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Deacons | December 2009

The decision by presiding judge William Stone has overruled the Labour Tribunal decision in January 2009 and allowed the appeal of Cathay Pacific. The Tribunal presiding officer held that line duty and ground duty allowances could be characterized as "daily wages". They were recurrent in nature, calculated on a daily basis and directly related to the number of hours worked ...

Deacons | December 2009

Winning the case against its flight attendants, Cathay Pacific loses against a group of pilots they sacked during a 2001 industrial dispute. The airline, one of Asia's biggest, was ordered to pay damages to each of the 18 pilots whose employment had been terminated by Cathay Pacific ...

Deacons | December 2009

The statutory Minimum Wage Bill (the "Bill") was gazetted on 26 June 2009 and tabled at the Hong Kong Legislative Council on 8 July 2009. The Bill will require every employer to pay employees minimum wage at an hourly rate, however it does not seek to regulate the number of hours that employees spend at work ...

Lawson Lundell LLP | December 2009

In a decision that stands as a cautionary note to trustees of pension and benefit plans, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice has found the Trustees of the Canadian Commercial Workers Industry Pension Plan (the "Plan") guilty of breaching the investment rules applicable to pension plans in Ontario.  1. The Facts in Christophe The Plan’s portfolio is valued at approximately $1 billion ...

ALTIUS/Tiberghien | December 2009

On 1 September 2009, the long-anticipated Social Security Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of India (the “SSA”) entered into force.  The SSA was signed in New Delhi on 3 November 2006 and is considered as a landmark agreement as it was the first treaty of its kind to be signed by the Indian authorities.  Therefore it is likely to serve as a benchmark for similar agreements between India and other countries ...

Lavery Lawyers | December 2009

THE MEMBER FUNDED PENSION PLAN: A DEFINED BENEFIT PENSION PLAN THAT LIMITS THE EMPLOYER'S FINANCIAL RISKJosée [email protected]çois [email protected] decision by an employer to offer a pension plan to its employees is an important one. Various types of pension plans may be offered, and the financial risk of the employer depends on the type of plan chosen ...

Asters | December 2009

by Oleh I. Furmanchuk, Associate with AstersAccording to the 2008 Yearly Report of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (the "AMCU"), 658 cases regarding anticompetitive actions of bodies of power were investigated by the AMCU and its bodies in 2004-2008. In 2008, the AMCU investigated 215 such cases, demonstrating a 17.5% increase compared to the previous year (there were 183 cases in 2007) ...

Veirano Advogados | December 2009

At this moment, according to the Brazilian Constitution, employees may not work more than 44 hours per week. Also, whenever employees work overtime, the hourly rates are increased by at least 50%. Yet, a Constitutional Amendment Bill is being discussed in Brazilian House of Representatives in order to change such provisions. Bill no ...

Lavery Lawyers | December 2009

Last November 6, the government of Québec held an important working session that brought together various northern partners for the purpose of ensuring the sustainable and socially responsible development of the vast territory covered by the Plan Nord.Back in the fall of 2008, the Québec government announced the introduction of this Plan Nord for the economic development of the territory of northern Québec ...

Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP | December 2009

  Born from the free movement provisions of the EU, and reflecting UK Government efficiency objectives, the procurement rules are aimed at ensuring equal treatment and opportunity when public authorities contract for works, goods and services by requiring, in broad terms, a publicised tender process.   However, disgruntled bidders have not had a happy hunting ground when seeking to challenge a suspected defective procurement exercise before the courts ...

Veirano Advogados | November 2009

Pursuant to Article 74, 2nd paragraph, of the Brazilian labor code, companies with more than ten employees should control the working hours of its employees by means of manual, mechanic or electronic time registers.   Electronic time registers (“ponto eletronico”) have been commonly used by employers to keep track of employees’ work hours ...

Lavery Lawyers | November 2009

HIGHLIGHTSThe two duties of the directors: duty of care and fiduciary duty ...

