To avoid a complicated and lengthy disciplinary proceeding, employers might consider a mutual separation agreement, to terminate an employee’s employment and pay them a sum of money. In the case of Balsdon v Valley Macadamias Group (Pty) Ltd, the Labour Court had to decide whether it could make a mutual separation agreement a court order in terms of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”) ...
Can an employer require its employees to speak a specific language or to be of a specific nationality as an inherent requirement of the job? Can an employee be dismissed for operational requirements if the employee is unable to speak that language or is not of a specific nationality? Would this be automatically unfair on the basis of unfair discrimination? This issue, along with several other claims, was what the Labour Appeal Court (“LAC”) had to decide in the matter of 
A recent Constitutional Court judgment is an important reminder to employers that employees must be granted a fair opportunity to ventilate their case at a disciplinary hearing. Failure to do so could result in an award for compensation against the employer, even when the misconduct was of a very serious nature and the employer was justified in dismissing the employee ...
In our third Post Pandemic webinar, our panel discussed the topic of people in the context of Operational Resilience (OR). Shoosmiths’ Partner Sam Tyfield spoke to colleagues Yvonne Oakenfull (Learning & Development Manager), Kevin McCavish (Partner and Head of Shoosmiths’ London Employment team) and Karen Mortenson (Principal Associate in our London Employment team) ...
Not yet in the driver’s seat but hungry for change, millennials are lobbying to shape the way the companies are run. What do North Korea’s Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un, Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, United States Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg have in common? They are all captains in their fields. And they are all millennials ...
With employers reopening fully and employees returning to the workplace from the pandemic, there has been a steady flow of challenges -- both legal filings and political and public opposition -- by individuals opposing mandatory requirements from employers and institutions to be vaccinated in order to return to work or school, subject to certain legal requirements under the ADA and valid religious objections ...
Starting around October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administrations (the “SBA”) asked Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) lenders to provide certain questionnaires to PPP borrowers with loans of $2 million or greater. There are two questionnaire forms on the Treasury: Form 3509 for for-profit borrowers and Form 3510 for non-profit borrowers ...
We would like to introduce you to our new project, Podcast in English – “Be Aware and Share”! In this series of discussions, we explore the topical legal challenges faced by business and, together with experts, analyze significant cases and provide solutions. Click here to learn more. 6 episodes are available right now: Teleworking in Russia: digital turn in employment. Employment solutions for commercial secrecy. Internal investigations in Russia ...
On July 16, 2021 the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30, which modifies and supersedes Revenue Procedure 2019-19, expanding the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System ("EPCRS"). EPCRS is a program for correcting documentation and operational failures for retirement plans that are intended to be qualified plans under Sections 401(a) and 403(b) of the Internal Revenue Code ...
With the summer holidays upon us, what are the implications for employers managing holiday requests and the ever-changing guidance on foreign travel? We consider how to deal with employees who travel internationally and the current isolation rules ...
Solicitor Chiara Pieri tells Scottish Legal News about her career journey – from working as a paralegal to qualifying as a solicitor and becoming president of the Scottish Young Lawyers’ Association. In 2014 Chiara Pieri graduated from Glasgow University with an LLB with Italian – and plans to go globetrotting before embarking on her legal career ...
Employers often seek to rely on legitimate interests when processing employee personal data. But many do not realise that this should involve completion of a legitimate interests assessment. We consider what is involved in carrying out such assessments. What the law says The UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 regulate the way in which employers process personal data ...
In January 2021, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 263, better known as the Fresh Start Act (the Act), into law. The Act standardizes the professional licensure process in Ohio by removing vague disqualifiers such as “moral turpitude” and “lack of moral character.” Through its restorative justice approach, the Act offers professionals with records of certain prior offenses a path to licensure. Most of the Act’s provisions become effective on Oct ...
The Law no. 221/26.07.2021 for the completion of Law no.55/2020 regarding some measures for preventing and combating the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic was published within the Official Gazette no. 732 dated July 26, 2021. According to this normative act, employees who are vaccinated against COVID-19 benefit, upon request, of one paid day off for each vaccine dose administered ...
On Sunday, July 25, 2021, Resolution Nº 032-2021-CD-OSITRAN was published in the Official Gazette “El Peruano”, whereby the Guideline for the submission of information and final documentation of the port work accepted by the Competent Authority (the “Resolution 032″) was adopted ...
Introduction The ‘golden thread’ of modified universalism in cross border insolvency has long been an aspiration, rather than a rule. [1] The common law concepts of recognition and assistance play a key role in achieving that aspiration. In recent years these concepts have been affirmed but scaled back, by decisions such as that in Singularis Holdings Limited v PricewaterhouseCoopers ...
Since March 2020, the United States and Canada have agreed upon mutually reciprocal COVID-19 related travel restrictions. U.S. and Canadian officials mutually determined that “non-essential” travel between the U.S. and Canada “poses additional risk of transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID-19 and places the populace of both nations at increased risk of contracting the virus associated with COVID-19 ...
Since March 2020, the United States and Canada have agreed upon mutually reciprocal COVID-19 related travel restrictions. U.S. and Canadian officials mutually determined that “non-essential” travel between the U.S. and Canada “poses additional risk of transmission and spread of the virus associated with COVID-19 and places the populace of both nations at increased risk of contracting the virus associated with COVID-19 ...
In light of the recent Adjusted Alert Level 4 restrictions, the TERS has officially been extended once again for certain affected employees. The new claim period is from 16 March 2021 to 25 July 2021. Applications for the extended TERS benefit opened on 19 July 2021 and payments are due to commence from 26 July 2021 ...
A group of 50 striking employees confront their manager in his office. An altercation ensues, which culminates in the manager being violently assaulted. Only five of the striking employees are caught “red-handed”, having been identified as the perpetrators of the violent assault. The rest are only identified as having been there when the assault took place ...
Governor Mike DeWine signed House Bill 75 on June 29, 2021, appropriating budget funding for the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation (BWC) for the 2022-2023 biennium and enacting some pro-employer changes to workers’ compensation law ...