DJIBOUTI: International Free Trade Zone launchedThe first phase of the Djibouti International Free Trade Zone (“DIFTZ”), expected to be the largest free trade zone in Africa, was launched on 5 July 2018. The DIFTZ will house a variety of manufacturing plants and offer investors various incentives, including tax exemptions ...
In an interesting and (as yet) unreported judgment handed down by the Labour Court, which considered an appeal against a Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (“CCMA”) award (rather than a review), the court confirmed the principle that an employer cannot be held liable in terms of the Employment Equity Act, 1998 (the “EEA”) for unfair discrimination resulting from actions towards one of its employees by one of its customers ...
The primary remedy for a substantively unfair dismissal is reinstatement, which aims to place an employee into the position he or she would have held had it not been for the substantively unfair dismissal. Generally speaking, reinstatement awards are coupled with orders for back pay, that is, payment of the remuneration that the employee would have enjoyed over the period between the dismissal and the reinstatement order ...
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral resources ("MEMR") issued Press Release No. 00022/04/SJI/2018 to continue arranging dozens of overlapping regulations and permits ("Simplification"). So far, 90 regulations and 96 certifications/recommendation/permits ("Regulations") have started since 22 January 2018 ...
Earlier this year, the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (the “MEMR”) issued Regulation Number 10 of 2018 on The Second Amendment to Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Regulation Number 10 of 2017 on the Principles of Power Purchase Agreements (“MEMR Reg 10/2018”) which came into effect on 13 February 2018 ...
The regulation on the national payment gateway has finally been issued. Bank Indonesia (“BI”), through its regulation No. 19/8/PBI/2017 (“PBI 19/8”) aims to establish national payment system interoperability by implementing switching interconnectivity. The following is a general overview of PBI 19/8 ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY DISCUSSES THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR INDUSTRIAL HARMONY Introduction The Code of Conduct for Industrial Harmony (“the Code”) was agreed upon between the then Ministry of Labour and Manpower[1], the Malaysian Council of Employers’ Organisation[2]and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress to lay down principles and guidelines to employers and workers on the practice of industrial relations for achieving greater industrial ha
IN THIS ARTICLE PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY DISCUSSES WHETHER AN INDUSTRIAL COURT ACTION CAN PROCEED WITHOUT COMPLYING WITH SECTION 226(3) OR SECTION 263(2) OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1965. Introduction In the civil court, any action or proceeding pending against a company after the presentation of a winding-up petition may be stayed by the court ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, REENA ENBASEGARAM LOOKS AT THE LAW RELATING TO COMPETING UNIONS. Introduction The strength of a trade union is derived from its membership which is its paramount asset. Upon being accorded recognition, a trade union will bargain on behalf of the employees and, in this regard, acts as a principal and not as an agent of its members[1]. The contracting rights - including those of non-union members and future employees - are transferred to the trade union ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, NADIA ABU BAKAR DISCUSSES AN EMPLOYER’S PREROGATIVE TO TRANSFER EMPLOYEES Introduction There may be an instance where you receive a letter from your company with the following content: “In light of the business requirements of the Company, you shall be transferred to xx with effect from xx ...
Top 10 Questions Employers Should Ask When Hiring and Firing in Malaysia HIRING IN MALAYSIA: Does the employee have a right to work in Malaysia or does he/she need a work permit? Is the employment offer subject to any condition precedent (e.g ...
IN THIS ARTICLE PARVATHY DEVI RAJA MOORTHY LOOKS AT THE IMPORTANCE OF ASCERTAINING THE IDENTITY OF THE EMPLOYER WHEN LODGING A COMPLAINT OF UNFAIR DISMISSAL ESPECIALLY IN SECONDMENT CASES. Introduction The correct identification of an employer is essential in the lodging of an unfair dismissal complaint pursuant tosection 20of theIndustrial Relations Act 1967where the relationship between the employee and the company is unclear ...
IN THIS ARTICLE, WONG KIAN JUN CONSIDERS A RE-LOOK AT THE LAWS ON RETRENCHMENT Introduction During uncertain times and shrinking profits, organisations may decide to reorganise their business structure in order to create a leaner workforce thereby reducing their operating costs to weather the impact of a slowing economy. Inevitably, the reorganisation would result in the retrenchment of its employees who are considered surplus to the needs of the organisation ...
In order to implement Government Regulation No. 24 of 2018 which introduced an online system for processing and issuing certain business licenses (known as the Online Single Submission “OSS” system), earlier this year, the Investment Coordinating Board (“BKPM”) issued 2 new regulations on investment, ie BKPM Regulation No. 6 of 2018 on the Guidelines and Procedure for Capital Investment Licensing and Facilities (“Regulation 6/2018”) and Regulation No ...
In North Midland Building Ltd v Cyden Homes Ltd, the Court of Appeal held that an express contractual term allowing an employer to levy liquidated damages for periods of concurrent delay took precedence over a common law principle known as the prevention principle. Background Cyden Homes Limited (CH) employed a contractor, North Midland Building Limited (NMB), to design and build a large house in the Midlands, under a JCT Design and Build construction contract ...
During the course of recent months, South African Parliament has considered four bills proposing significant changes to South Africa’s labour legislation. These are the National Minimum Wage Bill, the Basic Conditions of Employment Amendment Bill (the “BCEA Bill”), the Labour Relations Amendment Bill (the “LRA Bill”) and the Labour Laws Amendment Bill ...
Legislation and agencies 1 What are the main statutes and regulations relating to employment? The Labor Code of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 442, as amended) (the Labor Code) and the Omnibus Rules Implementing the Labor Code ...
Global Competition Review (GCR) publishedThe European, Middle Eastern and African Antitrust Review 2019. The “Israel Overview” chapter was written by FBC’s Tal Eyal-Boger, Ziv Schwartz and Shani Brown ...
One of the most pressing issues for employers in relation to Brexit is immigration and the rights of EU citizens following the UK’s exit from the EU. Many UK businesses hire EU workers, with some sectors such as agriculture being particularly dependent on seasonal EU workers; still more will employ individuals who have family members who are EU nationals ...
The recent Kenyan High Court judgment in the case of Sony Corporation v Sony Holdings Limited (a decision of Judge Tuiyoyy dated 29 May 2018) has attracted considerable attention. Much of the talk has been around the fact that Sony, arguably one of the best known brands in the world, was denied protection as a well-known trade mark. But there’s more to this judgment than that ...
It’s been widely reported that Roger Federer has signed a 10-year, USD300-million sponsorship deal with the clothing brand UNIQLO. The new deal was announced with some style when Roger walked out on Wimbledon Centre Court in his fancy new threads on the first day of the 2018 championships. The UNIQLO deal is interesting in a number of respects ...
We don’t often discuss Korean trade mark cases, but a recent registry decision is worth a look because it shines a spotlight on a particularly interesting aspect of trade mark law: character merchandising.Kakao Corp is Korea’s largest mobile service provider. One of its offerings is KakaoTalk, a mobile messaging service that’s apparently used by some 154-million people around the globe ...
The #MeToo movement has galvanized many into taking action to fight workplace harassment. Since the movement began in the fall of last year, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)—tasked with enforcing laws prohibiting sexual harassment—has indicated it has seen an uptick in the amount of traffic to its website ...
