promises. In this case, Laurentian Bank Securities inc. (“Laurentian”) successfully defended against a claim for dismissal without good and sufficient cause filed by a former employee. The facts of the case are commonplace ...

On January 30, 2015, in the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour v. Saskatchewan (2015 SCC 4) decision, the Supreme Court of Canada further clarified the scope of the rights of workers pursuant to section 2(d) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”). Indeed, in its 2007 decision better known as B.C. Health ([2007] 2 S.C.R ...

Earlier this month, President Obama announced historic changes to U.S. policy and relevant regulations regarding diplomatic engagement, travel and trade with Cuba. The White House’s new policy represents the most dramatic shift in U.S. policy to Cuba since the enactment of the embargo in 1961. As a result of this new policy, a number of sectors of the U.S. economy are likely to see new opportunities in Cuban trade ...

In Commission des normes du travail v. Compagnie d'assurances Standard Life du Canada,1 (the “Standard Life of Canada case”), the Court of Québec allowed an employer to file a counterclaim against an employee in the context of proceedings instituted by the Commission des normes du travail (“CNT”) on behalf of that same employee ...

In a unanimous decision dated November 17, 2014,1 the Court of Appeal of Québec held that the procedural fairness rules applicable in administrative and public law do not apply in the context of a psychological harassment investigation conducted by an employer. As a result, the Court set aside the judgment of the Court of Québec ordering the lawyer who conducted the investigation to pay $3,000 in damages ...

California Paid Sick Leave is Here This term, the California Legislature enacted the Healthy Workplaces/Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522), which requires employers to provide paid sick leave at a rate of one hour for every 30 hours worked starting on July 1, 2015 ...

On 5 December 2014, the Hong Kong Government formally released its draft legislation to waive stamp duty for the transfer of shares or units of all exchange traded funds (“ETFs”). The Stamp Duty (Amendment) Bill 2014 will be introduced into the Legislative Council on 17 December 2014 (“the Bill”). It is expected to have wide support ...

The Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Employment of Foreigners (the “Law”) on 25 November 2014. The Law will come into force on the eighth day following its publication in the “Official Gazette of the Republic of Serbia”, i.e. on 4 December 2014The Law regulates the employment of foreigners in the Republic of Serbia in a different manner than compared with the currently applicable Law on the Conditions for Employment of Foreign Citizens ...

Also men are now allowed to book a room on the "Bella Donna" floor - the design of hotel floors for women only is discriminatory. This was established by the Danish Eastern High Court by judgment of 25 April 2014. In this case, one of the largest hotels in the country had established a floor for women only. This floor had a number of additional amenities not to be found on the other floors, including special toilet ware, flowers, and a particularly efficient hand shower ...

The City Court of Aarhus has established that two former employees' updating of their personal LinkedIn profiles while being subject to a non-competition clause was a breach of the clause. The case involved two employees who had given notice of termination in order to take up employment in a competing company ...

A summary dismissal of a salaried employee who was seven minutes late for work was justified according to the judgment of 27 May 2014 delivered by the City Court of Glostrup. The case involved an employee appointed as deputy manager in a supermarket who repeatedly showed up late for work - typically only a few minutes. It had been emphasised on various occasions to the employee that he had to show up for work on time - but without result ...

In a stunning employment verdict, a California jury awarded $185 million in punitive damages and $873,000 in compensatory damages to a former AutoZone store manager who claimed the auto-parts retailer mistreated her based on her gender, demoted her after learning she was pregnant, and ultimately terminated her from employment based on her decision to challenge her demotion ...

On September 9, 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) published the inaugural “Purple Book,” a list of approved or “licensed” biological products, including all biosimilar and interchangeable biological products. The Purple Book is more formally known as “Lists of Licensed Biological Products with Reference Product Exclusivity and Biosimilarity or Interchangeability Evaluations.” The Purple Book is meant, at a fundamental level, to be the biological equivalent of the “Orange Book ...

According to the recent amendments of the Labour Law (“Official Gazette of RS” no. 75/2014) (the “Law”) payslips are now an enforceable document. The Law has authorised the relevant Minister to further prescribe content to be contained on a payslip, by adopting the Rulebook on Payslip content (“Official Gazette of RS” no. 90/2014) ...