Rwanda has adopted a ministerial order implementing the law on immigration and emigration, introducing various changes to the Rwandan immigration and emigration landscape. The ministerial order provides for a new type of work/residence permit (the Q1 permit), which allows the secondment of employees of multinationals to their subsidiaries and/or branches in Rwanda without employees being required to enter into employment contracts with a Rwandan company ...
ANGOLA: Introduction of VAT postponed The introduction of value-added tax (“VAT”), scheduled for 1 July 2019, was postponed to October following discussions between the Angolan Government and the Business Technical Group (“GTE”), which advocated implementing VAT only in January 2020 ...
A recent landmark decision of the of the South African Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council could see Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) commissioners stripped of their discretion in granting legal representation for those involved in unfair dismissal disputes arising from misconduct or incapacity ...
AFRICA: African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement enters into force The Parliament of Zimbabwe and the Ethiopian House of Representatives approved the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (“ACFTA”) on 14 March and 21 March 2019, respectively. The Moroccan Council of Government approved the ACFTA on 21 February 2019 ...
The general requirements for a fair dismissal based on an employer’s operational requirements are found in section 189 of the South African Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”). However, section 189A provides for specific procedures and remedies, should an employer embark on a large-scale retrenchment. Various consequences flow from the fact that a proposed retrenchment falls within the scope of section 189A ...
The African Continental Free Trade Agreement (“AfCFTA”)entered into force on 30 May 2019 following the approval by the minimum required 22 countries. The AfCFTA will be the world’s largest free trade zone formed after the World Trade Organization, covering a market of 1.2-billion people ...
ETHIOPIA: Bills amending customs and VAT proclamations endorsed by Council of Ministers On 26 May 2019, the Council of Ministers endorsed a new bill amending Customs Proclamation No. 859/2014, expected to address practical problems and create a conducive business environment. The Council of Ministers also endorsed a bill amending a number of provisions of Value Added Tax Proclamation No. 285/2002 on 18 May 2019 ...
Just a few months ago, South African advocates, attorneys and candidate attorneys alike were celebrating therulingof an arbitrator attached to the Dispute Resolution Centre (“DRC”) of the Metal and Engineering Industries Bargaining Council in the matter betweenCoetzee v Autohaus Centurion. In this matter, the applicant employee had applied to be legally represented at an arbitration ...
Section 38(2)(a) of the Mauritian Employment Rights Act provides that: “(2) No employer shall terminate a worker’s agreement – (a) for reasons related to the worker’s misconduct, unless – (i)he cannot in good faith take any other course of action…” (our emphasis added) In its judgment in the case ofUnited Docks Limited v De Spéville [2019] UKPC 28(delivered on 10 June 2019), the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council had to c
When the tide of democracy and constitutionalism swept through labour legislation in South Africa from the early ‘90s onwards, domestic workers, for the first time, gained access to important labour rights. However, they remained excluded from two important statutes, the Unemployment Insurance Act, 2001 (the “UI Act”) and the Compensation for Occupational Injuries and Diseases Act, 1993 (“COIDA”) ...
Effective 1 January 2020, new rules pertaining to whistleblowing will enter into force.On 11 June 2019, the Norwegian Parliament passed a resolution that all provisions of the Working Environment Act Chapter 2 A shall be amended. The changes in the law mainly contribute to clarification and precise formulation of judicial status so as to make the provisions more accessible and understandable to the users of the law ...
Under final rules issued last month, employers can offer two new types of health reimbursement arrangements or HRAs: individual coverage HRAs ("ICHRAs") and excepted benefit HRAs ("EBHRAs"). HRAs are self-funded, account based plans that reimburse employees for qualified medical expenses on a tax-free basis. The final rules apply for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2020. While the rules are complex, the new ICHRAs and EBHRAs offer new planning opportunities for employers ...
