The B-1 temporary visa category is intended to allow foreign nationals to visit the U.S. for temporary business purposes that do not rise to the level of gainful employment. Given the relative ease of obtaining a B-1 visa compared to other visa categories, some U.S. employers have encouraged or assisted foreign nationals in using the B-1 visa category for activities beyond its intended purpose ...
On October 31, 2013, the Supreme Court rendered three judgments with respect to class actions at the authorization or certification stage, one from the Province of Quebec1 and the other two from the Province of British Columbia.2 In all three cases, the facts raised issues with respect to the price fixing of consumer products in contravention of the Competition Act,3 notably through a conspiracy ...
In this article, we provide a brief overview of some of the changes in the rules governing Hungarian public procurement procedures, changes which entered into force on 1 July 2013 and which are of a larger practical relevance. The Act no CXVI of 2013 on the amendment of the Act no CVIII of 2011 on Public Procurement Proceedings brought about some important changes effective as from 1 July 2013. Below, we will briefly discuss two of these changes ...
Since it was introduced at the end of 2005, the scheme funding regime for defined benefit pension schemes has been through a process incremental of evolution. With a new legal objective for the Pensions Regulator now revealed, will this alter the approach of employers and trustees to scheme funding in practice or will it turn out to be business as usual? Back in 2005, the emphasis was on the scheme specific nature of the new funding regime ...
BackgroundOn June 12, 2013, the Canadian government announced its intention to introduce new legislation requiring the disclosure of payments made by Canadian extractive resource companies to domestic and foreign governments. While the United States and European Union have both already taken steps towards implementing mandatory payment reporting requirements for their mining, oil, and gas companies, Canada has now also joined the global movement towards transparency in this regard ...
The Second Circuit recently affirmed the dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit brought by the former general counsel of a clinical laboratory because the counsel disclosed confidential information in violation of state ethics rules. In Fair Labor Practices Associates v. Quest Diagnostics Inc., 2013 WL 5763181 (2nd Cir. Oct ...
The art of listening sometimes escapes even the most intelligent people. A person who does not listen often brings an uncomfortable feeling to a relationship – whether professional or personal. Listening is a vital piece of excellent client service delivery. It requires you to be silent but very aware of what the client says are his or her needs ...
Law no. 76/2013 of 7 November has been published in the official gazette. This law establishes new rules on the extraordinary renewal of fixed term employment contracts, as well as the rules and method of calculation for the compensation applicable to contracts subject to this renewal ...
The Jobs, Growth and Long-Term Prosperity Act was passed by the federal government in 2012, which includes changes that will affect long-term disability (“LTD”) plans provided by federally regulated employers. This will impact employers in the banking, marine, transportation, telecommunication and other federally regulated industries ...
Earlier this year the federal government made changes to Canada’s temporary foreign worker program with the stated purpose of ensuring that Canadians are given the first opportunity to apply for available jobs. Most temporary foreign workers require a work permit to legally work in Canada. In many instances, the employer must first obtain a positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Service Canada before the worker can apply for a work permit ...
Each summer, I review judgments dealing withcontract law issues looking for decisions of relevance to commercial lawyersand business leaders.[1] Contract law principles typically do notchange overnight; rather, they are modified incrementally. Where I find a case that illustrates anincremental change, I use it as a springboard for discussing the state of thelaw on the particular issue and how it affects commercial practice ...
In the High Court case of Pi Consulting (Trustee Services) Ltd v The Pensions Regulator and others, it has been ruled that 9 suspected liberation vehicles are occupational pension schemes, and therefore are under the jurisdiction of the Pensions Regulator. “Pension liberation” typically occurs where a pension saver is induced to transfer existing pension funds to another scheme, for a fee, in order to obtain access to their pension early ...
Après avoir tenu des consultations particulières en juin et en août 20131, la Commission des finances publiques (la « Commission ») a publié, le 17 septembre dernier, ses conclusions et recommandations concernant le rapport du Comité d’experts sur l’avenir du système de retraite québécois (le « Rapport D’Amours ») ...
