“The audit committee directly oversees management’s reporting of the company’s financial position and results to investors. Auditors validate. Naturally, both agents should support each other’s work with an open dialogue about how to protect investors from misleading or inadequate management reports.” - James R. Doty, PCAOB Chairman, PCAOB Open Board Meeting, Aug. 15, 2012 The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (“PCAOB”) recently issued Auditing Standard No ...
On January 4, 2013, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division (the “District Court”) issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order1 that seems demonstrably at odds with the majority of cases analyzing the § 546(e) safe harbor provision.2 General Background Facts Sentinel Management Group, Inc ...
In July 2012 the Croatian Parliament abolished the rule that had enabled employees to receive salaries and other benefits as agreed in collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), years after the CBAs had ceased to be in force.For decades companies with a large number of employees, through the CBAs, were establishing a minimum level of employees’ rights, such as vacation bonuses, Christmas bonuses and loyalty bonuses ...
Although only tangentially related to oil and gas operations, the recent pipeline rupture and resulting fire near Charleston, West Virginia highlights the importance of safety inspections and the costs incurred when accidents occur ...
With a law enacted on 17 December 2012, the Finnish parliament moved forward on the longstanding plan to house intellectual property rights disputes in the Market Court. This legislative reform has a significant impact for all companies operating in Finland. The Market Court will start to hear these disputes in the autumn of 2013 ...
Coming as a surprise to some, the European Parliament approved rules creating a Unified Patent Court and a Unitary Patent on December 11, 2012, after lengthy consideration ...
Yet again, this year has been a busy one for employers, HR teams and their lawyers: employment law changes and decisions from the Courts have kept us all on our toes! Here is a reminder of some of the most significant cases and legal developments of 2012.1. The unfair dismissal qualifying period increased to two years for those employed on or after 6 April 2012. The qualifying period for employees whose employment started before this date remains 12 months.2 ...
The Government has confirmed it plans to increase the lower earnings trigger for automatic pension enrolment from £8,105 to £9,440 from April 2013, keeping the figure in line with the income tax threshold. Only workers with an annual salary above the earnings trigger will have to be automatically enrolled into a workplace pension scheme by their employer ...
As we embark upon the season of goodwill, those wishing to embrace the Christmas cheer may wish to consider settlement of an ongoing commercial dispute bringing peace and goodwill to all - besides saving their business time and money in the process.Should you settle? Parties settle disputes for a variety of reasons ...
Employment Conditions of Foreign Workers (2) Share Ownership: An Overview (3) Certificate of Intellectual Property Pertaining to Software. Employers frequently resort to the use of foreign workers. In some industries, this is practically unavoidable. Faced with the new reality of foreign workers, many companies have questions about how to manage the workers they hire and the specific conditions applying to them ...
French at work, at school and in the Civil Administration - Protection and bolstering of the official language. The title of this newsletter gives a good summary of the explanatory notes that serve as an introduction to Bill 14, entitled "An Act to Amend the Charter of the French Language, the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms and other Legislative Provisions" ("The Bill"). The Legislature is concerned that English is being used systematically in certain workplaces ...
By a decision of 18 October 2012 the Danish Board of Equal Treatment found that it was okay to dismiss an employee shortly after her return from maternity leave as it was not until that time that the outlook of the organisation had been established. The matter involved an employee who was dismissed shortly after the expiry of her maternity leave. The employee argued that the decision to dismiss her had been made, while she was on maternity leave ...
In two decisions of 18 October 2012 the Danish Board of Equal Treatment found that it is not permitted to use criteria in job advertisements that indicate that the advertisement is targeted at younger applicants. In the first case a 57 year old job applicant had complained that an industry association in a job advertisement had stated that emphasis was placed on the applicants having "a few years' experience or were newly graduates" ...
Although like in most EU countries, there is no specific regulation in France on social media, judges have recently answered very clearly to this question: it depends on the privacy settings made by the employee!French judges make a clear distinction between (i) social media postings that remain private (i.e ...
The question raised in the case was whether a previously concluded agreement on salary cuts could be set aside in the event of the employer's bankruptcy to the effect that an employee could receive salary from the Employees' Guarantee Fund as if no agreement on salary cuts had been entered into between the employer and the employee some months before the employer went bankrupt ...
In light of a recent federal court order, companies – especially those at risk of False Claims Act suits – should revisit their protocol for handling communications with in-house counsel. In United States ex rel. Baklid-Kunz v. Halifax Hospital Medical Center, a federal magistrate judge ordered Halifax Hospital to produce communications involving in-house lawyers in an ongoing FCA suit against the hospital ...
On November 30, 2012, the long-awaited amendments to the Mexican federal labor law were published in the Official Gazette of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación). The primary purpose of this set of reforms is to promote job creation and to attempt to regularize labor relationships that arise informally ...
The European Commission recently fined seven international company groups with a total fine of around 1.47 billion EUR for two distinct cartels related to cathode ray tubes (CRT) used in colour television sets and computer monitors. The investigation was initiated after a leniency application by one of the cartel members. The cartel concerned price-fixing, market-sharing, production quotas and prohibited information exchanges ...
On November 14th, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") and the Department of Justice (the "DOJ") released their jointly developed "Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act" (the "Guide"). Long awaited and much anticipated, the Guide brings together in a single, 120-page document the agencies’ interpretation of the FCPA and approach to enforcement activities ...
A Polish company enters into a contract with a German company. Which country’s law will govern the contract? Monika Hartung: To start with, under Art. 3 of the Rome I Regulation (Regulation 593/2008 of 17 June 2008 on the law applicable to contractual obligations), the parties themselves may select the law governing the contract. The previous version of Poland’s Private International Law required the existence of a link, e.g ...
On November 28, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit published an opinion affirming the bankruptcy court’s ruling that the Mexican Plan of Reorganization (the “Concurso Plan”) of the Mexican glass-manufacturing company, Vitro, S.A.B. de C.V., approved by the Federal District Court in Mexico, should not be enforced under Chapter 15 of United States Bankruptcy Code ...
The British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) is a British overseas territory situated to the east of Puerto Rico between the Caribbean Sea and the North Atlantic Ocean. The country consists of the main islands of Tortola, Virgin Gorda, Anegada, and Jost Van Dyke and over fifty other smaller islands and cays clustered around the aquamarine waters of the Sir Francis Drake Channel.Interestingly the country’s official name is simply the “Virgin Islands ...
The Quebec Court of Appeal rendered an important decision on the legality of termination of employment for some 190 employees of the Wal-Mart store in Jonquière. In the context of several proceedings which were filed to obtain compensation for those job losses, the United Food and Commercial Workers, local 503 (hereinafter the "Union") argued that the store's closure in April 2005 was contrary to section 59 of the Labour Code (hereinafter the "L.C.") ...
Since the adoption of Bill C-451 amending certain provisions of the Criminal Code in march of 2004,2 employers have had to take on increased responsibility in the area of occupational health and safety. Indeed, the effect of sections 22.1 and 217.1 of the Criminal Code is to facilitate the laying of criminal negligence charges in cases involving the health and safety of workers. Section 217 ...
On November 14, 2012, the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission released the much-anticipated Resource Guide to the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “Guide”) ...
