When the Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Jacqueline A. Berrien, and EEOC Commissioner Victoria A. Lipnic sat down for an informal conversation regarding workplace diversity during the Diversity Luncheon at the National Conference on Equal Employment Opportunity Law, the dialogue quickly moved to the possible effects of budget cuts on diversity in the public workplace ...
What is Executive Order 13658? On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658, “Establishing a Minimum Wage for Contractors,” as a means to increase the minimum wage for workers providing services pursuant to federal construction and service contracts (the “Executive Order”) ...
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("ACA") has significantly changed the healthcare industry in the United States. Among the many changes is the new requirement that healthcare providers must provide all "Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and patient education counseling for all women with reproductive capacity."77 Fed. Reg. 8725 (Feb. 15, 2012); see 42 U.S.C. 300gg-13(a)(4), 45 C.F.R. § 147.130(a)(1)(iv) ...
A previous Amendment to the Labour law raised some arguable and sensitive issues regarding termination of the employment contract when employee's behaviour represents criminal act. In fact, it was the employer who decided if an employee's behaviour represent a criminal act ...
In the 21st century, cinema and film play a major role not only in our social activities, but also as a tool for learning about our history, addressing the issues faced in society and imagining what the future of a more innovative world would look like. However, the legal implications of telling a story through film, the cinema and television, go far deeper. Issues of copyright infringement, particularly within the Hollywood and Bollywood context, have found their way to the court room ...
The 2017 edition of the annual Brand Finance Global 500 report on the world’s most valuable brands was recently released. It’s fairly predictable, yet still makes for interesting reading. According to the report, the most valuable brand in the world is Google, which has a value of roughly USD109-billion. Google has leapfrogged Apple, which held the top spot for some five years ...
In terms of the Companies Act, 2002 (Cap RE 212) (the “Act”), every company incorporated or registered in Tanzania as a branch of a foreign company has an annual filing obligation with the Registrar of Companies, also called the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (“BRELA”) ...
The background can be summarised simply: South Africa’s state broadcaster, the SABC, commissioned a filmmaker to make an investigative documentary for its factual genre TV channel. The filmmaker made the documentary and the SABC paid the fee (thus making it the owner of the copyright in the documentary under South African law). However, the SABC decided against airing the documentary ...
In addition to registering your trade mark with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (“CIPC”), brand owners should also ensure that their trade marks are protected online. One way of doing so, is by registering a domain name. What is a domain name? A domain name allows a party to establish its identity on the internet. It assists internet users to easily identify you on the internet and to access your site on the web ...
An important case between the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (“AMCU”) and the Chamber of Mines of South Africa acting on behalf of Harmony Gold, AngloGold Ashanti and Sibanye Gold, has finally been decided by the Constitutional Court. The case concerns the extension of a 2013 wage collective agreement to AMCU members in terms of section 23(1)(d) of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“LRA”) ...
Government has proposed that companies and individuals no longer need the South African Reserve Bank’s approval for “standard intellectual property transactions” and that the “loop structure restriction for all intellectual property transactions” be lifted, provided that such transactions are arm's length and at a fair market price ...
On March 2, 2017, the California Supreme Court issued its much anticipated decision in the City of San Jose v. Superior Court of Santa Clara County case. In short, the Court determined that when a public official or employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the writings are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act, if those writings are not otherwise exempt from the disclosure requirements ...
The February 14 decision in a closely watched Fourth Circuit False Claims Act (FCA) case did not, as initially anticipated, address the issue of the validity of statistical sampling to establish FCA liability. However, it did address another question that has split the circuits—whether the U.S. Department of Justice has the unreviewable right to veto FCA settlements in cases in which it has declined to intervene. See United States ex rel. Michaels v. Agape Senior Community, et al ...
On March 2, 2017, the California Supreme Court determined that when a public employee uses a personal account to communicate about the conduct of public business, the communications are subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (CPRA), if those communications are not otherwise exempt from disclosure. In a unanimous opinion, the Court in City of San Jose v ...
On February 23, 2017, Law N°21,000 (the “Law”) was published in the Official Gazette of Chile, creating the Commission for the Financial Market (the “Commission”), a professional body and technical entity that will replace the current Superintendency of Securities and Insurance (“ SVS “). The Law will enter into force in August 2018, or at an earlier date if the Commission becomes operational sooner ...
The World Bank Group has released its Doing Business 2017: Equal Opportunity for All report. This is the 14th in an annual series of reports providing objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement in 190 economies ...
In the context of a dispute between a Turkish agent and a Belgian principal, the Commercial Court of Ghent (Belgium) referred a request to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) concerning the legal protection of a Turkish agent under Belgian/EU law. The agent and principal had expressly agreed that their agency agreement was subject to Belgian law ...
Karanovic & Nikolic employment team has assisted Shepherd and Wedderburn in the development of The European Employment Law Update for 2017. The European Employment Law Update for 2017 provides an overview of the vital reforms being introduced to European employment law over the next year, including areas such as seconding employees, increased protections for whistleblowers, and legislation changes related to increased work-life balance ...
July 1, 2017 is swiftly approaching and companies need to electronically upload information related to injuries and illnesses on OSHA’s Injury Tracking Application (ITA) website. The ITA website is scheduled to go live this month (February 2017) and all covered establishments must complete Form 300A by the July 1 deadline ...
Social media sites, like Facebook, are inexhaustible sources of personal information which can constitute evidence in the context of employer-employee disputes. In matters related to evidence, the general rule is that any relevant evidence is admissible ...
The Ministry of Labour has prepared a draft law providing for protection of persons informing of corruption offences ...
Political uncertainty dominates the headlines, with the fallout from Brexit continuing, leadership changes in the USA and further elections soon to take place across Europe. The legal landscape in Scotland also continues to change ...
In this matter, the employer, Enforce Security Group (“Enforce”), was a private security services provider contracting out security officers to its clients. The security officers were employed on the basis that their period of employment would endure until the termination of the service contract between Enforce and the client whose premises the employee would be assigned to. This type of provision is commonly referred to as an “automatic termination clause” ...
Russia has significantly revised its arbitration laws by adopting two Federal Laws (hereinafter referred to as “Arbitration Laws”)1, which came into effect on September 01, 2016. The main aim of the arbitration reform in Russia was elimination of so-called “pocket” arbitration institutions and improvement of overall quality of arbitration process in Russia ...
'Close of business' is a term many people use in their day to day working life without much thought. But what does it actually mean and should the term be used in contractual documentation? Agreeing to get something done by 'close of business' is a phrase often used when flexibility is required as to the time a task will be completed. It makes it clear the task will be done that day, but not by a particular time ...
