Commentators have argued that the effect of this legislation is to force employers to recognise trade unions against their will as there appears to have been a move away from the traditional voluntarist approach to negotiations with trade unions towards a compulsory approach ...
Many employers have been in the potentially tricky and somewhat uncomfortable situation of having to withdraw an offer of employment before commencement. The ordinary principles of contract law apply here. Where an employer withdraws an offer, especially after formal acceptance, a breach of contract claim could arise, at least in theory ...
BRITISH COLUMBIA LEGAL UPDATE Prepared for 39th Annual Canadian Property Tax Association National Workshop Cross Canada Legal Panel September 25 – 28, 2005 INTRODUCTION The following is an overview of legislative changes and caselaw developments in British Columbia property assessment and taxation since last September’s session. The review is not intended to be exhaustive, but instead to provide a cross-section of topical cases which may be of interest both to the B.C ...
BC Labour Board Further Clarifies an Employer’s Right to Communicate with its Employees In a decision issued on July 8, 2005 - RMH Teleservices International Inc.-a Reconsideration Panel of the BC Labour Relations Board further clarified an employer’s expanded right to communicate with its employees during a unionization campaign. This right was expanded as part of the 2002 amendments to the Labour Relations Code, which we outlined in our Summer 2002 Newsletter ...
The Safety Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 has come into effect today, 1 September 2005. Important issues raised by the Act include: 1. A competent person must be employed to manage safety in the workplace; 2. Hazards must be identified and risk assessments carried out which are thorough and reviewed on a regular basis, and this must be communicated to employees regularly; 3. Training has to be relevant and understood ...
The Ministry of Finance and the State Administration of Taxation jointly issued the Notice on the Issue of the Levy of Individual Income Tax on Income Derived by Individuals from Stock Options on 31 March 2005 ("Notice"). The Notice, which entered into effect on 1 July 2005, provides a number of guidelines regarding the taxability of such schemes. Taxable event The Notice applies to stock options granted to employees of listed companies or their holding companies ...
The State Administration of Taxation ("SAT") issued the Notice on Relevant Issues in Adjusting the Method for Calculation of Individual Income Tax Annual Lump Sum Bonus Etc. Received by Individuals on 21 January 2005. The Notice, which took effect on 1 January 2005, repeals two SAT Notices issued in 1996 and addresses the issue of the calculation of individual income tax ("IIT") on annual bonuses ...
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act, 2005 was signed into law by the President on the 1 July. It will not come into force, however, until the 1 September. The new Act makes it easier to impose criminal liability on directors, managers, and other similar officers who control the operations of employers. It increases the penalties in the District Court and the maximum fine in the Circuit Court is €3,000,000 ...
This Bill (as initiated), which will transpose the EU Information and Consultation Directive, has just been published. It does not give workers an automatic right to information and consultation. Instead negotiations to set up an information and consultation structure will have to be “triggered” by workers themselves in the form of a written request from 10% of the workforce, subject to a minimum of 15 employees and a maximum of a 100 ...
As mentioned in our information bulletin of June 8, on June 7, 2005 the Federal Official Gazette published an “Executive Order to Amend the Value Added Tax Law” which altered the procedure for calculating the crediting of valued added tax by removing operations not taxable ...
In Hong Kong, it is common practice that there is a written employment contract between the employer and the employee which sets out the terms and conditions of an employment. The following case indicates that unless clearly provided in the employment contract, an employer cannot unilaterally vary the terms of the employment contract and such variation may be a breach of contract and the employer could be liable for damages ...
Under the Employment Ordinance, an employer has the right to terminate an employee’s employment summarily without notice or payment in lieu of notice in certain situations, one of which is employee misconducting himself, such conduct being inconsistent with the due and faithful discharge of his duties ...
It is quite common in Hong Kong for employers to arrange an employee's employment by using dual contracts to take advantage of the tax position. Under Hong Kong law, only income derived from Hong Kong is taxable and earnings under a foreign employment contract with non-Hong Kong entity in respect of duties carried out outside Hong Kong are not taxable. However, the benefits under this arrangement may reduce following a recent UK guideline ...
In the United States, a federal judge approved on 10 May 2005 of the plan of United Airlines (“UA”) to terminate four employees’ defined-benefit pension plans and the pension responsibility are shifted to and assumed by the government’s pension insurer, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (“PBGC”). The decision will have a great impact on pension obligations to 120,000 current and former employees of UA and could have far-reaching implications for the pensions industry worldwide ...
The Labour Law of the People’s Republic of China (“Labour Law”) is applicable to all employment relationships between individuals and enterprises in China. However, local governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities may, and most of them do, issue detailed measures and rules for the implementation of the Labour Law. Such detailed measures are promulgated based on the Labour Law, with changes and specific details made in light of the local conditions ...
On April 12, 2005, grievance arbitrator Denis Tremblay issued a major ruling on the validity of a policy on alcohol consumption and drug use implemented by the Goodyear tire plant in Valleyfield during the summer of 2004. The policy was widely attacked by the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, local 143, representing all of the plant’s production employees (close to 1,000 employees) ...
Amendments made to the Quebec Professional Code in 2001 authorize professional orders to allow their members to exercise their professional activities within the framework of a limited liability partnership, or a joint-stock company. In 2002, the Ordre des comptables agréés (Order of Chartered Accountants) was the first professional order to adopt a regulation to this effect. The Quebec Bar and the Ordre des comptables généraux licenciés (Certified General Accountants) followed suit in 2004 ...
In this edition: - Fire Legislation Changes - Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations Amended - Accounting for Risk - Workplace Stress - Lock up Your Ladders - Corporate Manslaughter Act Moves Closer to Reality - Vibration Regulations are Imminent
On June 7, 2005, a Decree amending, enacting and repealing various provisions of the VAT Law was published at the Mexican Federal Register. These amendments, to a large extent, merely renumber and relocate various provisions of the VAT Law, leaving their content unaltered. Nonetheless, it is quite important to underline that these amendments repeal any reference to “activities which fall outside the scope of this tax” in the provisions dealing with creditable VAT ...
Mexican tax laws, rules and regulations are subject to amendments on a regular basis. Herein we intend to provide our friends and clients a general overview of the most recent and significant changes to our tax system[1]. Rule JG-SAT-IE-1-2005. - Debt Forgiveness for Certain Taxpayers ...
The Irish Law Reform Commission has published two consultation papers recommending legislative changes to clarify the role, duties, powers and responsibilities of trustees, including charitable trustees, so that general trust law keeps up with the ever changing economic and social climate ...
The new Arbitration Rules of the International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) came into force on 1 May 2005. The following are the major changes: Specialist Arbitration Rules The new Rules provide for the possibility of using rules tailored made for specific industries. Todate, only rules for financial disputes have been published. Specialist panels of arbitrators have also been set up according to the nature of dispute ...
The decision to terminate an employee carries with it the risk of a possible legal challenge. Depending upon an employer’s policies or whether an employee has an employment contract, an employee may, for example, have a breach of contract or “wrongful discharge” claim. An “at-will” employer - that is, an employer who reserves the right to terminate employees without cause - generally does not need to worry about such claims ...
Inheritance tax is often assumed to be a rich man's concern, but the recent housing boom means that this is no longer the case. The sharp rise in house prices has completely outpaced tax thresholds, meaning that there has been a huge increase in the number of families who could face large bills for Inheritance Tax (IHT) when the homeowner dies ...