In our newsletter article of March 2019, which was only based on press release No. 9/19 of the BAG [German Federal Labor Court] regarding the judgment of Feb. 19, 2019 - 9 AZR 541/15, we addressed the new case law of the BAG for informing the employer about existing vacation entitlements. In a similar case (also judgment of Feb ...
BAG of Feb. 19, 2019 – 3 AZR 219/18 So-called "late marriage clauses" in surviving dependants' pension commitments may constitute an unjustified age discrimination and can therefore be ineffective, unless a specific cut-off date can be justified on the basis of a specific connecting factor particularly linked to the legal structure principles of company pension schemes. FACTS OF THE CASE A widow filed a complaint with regard to a widow's pension before the labor courts ...
BAG, judgment of Apr. 9, 2019 – 1 ABR 30/17 The transfer of an employee after the loss of job to the care of an in-house "Job Service and Placement" unit constitutes a transfer requiring consent within the meaning of Sec. 99 para. 1 BetrVG [German works constitution act]. If the selection procedure is carried out by the parties pursuant to a framework agreement, the instruction in the approval procedure also covers the selection procedure ...
Federal Labor Court (BAG), judgment of Dec. 11, 2018 – 9 AZR 161/18 An enhanced vacation entitlement on grounds of age where employees who have not yet reached the age of 50 are granted at least three days less vacation than older employees violates the prohibition of discrimination of Sec. 7(1) in conjunction with Sec. 1 AGG ...
BAG, judgment of Mar. 14, 2019 – 6 AZR 4/18 A severance payment awarded by dissolution proceedings may either be an insolvency claim or insolvency asset liability. The time the dissolution petition was made is decisive. FACTS OF THE CASE The employer (later insolvency debtor) terminated the employment of the plaintiff before the opening of insolvency proceedings ...
Traditionally financial institutions have preferred litigation over international arbitration. The reasons are many, but they are mainly related to the fact that arbitrators generally lack the power to render summary judgments, to grant interim measures, and that there is no precedent in international arbitration. However, international arbitration has gain ground in the last few years, due to the fact that arbitral institutions have addressed the main criticisms to the system ...
Expansive Law Aimed at Predictive Scheduling for Workers, Limiting Employers’ Ability to Unilaterally Change Work Hours On July 24, 2019, the City of Chicago enacted the “Fair Work Week Ordinance,” requiring that many businesses provide workers with up to two-weeks advance notice of their work hours and schedules ...
It is summer holiday (for most Norwegians, anyway) and what is better than combining the beach, the pool or wherever you are with spending 3 minutes getting up to speed with a small bouquet of the many exciting developments of Norwegian employment law in 2019? Let's dive in and look at downsizings, selection pools, #metoo legislation and a first officer that ran his ship on ground ...
UPDATE III: Judge Agrees to Delay San Antonio Paid Sick Leave Ordinance At a hearing this morning, Judge Sol Casseb entered the Agreed Order submitted by attorneys for the City and the businesses that filed suit regarding their agreement to delay the effective date of the PSL ordinance from August 1 to December 1 ...
The SGX has beefed up delisting rules, making it harder for controlling shareholders to privatise listed companies. Is this a victory for minority shareholders, or yet another restriction that will make us a less attractive listing venue? We all knew it was coming ...
On 13 June 2019, the Minister of Public Works and Public Housing (“MPW”) issued Regulation No. 09/PRT/M/2019 on Guidelines on Licensing Services for Foreign Construction Business Entities (“Reg No. 9/2019”) replacing:(i) MPW Regulation No. 10/PRT/M/2014 on Guidelines on Issuing Licenses to Representatives of Foreign Construction Service Corporate Bodies (“Reg No. 10/2014”); and (ii) MPW Regulation No ...
On July 2, 2019, the PTO announced it will implement a rule requiring U.S. counsel for foreign-domiciled trademark applicants and registrants. The new rule is effective August 3, 2019, and applies to all trademark owners with a foreign address. We discussed the rule in ourFebruary Alert. For any new filings after the effective date, licensed U.S. counsel must be designated ...
