On 20 March 2013, the Finnish government issued its much-awaited proposal for a new Electricity Market Act and an amended Natural Gas Market Act. It also sent to the parliament a separate supervision act. The proposal implements the European Union’s third Electricity and Natural gas Directives to the Finnish legislation. It also includes numerous nationally prepared amendments and changes ...
If your company utilizes temporary workers supplied by a staffing agency, you may be a target of OSHA. On April 29, 2013, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of OSHA, Richard Fairfax, issued a memorandum to its Regional Administrators, entitled “Protecting the Safety and Health of Temporary Workers.” Mr ...
On April 24, 2013, WorkSafeBC announced the approval of new Occupational Health and Safety Workplace Bullying and Harassment Policies, which come into effect on November 1, 2013 ...
1. OverviewIn accordance with theWorld Football Association’s, FIFA’s requirements, (consistent) time periodsfor the transfer of players have been established within the Union of EuropeanFootball Associations (UEFA). These time periods exist to ensure that the transferwindows of individual Football Associations coincide with each other and inturn to guarantee equal opportunities for each individual club ...
In 2012, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) set the business community atwitter when an administrative law judge in American Red Cross decided that an at-will disclaimer in an employee handbook violated the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by being overly broad ...
America’s high school and college students will soon be finishing another school year, and employers across the country are gearing up to welcome many of these young adults as interns for the summer. Interns are staples in many organizations and often provide valuable benefit to a business. As employers strive to keep costs down, including that of labor, many use unpaid summer help where possible ...
On February 25, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released its final rule (the Final Rule) setting forth standards for health insurance issuers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the Affordable Care Act). Specifically, the Final Rule outlines exchange and issuer standards related to coverage of essential health benefits, minimum value and actuarial value ...
Last month, the United States Supreme Court (Supreme Court) provided an unexpected gift to entities facing collective actions under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by holding that defendants may moot such a case by making an offer of judgment pursuant to Rule 68 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. This ruling could have application to the more common vehicle for multiple plaintiff claims, class actions under Rule 23, but that has yet to be tested ...
Because of recently-enacted changes to the West Virginia Wage Payment and Collection Act, West Virginia employers will have more time to pay final wages to discharged employees. Prior to this change, the Wage Payment and Collection Act required that employers pay discharged employees within 72 hours of termination ...
On April 12, 2013, the N.C. Supreme Court stepped into the ongoing dispute regarding the 7.2 percent rate increase sought by Duke Energy and approved by the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) in January 2012. Duke initially sought a 12 percent rate increase, but eventually entered into a settlement with the North Carolina Public Staff, setting the rate at 7.2 percent. Duke contended that it needed the higher rates to cover $4 ...
The draft law governs the organization and functioning of the natural gas sector, rules and conditions for carrying out energy activities in this sector, planning and development of the natural gas market, market regulation, "unbundling" of activities, third party access to natural gas systems ...
Economic torts provide relief in relation to intentional interference with economic interests. This collection of torts can be divided into two categories: deceptive market practices and improper market practices. This paper concerns itself exclusively with the latter, examining the torts of inducing breach of contract, unlawful interference with economic interests and civil conspiracy ...
Here are select February 2013 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on legal and judicial ethics: Attorney; confidentiality of proceedings against attorneys; exception. Atty. Fortun filed a petition for contempt against respondents for publicizing the disbarment case against him in media. Section 18, Rule 139-B of the Rules of Court states that “proceedings against attorneys shall be private and confidential ...
Here are select March 2013 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on criminal law and procedure: 1.REVISED PENAL CODE Rape; medical examination of victim not indispensable to prove rape. An inconclusive medical report does not negate the finding that the accused (Penilla) raped AAA ...
On April 12, 2013, the West Virginia Legislature passed Senate Bill 243 which contained, among other West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) rules, the Rules Governing Horizontal Well Development 35-8 (“Rule”). The Rule was developed to provide further direction in the implementation and administration of the Natural Gas Horizontal Well Control Act that became effective on December 14, 2011 (“Act”) ...
An intermediate appellate court in New York recently affirmed that a local government has the authority to enact zoning ordinances banning all oil and natural gas activities within municipal limits. In 2011, the Town of Dryden amended its zoning ordinance to ban “all activities related to the exploration for, and the production or storage of, natural gas and petroleum within its borders ...
Important Considerations In Drafting An Arbitration Provision: With the continuing increase in cross-border investments, it bears reminding that companies must plan for the eventuality that parties may not see eye-to-eye in the future – something known but not always implemented ...
In the last legislative session (2011–12), bills that would have imposed severe restrictions or even an outright moratorium on hydraulic fracturing (HF) were narrowly defeated in the California legislature. Earlier this year, we issued an alert regarding draft regulations that had been issued by the Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources ...
1 LegislationWhat legislation is applicable to insolvencies and reorganisations? What criteria are applied in your country to determine if a debtor is insolvent? The applicable law is Republic Act No. 10142, known as the Financial Rehabilitation and Insolvency Act of 2010 (FRIA). The FRIA took effect on 18 July 2010 ...
Here are select March 2013 rulings of the Philippine Supreme Court on legal and judicial ethics:Attorney; a lawyer shall not assist in the unauthorized practice of law. Atty. Bancolo admitted that the Complaint he filed for a former client before the Office of the Ombudsman was signed in his name by a secretary of his law office ...
On Friday June 14, 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada released its eagerly-awaited decision, Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada, Local 30 v. Irving Pulp & Paper, Ltd., 2013 SCC 34, a case concerning random alcohol testing at a paper mill operation in Saint John, New Brunswick ...
IntroductionIn the course of implementing the visa liberalisation regime with the European Union, Parliament recently passed several anti-corruption laws, including the Law on Criminal Liability of Legal Entities. The law introduced amendments to the Criminal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, the Law on Principles of Prevention and Combating Corruption and the Law on Ensuring the Safety of Those Involved in Criminal Proceedings ...
Many employers are wary of hiring applicants with criminal records because they fear exposing themselves to potential negligent hiring or negligent supervision claims, but they also have concerns imposed by the EEOC’s aggressive interpretation of Title VII that a blanket rule against hiring persons with criminal convictions is a violation of the law ...
On June 13, 2013, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals (WVSCA) issued its decision in Faith United Methodist Church & Cemetery of Terra Alta, et al. v. Morgan, No. 12-0080, setting forth a clear definition of the term “surface” when used in deeds and other instruments of conveyance. This definition will weigh importantly on the state's shale gas industry ...
