Here are select December 2012 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on commercial law:Corporations; liability of corporate officers. Settled is the rule that debts incurred by directors, officers, and employees acting as corporate agents are not their direct liability but of the corporation they represent, except if they contractually agree/stipulate or assume to be personally liable for the corporation’s debts, as in this case. Ildefonso S. Crisologo vs ...
On February 12, 2013, in conjunction with the release of the Executive Order on Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the Executive Order), President Obama signed a Presidential Policy Directive/PPD-21 on Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience. The PPD revokes the 2003 Homeland Security Presidential Directive-7 (issued by President George W ...
The National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB” or “Board”) began 2013 as it began 2012, facing questions regarding whether a quorum of its members had been constitutionally appointed. As we noted in our February 3, 2012 NLRB Roundup, President Obama made three controversial “recess” appointments to the Board to restore its quorum. Now, a year later, the D.C ...
Since year 2008 Nicaragua has been modernizing the administration of labor justice. The Ministry of Labor started the modernization with the implementation of an oral process for the fulfillment of certain formalities required before such institution, such as termination of employment contracts for justified cause, collective suspensions and business closures. The implementation of this oral process has been successful because it reduces and simplifies processes ...
Much has been written about the consequences of failing to establish a reasonable plan to preserve documents once there is a duty to preserve. However, surprisingly little has been written about when a party can resume its normal document retention and destruction policy. The good news is that eventually the litigation hold can be lifted; the bad news is that you may not be able to life the hold as soon as you would hope or like ...
The Comelec promulgated Resolution No. 9615 on 15 January 2013. This Resolution implements the provisions of Republic Act No. 9006, more popularly known as the Fair Election Act, for purposes of the 2013 national and local mid-term elections ...
On January 29, 2013, President Obama announced his plan for comprehensive immigration reform. While the proposal to require mandatory, phased-in electronic employment verification has obvious implications for employers, the proposal to provide a pathway to earned citizenship may have an unforeseen effect on employers, as well. While surprising to some, many individuals in all walks of life do not have work authorization but are still members of the workforce ...
On January 4, 2013, Judge Irene M. Keeley of the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order that partially granted the Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment in the case of Eddy v. Biddle, Barr and Dolgencorp, LLC, Civil Action No. 1:11CV137. Judge Keeley subsequently entered a Final Judgment on January 11, 2013, and the case was dismissed with prejudice ...
Employers nationally continue to struggle with how to respond and adapt to the ever- changing landscape that is the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (often known as ObamaCare or the ACA). We at Spilman Thomas & Battle will continue to work with you through 2013 and beyond as the implementing regulations for the ACA continue to be issued. We are working to identify strategies to help employers navigate the process in the manner that best serves their respective industries ...
As most employers know, the federal wage/hour law under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) includes the requirement to pay “non-exempt” employees time and one half of their “regular rate” for work in excess of 40 hours in a work week. The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) is charged with enforcing the FLSA through its Wage and Hour Division ...
Business owners grudgingly accept lawsuits as a part of doing business. If you’re doing what it takes to advance your business, you will suffer the bumps and bruises that will result in your name on a legal pleading. You may even be the one who files the lawsuit.Almost any money you can recover in a lawsuit is eaten up by lost employee time, and, perhaps more importantly, the business owner’s loss of focus on healthy profits. If you are the one sued, you can never win ...
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and the Department of Labor (DOL) appears determined to make it a memorable one. On January 14, 2013, the DOL issued an official administrative interpretation regarding FMLA leave to care for an adult son or daughter with a serious health condition who is incapable of self-care because of a physical or mental disability ...
On 31 January 2013, the Chinese Supreme People’s Court (“SPC”) issued the Fourth Judicial Interpretation on Certain Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Cases Involving Labor Disputes (“SPC-Rules IV”) which came into effect on 1 February 2013. The SPC-Rules IV are based on the current employment laws and regulations and further detail several practice-relevant issues ...
In 2008 the government introduced important intellectual property (IP) legislation. The Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and DevelopmentAct 51 of 2008 - which only came into force on 2 August 2010– governs the ownership and exploitation of IP which flows from publicly financed research and development (R&D) ...
It is International Women's Day today, March 8 – an opportunity to bring the challenges women face in the workplace to the fore. Laws to protect women being discriminated against in the workplace because of their "family status" have existed for some time. What has been less clear is what the legal definition of "family status" means. Even at the highest court level, it's unclear as there have been few decisions to help define the term ...
On March 8, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services released a new version of Form I-9 with a revision date of 03/08/2013. Employers are required to use the new Form I-9 no later than May 7, 2013, for all new hires and rehires, as well as to re-verify an employee’s identity and continued employment eligibility. Employers are not required to replace prior I-9 forms that were used before May 7, 2013 ...
The new Family Law Act (“FLA”) came into force today, March 18, 2013. It replaces and repeals the Family Relations Act (“FRA”). The FLA carries forward the basic structure established under the FRA, with some fine tuning to deal with issues not adequately addressed under the FRA. This bulletin highlights the major changes to pension division under the new FLA ...
The Tennessee General Assembly has taken from employers the right to discipline employees for bringing guns to work and given to employees a new exception to the at-will rule. On March 14, 2013, Governor Bill Haslam signed Senate Bill 142, commonly referred to as the “Guns in Trunks” legislation, which will take effect July 1, 2013 ...
In 2008 the government introduced important intellectual property (IP) legislation. The Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development Act 51 of 2008 - which only came into force on 2 August 2010 – governs the ownership and exploitation of IP which flows from publicly financed research and development (R&D) ...
On March 22, 2013, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") announced that it will submit to the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") a new Information Collection Request ("ICR") related to the implementation of the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards ("CFATS") Personnel Surety Program ("PSP"). DHS is soliciting comments during a 60-day public comment period (which ends May 21, 2013) prior to the submission of the ICR to OMB ...
Here are select January 2013 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on legal and judicial ethics:Attorney; forum shopping as contempt of court. A disbarment complaint against Atty. Gonzales was filed for violating the Code of Professional Responsibility for the forum shopping he allegedly committed. The court held that the respondent was guilty of forum shopping. Lawyers should be reminded that their primary duty is to assist the courts in the administration of justice ...
It is generally understood that an employer has the authority to manage and control its employees to ensure its business runs smoothly. In exercising such authority, an employer can adopt and implement policies that govern how employees perform their work. In certain circumstances, an employer can even adopt a policy to control the physical appearance of its employees. However, this power is limited both by legislation and the employment contract ...
