An official channel has been established between Hong Kong and Macao, with effect from 1 August 2020, whereby the Courts of Hong Kong and Macao may entrust each other with the service of judicial documents in civil and commercial proceedings. The Rules of High Court and Rules of District Court have been amended to give effect to the Arrangement ...
BAG, ruling dated 18 March 2020, 5 AZR 36/19 FACTS OF THE CASE The plaintiff is employed as a service technician in the field service. The defendant company is bound by the collective bargaining agreements of the wholesale and foreign trade of Lower Saxony due to its membership in the employers' association. The plaintiff drives from his home to the first customer every working day and returns there from the last customer ...
Special allowances under the EPF Act need to be special On February 28, 2019, the Supreme Court of India passed a landmark order on whether special allowances fall within the scope and meaning of “basic wages” under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952 (the “EPF Act”) ...
The rise of ChatGPT and other large language models has been well-documented, although the technology underpinning it has been developing for several years ...
Following the submission of the first Draft of the Artificial Intelligence Act (”AI Act”) on April 21, 2021 by the European Commission for regulating artificial intelligence (AI) (we reported here), the European Parliament also published its final position on June 14, 2023. Thus, the next step now is the trilogue between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission ...
Last November the expert group appointed by the Scottish Executive to consider a statutory offence of corporate culpable homicide issued its report. As expected, the group proposed a new statutory offence of corporate killing. It recommended that this should apply to incorporated companies and, as far as possible, to unincorporated and Crown bodies. The report recommended that two individual offences (applying to named persons) be introduced ...
It seems the DOL has stopped sleeping these days, but that means more guidance for employers. In itsQs&As 38-59interpreting the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (FFCRA), the DOL shed light on the small business exemption, employees who can be exempted for the FFCRA leave provisions, and the interplay of the FFCRA and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). The FFCRA takes effect on April 1, 2020, so this guidance is, in a word, timely. Here are some highlights ...
Regional Legal Update on Labor and Employment Law Issues DFDL’s Employment Practice Group is dedicated to advising clients on employment and labor issues and preparing human resources documentation that is compliant with local laws. Our employment team’s in-depth knowledge of the law and practices in the countries where we operate allows us to provide specialized, tailored, and practical advice on issues that arise in employment relationships ...
In its flagship report entitled Global Economic Prospects released in January, the World Bank observed: “The Philippines is particularly weak with regard to transport and trade-related infrastructure … with particularly low rankings for the quality of its seaports and airports. About one-quarter of the population remains without electricity.” Yet growth in the Philippines is projected to accelerate to 6 ...
Developments in light of COVID-19 Unlike previous years, there were no major legislations or government regulations on labor and employment issues in 2021 ...
Below are 10 important things to know about the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) Loan Forgiveness Applications and the detailed instructions for the revised and updated applications posted on May 24, 2021, as well as other forgiveness procedures as updated by the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (the “Economic Aid Act” or “PPP2 Act”) ...
This article has been published in PLI Chronicle. The market for consumer products derived from cannabis and its components, including cannabidiol (CBD), is exploding. U.S. sales of CBD products is expected to exceed $20 billion by 2024, up from just $1.9 billion in 2018. TheCBD market is expected to develop across diverse industries such as cosmetics and skin care, health products, food and beverage, pet products, and pharmaceuticals ...
The SEC’s Division of Enforcement recently issued itsannual reportdetailing enforcement activities, statistics, and changes made in the past fiscal year (“FY 2018”). The report discusses several significant developments in the SEC enforcement landscape, including the creation of new task forces, first-of-their kind enforcement actions, and the impact of the Supreme Court’s decision inKokesh v. SEC, 137 S. Ct. 1635 (2017) ...
Introduction The sphere of asset tracing and recovery, particularly the extent of tools available around the world, is rightly attracting more attention in cross-border fraud and investigations. This includes projects at the international level, such as UNCITRAL's ongoing efforts (for which the author acts as an expert), as well as attention being given in national legislatures around the world ...
Given the current economic climate, many employers are reformulating their businesses or are aiming to cut costs, which may give rise to more cases of proposed redundancies. We discuss how affected employees can best navigate these uncertain times. A redundancy situation is rarely welcomed by both employers and employees; they can represent financial hardship, both for employers struggling with profitability, and the inevitable direct impact on individual employees and their families ...
On 1 April 2022, the Qualifying Asset Holding Companies (“QAHC”) regime, the latest innovation in the UK’s corporate tax landscape, came into effect for UK tax resident companies. Meanwhile in the EU, the European Commission has announced it will be introducing the anti tax-avoidance directive (“ATAD 3”) aimed at EU resident holding companies claiming benefits under double tax treaties and due to come into effect on 1 January 2024 ...
No-fault attendance policies may be on a watchlist for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. A recent matter before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, EEOC v. Eberspaecher North America Inc., suggests that the EEOC is interested in how those policies work. It seems the EEOC wants to determine if such policies potentially violate the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the agency may want to pursue that interest on a national scale ...
Under California law, employees are entitled to “one day’s rest therefrom in seven,” unless certain statutory exceptions apply. In Mendoza v. Nordstrom, Inc., 2 Cal. 5th 1074 (2017), the California Supreme Court addressed several ambiguities in the statutory language, giving employers much needed guidance on how to comply with California’s day of rest requirements ...
As the retail sector is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, employers within it might be considering dismissing employees for economic or technical reasons ...
Many employers routinely ask job applicants about their salary or earnings history, either in written job applications, during interviews, or during post-offer salary negotiations. Such activities will soon be prohibited in San Francisco. Earlier this month, the City’s Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to ban employers from asking job applicants about their salary history or from considering such information in determining whether to hire an applicant or what salary to offer ...
The TCEQ will hold an informational meeting today (August 31) from 9:30 A.M. until 3:00 P.M. (CST) to discuss the proposed changes to the air quality permit by rule and standard permit for oil and gas production facilities. TCEQ has proposed significant changes to both of these expedited air quality permitting authorizations that will make it more difficult to qualify for, and more complicated to comply with, the authorization ...
The Austin Court of Appeals has temporarily blocked implementation of an Austin city ordinance that would require employers to provide paid sick leave to employees. The ordinance was set to take effect on October 1, 2018. The City of Austin passed the paid sick leave ordinance in February of 2018. The State of Texas immediately filed suit to challenge the ordinance claiming that it was preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act ...
The concern expressed in our last Australian Legal Update about the possibility of Australia following most of the rest of the developed world into recession fortunately proved unfounded. Australia has been a notable exception to the experience of many other countries in this respect ...
