Even if an idea for a new invention only exists in the mind of an employee, that idea belongs to the company…unless the contract of employment clearly states otherwise! The importance of ensuring that contracts of employment cover this area has been brought into sharp focus by a recent case in Texas, where the rules are very similar to those in the UK ...
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Fears that contracts signed with Iraq's interim government could be voided by a new elected leadership have made oil companies wary of entering into deals with the energy-rich country, experts said on Tuesday. "We're seeing some reticence from major oil companies in dealing with the interim government," Lori Feathers, a lawyer with Haynes & Boone, LLP told an energy industry gathering ...
All companies must manage their excessive absenteeism files. Repeated absences, even when they only involve a small percentage of employees, have a substantial negative impact on all employees. An employer should therefore intervene immediately to prevent its employees from thinking that they can be absent whenever they wish. Also, many employees use the example of other employees to justify their own absences, causing the problem to grow out of proportion ...
Introduction As of June 2004, the Commission des lésions professionnelles (“CLP”) will implement guidelines (“Guidelines”) stating its expectations of expert witnesses, both as regards their written reports and the content of their testimony. Over the past years, there has been much criticism by CLP adjudicators concerning the involvement of expert witnesses in judicial and quasi-judicial proceedings. Their impartiality and objectivity were often in question ...
by Igor Shevchenko and Michael Kharenko, Shevchenko Didkovskiy & Partners The need for corporate governance regulation evolved as Ukraine gained its independence and began its transformation to a market economy. Privatisation of state companies has led to their reorganisation into joint stock companies with a diverse ownership base ...
In the commercial scope, the legal representation of limited liability companies is usually exercised by the President of the Board of Directors ...
On June 1st, 2004, new recourses for psychological harassment at work will come into force. The imminent arrival of these remedies should motivate employers to implement effective mechanisms to prevent and settle situations of psychological harassment at work. However, June 1st is quickly approaching and most employers are not properly prepared ...
It is basic to determine the legal status of enterprises in the business world. This becomes more important in different sceneries: when acquiring an existing corporation, investing in a going concern, granting loans, merger of companies, in joint ventures, etc. The term "Due Diligence" refers to the process of exhaustive search of the legal status of a specific enterprise ...
For quite a while now, Québec legislation, like that of most Canadian provinces, provides that the directors, officers, employees or representatives of a legal person (for example: an incorporated company) can be sued personally for the commission or omission of acts that could directly and seriously compromise the health, safety or physical integrity of a worker. This offence is covered under section 237 and 241 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act (R.S.Q., c. S-2.1) ...
International companies can now breathe a sigh of relief following the Court of Appeal’s decision in Serco – v- Lawson which considered the vexed issue of whether Employment Tribunals can hear claims of unfair dismissal notwithstanding the fact that the employee might not work in Great Britain. Section 196 of the Employment Rights Act 1996 used to prevent employees ordinarily working outside Great Britain from complaining of unfair dismissal to an Employment Tribunal ...
Many employers are turning to arbitration in an effort to avoid the costs and inconvenience of litigation. Before implementing a policy requiring employees to submit disputes to binding arbitration, however, employers should consider the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration, as well as the procedural hurdles that must be overcome before an arbitration policy can be enforced against employees. The Advantages: • Arbitration can be less burdensome to employers ...
This Guide is intended to act as a general guide for businesses which are contemplating moving into the United Kingdom.Click on the link below to view the guide ...
Corporate law issues in Ukraine are mainly regulated by the 1991 Enterprises Act, 1991 Companies Act, 1991 Ownership Act, 1991 Securities and Stock Exchange Act, and 1996 State Regulation of the Stock Market in Ukraine Act. As we can see, the majority of Acts laying down the basic concepts and principles of Ukrainian corporate law date back to 1991, when Ukraine gained its independence ...
The globalization of markets, the opening-up of world trade, and technological development have allowed multinational corporations to gain ground, arousing concerns related to the defense of competition. Some nations and regional blocks, such as the U.S.A ...
Considerable publicity and a sense of shock surrounded a judgment of the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) published on 3 December in relation to a proposed merger of two companies involved in the supply of data systems to the NHS. The judgment focuses on how decisions are reached by the bodies responsible for UK merger control and, in particular, the degree of discretion given to the OFT to clear cases without ordering a full four month inquiry ...
Whether your company engages in maintenance activities, manages or rents space in a building,1 you should give serious consideration to applicable construction industry rules before agreeing upon a price: a recent judgment of the Court of Appeal may be of interest to you if, under Québec legislation, your employees are required to be members of a construction trade (carpenter, plasterer, plumber, electrician) in order to perform their work ...
An Act to amend the Labour Code (S.Q. 2003, c. 26) This is a revised edition of a November 2003 bulletin pertaining to Bill 31 prior to its enactment ...
The Labour Code approved by Law no. 99/2003 of 27 August will come into force on 1 December next, the first stage of the labour law reform thus coming to a close. Driven by the pressing need to endow the country with more flexible and investment, productivity and employment generating labour laws, the reform was at first enthusiastically backed by the employers’ confederations and firmly opposed by the trade unions ...
From among the innovations brought by the Labour Code, noteworthy is the express recognition of what are known as “personality rights” set forth in Articles 15 to 21 of the Code. To be considered, however, is that our legal system has long acknowledged the existence of this category of rights, which characteristically encompass the vital aspects of human personality and are acquired at birth and, as such, classifies such rights as universal ...
From among the special forms of contracting employment, special reference should be made, as it is an innovation, to the possibility of an employee being bound simultaneously to several employers provided there are corporate or organisation relations between them, by way of a contract in writing stating which of the employers represents the others in the performance thereof. Where these requirements are not met, the employee will be free to choose to which employer he/she wishes to be bound ...
In the area of salary, to be emphasised is that the Code has established that the calculation of supplementary and fringe benefits must be based on the basic salary and length of service payments. Also noteworthy are the new rules relating to special pay for exemption from regular working hours, which is after all justified by the fact that the Code provides for three different forms of exemption (vide III above) ...
The amendments made to occupational mobility, also known as functional polyvalence, are quite significant and resorting to this mechanism has become more flexible. This matter, which was governed by Article 22 (rendering of work by the employee not included or object of his/her contract) of the Employment Contract Law, is now addressed by Article 151 (Performance of Duties), Article 152 (Effects on Remuneration) and Article 314 (Occupational Mobility) of the Code ...
In terms of geographical mobility, the Labour Code has maintained the prohibition of the employer transferring the employee to another workplace, save where the interests of the company so require and this change does not entail a serious loss for the employee, where the transfer results from the total or partial moving of the establishment where the employee works, in the cases provided for in collective bargaining agreements or where the employee agrees to the transfer ...