Lavery Lawyers | November 2009

ON OCTOBER 27TH, THE HONOURABLE JIM FLAHERTY, MINISTER OF FINANCE, ANNOUNCED AN IMPORTANT PLAN TO REFORM FEDERALLY REGULATED PENSION PLANS(1). THIS REFORM PLAN IS THE RESULT OF EXTENSIVE CONSULTATIONS THAT BEGAN IN JANUARY 2009 WITH THE RELEASE OF A DISCUSSION PAPER ENTITLED STRENGTHENING THE LEGISLATIVE AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORK FOR PRIVATE PENSION PLANS SUBJECT TO THE PENSION BENEFITS STANDARDS ACT, 1985 ...

Lawson Lundell LLP | October 2009

On October 27, 2009 the Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty announced a number of proposed changes to the pension framework in Canada.  Most of the proposed changes will be made to the Pension Benefits Standards Act, 1985 (Canada) (the “PBSA”), which governs federally regulated pension plans ...

Lawson Lundell LLP | October 2009

Labour & Employment Law Update A Cautionary Tale about Temporary Layoffs A recent decision of the B.C. Supreme Court, Besse v. Dr. A.S. Mechner Inc., 2009 BCSC 1316, serves as a reminder that employers do not have the right to lay off employees temporarily (and without severance) unless this right is specified in the employment agreement.  In this case, a dentist was seeking to reduce the staffing costs associated with his practice ...

Heuking | October 2009

1.       Introduction As a reaction to the financial market crisis and the too-high incentives politicians have identified in the area of manager's compensation, the German government has enacted the Law on Equitableness in Executive Compensation (German: Gesetz zur Angemessenheit der Vorstandsvergütung,  abbr: VorstAG) ...

Lavery Lawyers | October 2009

Much has been and continues to be written about applications for cost-sharing under section 329 of An Act respecting industrial accidents and occupational diseases (the “AIAOD ”).Art. 329 I n the case of a worker already handicapped when his employment injury appears, the Comm ission may, on its own initiative or on the application of an employer, impute all or part of the cost of the benefits to the employers of all of the units ...

Lawson Lundell LLP | October 2009

In recent times, the issue of post-retirement healthcare benefits has taken on a heightened significance for employers and sponsors of pension and health and welfare plans.  Factors such as an increasing number of retirees, rising drug and healthcare costs and government cutbacks to universal healthcare programs are causing organizations to re-evaluate the extent to which they can or are willing to continue to provide post-retirement healthcare benefits ...

Makarim & Taira S. | October 2009

On 23 June 2009, Presidential Regulation No. 27 of 2009 on Integrated One-Stop Services in the Capital Investment Sector (“PR 27”) was issued. PR 27 was enacted to implement Article 26(3) of Law No. 25 of 2007 Regarding Capital Investment (“Law 25”), which requires the issuance of a Presidential Regulation for further implementation of the “one gate policy in investment services” ...

MinterEllison | September 2009

The Race Discrimination Ordinance (RDO) came into force last week on 10 July 2009 following the passage of the Code of Practice on Employment under the RDO (Code) in the Legislative Council on 9 July 2009.  Accordingly to reports in the South China Morning Post, one organisation has already said that it has prepared two cases for the Equal Opportunities Commission to tackle under the RDO ...

MinterEllison | September 2009

In Hong Kong, some companies located in comparatively less accessible areas provide shuttle bus services for employees to travel to and from the workplace. This, of course, raises issues of liability and entitlement. More specifically, in the unfortunate event of a member of staff being injured while travelling on the company shuttle, he or she is entitled to make a claim under the Employees' Compensation Ordinance (ECO) ...

Lavery Lawyers | September 2009

Being involved in finding solutions!Bid-rigging - a Lesser known Offence in Competition LawBREAKDOWN IN NEGOTIATIONS — THE BINDING EFFECT OF A LETTER OF INTENTBy Catherine Rioux and Patrice CaillancourtYou have decided to sell your business or to initiate a business relationship with a partner. You negotiate the main terms and, before going further, you sign a letter of intent. Then, you decide to withdraw from the negotiations ...

Lavery Lawyers | September 2009

BREAKDOWN IN NEGOTIATIONS - THE BINDING EFFECT OF A LETTER OF INTENT Catherine Rioux [email protected] Patrice André Vaillancourt [email protected] You have decided to sell your business or to initiate a business relationship with a partner. You negotiate the main terms and, before going further, you sign a letter of intent. Then, you decide to withdraw from the negotiations. Can you do it? Not necessarily ...

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