Although summer has come to an end, the OFCCP’s efforts to enforce and increase federal contractors’ affirmative action and equal employment opportunity obligations have not. On August 23, 2013, the OFCCP released an updated version of its Federal Contractor Compliance Manual (“FCCM”) ...
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 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 ...
When bankers and First Amendment lawyers encounter each other at cocktail parties, they can struggle to find common interests. Here is something to break the ice. In July 2010, President Obama signed into law the Dodd-Frank Act, the most comprehensive series of financial regulatory reform measures since the Great Depression. Just one year later, the United States Supreme Court issued Sorrell v. IMS Health, Inc., 131 S. Ct ...
In September 2013, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality updated its guidance on the use of the Texas Environmental, Health, and Safety Audit Privilege Act to reflect changes recently made by the 83rd Texas legislature to allow prospective purchasers of facilities to take advantage of the protections afforded by the Act ...
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 ...
After two years of operations, the SEC’s whistleblower program announced its first multimillion dollar award - a record $14 million payment to an anonymous tipster. The award is the largest of three announced since the program’s inception and emphatically signals the SEC’s continuing emphasis on its whistleblower program ...
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 fiscal year came an end at midnight on September 30, the House and Senate were unable to reach an agreement to fund the federal government and avoid a government shutdown. As a result, the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has issued the order to implement the shutdown of the federal government. Although essential functions such as public safety and benefit payments will continue, the shutdown impacts all agencies funded through the annual appropriations process ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ») ...
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 ...
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 ...
On October 17th, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its long-awaited decision in Castonguay Blasting, commonly referred to as the fly-rock case. To summarize, Castonguay was doing some blasting work and rock was unexpectedly projected outside the work site, landing on someone’s property and damaging a home and a vehicle. No one was hurt and there was no environmental damage ...
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 ...
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 ...
On 3 October 2013, DG Environment of the European Commission published its final report following the public consultation on ‘Unconventional fossil fuels’ (e.g. shale gas). Since this is an important stage in the legislative process, the purpose of this note is to provide you with a brief outline of its findings and follow up. Importantly, the European Commission has announced that in December 2013 the impact assessment will follow ...
The European Parliament’s Auken Report made it clear that Spain is coming up short as far as protecting its coastline is concerned. Application of Coastal Law 22/1988, of July 28, 1988, fast-tracked in recent years, not only brought with it no little confusion for all concerned, it also failed to contribute to the protection of the coastline, which clearly leaves a great deal to be desired along certain stretches of the Spanish coast ...
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 ...
