A recent decision by the English High Court emphasises the limited scope of the duties on facility agents arising from standard facility terms. The role of facility agents in these circumstances has been found to be “solely mechanical and administrative” in nature. A link to the full text of the decision can be accessed here ...
A Report into effective approaches to audit committee reporting has been published by the Financial Reporting Lab, which is a forum set up by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) to encourage better communication between listed companies and investors in the UK. The aim of the Report is to provide insight from companies and investors on effective approaches to audit committee reporting ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
Whilst adding some clarity, the case doesn't make a "no MAC in financial condition" representation any easier for a lender to rely upon.MAC in loan agreementsMAC definitions come in many forms but generally refer to changes which have an adverse effect either on the borrower's business generally, its financial condition, and/or the ability of the lender to call on its security ...
Invoice financing includes factoring, invoice discounting and asset-based lending. It can be accessed by the SME and corporate market to unlock the value of unpaid debts and assets of a business, such as stock, plant and machinery.This type of financing has distinct advantages. In invoice discounting, funders may be able to offer up to 85% of the value of unpaid debts well before that debt is due to be paid. This dramatically reduces the credit cycle, getting cash back into the business sooner ...
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 ...
In a recent First-tier Tribunal Tax Chamber case it was held that HMRC regulations which require the electronic filing of VAT returns were discriminatory. The full decision (which runs to some 154 pages) can be found here.The electronic filing of VAT returns was made compulsory for all businesses with a turnover of over £100,000, and any newly registered business, with effect from 1 April 2010 and for all businesses with effect from 1 April 2012 ...
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 ...
FCA clarifies applications timetable The transitional period for the implementation of AIFMD in the UK ends on 22 July 2014 and existing alternative investment fund managers' (AIFMs) must hold the correct Part 4A permission by that date ...
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 ...
Cadbury has lost a five-year legal battle with Swiss rival Nestlé. This week the Court of Appeal overturned a previous decision of the High Court that gave Cadbury an exclusive right to the famous purple colour it uses for its chocolate wrappers. Cadbury began marketing Dairy Milk in a pale mauve colour in 1905 but it wasn’t until 1920 that its full range of Dairy Milk became purple ...
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 ...
John Grimes Partnership Ltd v Gubbins [2013] EWCA Civ 37 involved a dispute about a property development. Mr Gubbins engaged the John Grimes Partnership Ltd to design a road over land on which he intended to develop residential properties. An express term of the contract between the parties was that the works would be completed by March 2007. However, in February 2008 there was still work to be done so Mr Gubbins engaged an alternative engineer to complete the work ...
Player power, loyalty and respect of contracts has increasingly made media headlines, demonstrated predominantly this summer with Luis Suarez of Liverpool FC and Manchester United's Wayne Rooney. As widely reported, Arsenal FC made an infamous bid of £40,000,001.00 to Liverpool for the transfer of the registration of Suarez to Arsenal ...
The Supreme Court of Canada recently reiterated that restrictive covenants that arise in the context of the sale of a business will be treated differently and more generously than those that arise in the context of a contract of employment. While the case arose under the Civil law of Quebec, it clearly has implications for the Common law regimes in the rest of Canada ...
As expected, the OFCCP published its new rules regarding veterans and disabled individuals in theFederal Register on September 24, 2013. As a result, the rules will go into effect 180 days later on Monday, March 24, 2014. Beginning that date, federal contractors and subcontractors must comply with most of the new rules’ requirements. There is an exception, however, for contractors who have written affirmative action programs (AAPs) in place on March 24 ...
On September 12, 2013, in Payette v. Guay inc.1, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a decision which will be of interest to anyone involved in a transaction for the purchase or sale of assets. The Court shed some light on the interpretation of clauses restricting employment and post-employment competition which are contained in an agreement providing for the sale of assets but which, incidentally, includes an employment contract ...
The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) has just enacted a revamped investor residency programme, entitling successful applicants to a permanent residence certificate (PRC). Qualifying criteriaThe qualifying criteria are:- Villasa. Investment of not less than $300,000 in actual construction of a new home, or in renovation of a distressed property as a home for the applicant and his or her dependants, on the islands of Grand Turk, Salt Cay, South Caicos, Middle Caicos or North Caicos; orb ...
