Pension-Linked Emergency Savings Accounts (“PLESAs”) are a special retirement plan feature created under SECURE ACT 2.0. PLESAs were first permitted to be made available to participants as of January 1, 2024. PLESAs, which provide a flexible savings opportunity for non-highly compensated employees, can be added to certain defined contribution plans. New guidance regarding this option has been released, which may be of interest to employers and plan sponsors ...
On April 1, 2024, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (“USCIS”) announced that its initial registration selection process, commonly known as the H-1B lottery, is complete. This means the USCIS has selected enough initial registrations to meet its numerical limit for both the standard H-1B cap and the advanced degree exemption, often referred to as the “master’s cap ...
In a move aimed at protecting Americans’ data security, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14117 on “Preventing Access to Americans’ Bulk Sensitive Data and United States Government-Related Data by Countries of Concern” (the “Order”) ...
On 28 March 2024, the Belgian Federal Chamber of Representatives adopted a new act implementing Regulation (EU) 2022/1925 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2022 on contestable and fair markets in the digital sector and amending Directives (EU) 2019/1937 and (EU) 2020/1828 (“Digital Markets Act”), as well as amending various provisions related to the organisation and powers of the Belgian Competition Authority (the “Act”) ...
Our third article in the series focusing on discrimination in the workplace, covers the protected characteristic of sex (gender). We discuss the current legal position, planned changes and suggested best practice for employers. What is sex discrimination? Sex discrimination occurs when someone is treated unfairly due to their gender. In the UK, it has been illegal for some time (subject to certain exceptions) with the law now incorporated into the Equality Act 2010 ...
Serco Leisure have been issued with an enforcement notice by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for unlawfully processing their employees’ biometric data through facial recognition technology and fingerprint scanning. What can we learn from this? With a rise in remote working as the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic continues, there has been a proliferation of workplace monitoring ...
On December 4, 2023, New York City Mayor Eric Adams signed into law the New York City Council’s bill, Int 0569-2022 (the “City Law”). The bill, known as the “Workers’ Bill of Rights,” will require New York City employers to abide by certain notice and distribution requirements by July 1, 2024. The notice and distribution requirements will inform employees and independent contractors of their rights under federal, state, and local law ...
April 2, 2024 By: Leah Lively and Alexandra Shulman On June 6, 2024, new amendments to Washington State’s noncompetition statute (RCW 49.62) will go into effect, which place further limitations on the use of noncompetition agreements in Washington. Substitute Senate Bill 5935 introduces several modifications to RCW 49.62 that Washington employers (and employers with Washington employees) should be aware of: Broader definition of “noncompetition covenant ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on March 13 issued a highly consequential decision in U.S. Securities andExchange Commission v. Rashid, interpreting and applying the mental state for liability of investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act. Over a strong dissent, the court reversed a finding of liability of the defendant investment adviser under basic principles of negligence law, and in doing so, provided a road map for future enforcement actions under the act ...
Ministry of Labour: Employers may discipline employees for disclosing a colleague’s salary Earlier, we informed about the position of the GIT of the Nizhny Novgorod Region that if the employer’s ****local policy**** prohibits the ****disclosure**** of the ****salary**** of other employees, then employees who view another employee’s pay slip and disclose his/her salary may be ****disciplined**** ...
Last week, a trial court in Buffalo ruled that a group of personal injury plaintiffs’ strict liability claims against a who’s-who of social media companies, arising out of the tragic 2022 Tops Friendly Markets mass shooting, could proceed to discovery, rejecting the argument that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act barred such claims from the get-go. Patterson, Diona Et Al v. Meta Platforms, Et Al, 0805896/2023 (NYSCEF Doc No. 409) ...
The CRMA seeks to encourage Member States towards undertaking Strategic Mineral Projects, focusing on essential minerals like Copper, Titanium, Nickel (battery grade), Lithium (battery grade), and Rare Earth Elements for magnets. The overarching objective is to enhance the EU’s extraction capacity and become less dependent on suppliers from outside the EU ...
Carey Olsen advises Inflexion on closing of latest fund at £1.75 billion The Fund, which is the largest dedicated minority fund in Europe, has attracted existing and new investors from across the world, including from Asia, Europe, the Middle East, as well as the US, and includes public and corporate pension plans, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, asset managers and family offices ...
Artificial intelligence (?AI?) is becoming increasingly sophisticated, and the fact that this human invention can now generate its own inventions opens the door to new ways of conceptualizing the notion of ?inventor? in patent law. In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (?UK Supreme Court?) however found that an artificial intelligence system cannot be the author of an invention within the meaning of the applicable regulations under which patents are granted ...
March 25, 2024 By: Daniel C. Silva and Ross Garrett In March 2024, the Northern District of Alabama held that Congress exceeded its Constitutional authority by enacting the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”). The CTA requires variety corporate entities—everything from LLCs to trusts—to disclose beneficial ownership information to the U.S. Treasury Department ...
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Jacqueline P. Cox recently found that three Illinois attorneys violated their ethical obligations by failing to return their client's phone calls. She ordered the attorneys to return roughly half of their already-court-approved, and paid, flat fee. In In re: Molnar in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois in February, the debtor filed a petition under Chapter 13 ...
Moratorium on inspections of companies may be canceled from 01 January 2025 This is the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, announced during his address to the Federal Assembly. If the moratorium is abolished, a ****risk-oriented approach**** is expected to be introduced: employers will be checked according to ****risk indicators****, and if there are no risks, inspectors will carry out ****preventive visits**** ...
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) issued theProvisions on Regulating and Promoting Cross-Border Data Flows (Draft for Comments)(《规范和促进数据跨境流动规定（征求意见稿）》)on September 28, 2023 seeking public comments, which garnered significant attention. Yesterday (March 22, 2024), the CAC issued the official version of theProvisions on Promoting and Regulating Cross-Border Data Flows(《规范和促进数据跨境流动规定》)(the "Official Provisions"), which came into effect immediately upon publication ...
British Virgin Islands Economic Substance - frequently asked questions Who has to comply with the Substance Legislation? All companies and limited partnerships that are registered or incorporated in the British Virgin Islands (“Entities”) must comply with the Substance Legislation. The Substance Legislation does not apply to trusts or general partnerships ...
Another year, another mandate for California employers. By July 1, 2024, nearly all employers in the Golden State must have in place a workplace violence prevention plan. While the compliance deadline may be three months away, employers need to immediately take action to ensure completion and training by July 1. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), workplace violence is the second leading cause of fatal occupational injuries in the U.S ...