The European Court of Human Rights (the ECHR), in Delfi AS v Estonia, has upheld unanimously a finding of liability against an Internet news portal regarding offensive comments that were posted online by one of its readers. The ECHR held that making Delfi AS liable for the comments was a justified and proportionate interference with its right to freedom of expression and that there was no violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the Convention) ...
On October 22, 2013, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”) issued the Preliminary Cybersecurity Framework (the “Preliminary Framework”), as required under Section 7 of the Obama Administration’s February 2013 executive order, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the “Executive Order”). The Preliminary Framework includes standards, procedures and processes for reducing cyber risks to critical infrastructure ...
The Supreme Court of Appeals' recent decision in McComas v. ACF Indus., Inc. could have significant implications for employer liability under West Virginia's deliberate intention statute. In McComas, the plaintiff was a welder who was injured by an arc blast emanating from an electrical box ...
The United States Supreme Court heard arguments earlier this month in three important securities cases regarding the preemptive scope of the federal securities laws. At issue is the meaning of the phrase “in connection with the purchase or sale of a covered security” under the Securities Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998 (“SLUSA”) ...
By judgment of 28 June 2013, the Danish Eastern High Court found that it was contrary to the Danish Act on Fixed-Term Employment to extend a number of fixed-term employment contracts four times. The case involved four electricians who were hired to work on a large project. It was agreed that their employment contracts were to expire on 25 September 2009 at which time the project should have been completed ...
Can an employee’s insubordination amount to repudiation of his employment contract, thus providing his employer with just and sufficient cause to dismiss him? In a judgment rendered on September 20, 2013, the Québec Court of Appeal answered this question in the negative.1 The plaintiff, Pilgrim, filed a complaint pursuant to section 124 of the Act Respecting Labour Standards against his former employer alleging that he had been dismissed without just and sufficient cause ...
Background On 6 April 2016 the current basic state pension and state second pension (S2P) will be abolished and replaced by a single-tier state pension. The abolition of S2P will also mean the end of contracting-out. The measures to implement the single-tier state pension and abolition of contracting-out are contained in the Pensions Bill 2013 ...
Following a consultation process which began in early 2011, the Treasury has finally published its revised Fair Deal for staff pensions’ guidance. The new policy comes into effect immediately and will allow private contractors to participate in public sector pension schemes so that transferring staff can remain members of their existing public sector scheme ...
BackgroundOver the last 15years, governments around the world have indicated their willingness to implement laws prohibiting the bribery of foreign public officials (a “Foreign Official”) in connection with attempting to secure a business advantage. While Canada has had anti-corruption legislation in place since 1998 in the form of the Corruption of Foreign Public Officials Act (Canada)1 (the “CFPOA”), it has been limited in scope and minimally enforced by Canadian authorities ...
On 1st November 2013, an amendment of the Immigration Regulations is to come into force which mainly impacts on the cost of working and residing in the TCI. It is important for individuals as well as businesses to be aware of the changes which will be brought in by virtue of the Immigration (Amendment No. 2) Regulation 2013. The changes include:Applications for the renewal of work permits to be filed at least 30 days before the expiration of the permit ...
As the regulatory environment continues to change and more complex pensions-related issues arise, the knowledge and understanding obligations on pension scheme trustees continue to grow. Trustees can struggle to keep up with the ever-changing pensions environment and it is therefore important that an appropriate training checklist and schedule is put in place to ensure that trustees are able to effectively fulfil their roles and statutory duties ...
To the average internet user the few little letters at the end of the domain name they have just searched must seem rather trivial. Little do they know of the struggle of numerous corporations to obtain those little letters in an effort to try to stamp their individuality on the internet. Companies such as "donut.com" (who focus on registering as many as these generic top level domains or gTLDs as possible) insist that "the current Internet namespace, like ...
