In Apple Inc. v. Fintiv, Inc., (IPR2020-00019, Fintiv), the Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) elegantly laid out six different factors that the Board currently considers in discretionarily denying institution of an Inter Partes Review (IPR) that has a parallel district court proceeding ...
1. Background to the case The case concerned a young, female employee in a mechanical workshop, who felt she had been sexually harassed by two of the enterprise’s customers. Customer No 1 had on one occasion, while the female employee was sitting on the floor in a forward-leaning position, performing work, put his hands on her lower back, under her top ...
In what appears to be the first substantive dispositive ruling on a COVID-19 related business interruption insurance claim, a Michigan court has dismissed an insured’s business interruption claim, finding that the insured did not suffer a direct physical loss and no insurance coverage exists for the insured’s claim ...
At the beginning of the pandemic, businesses had to rapidly adopt new ways of working and enable staff to work from home as much as possible. Nine months on, the threats posed by the virus remain, and ways of working have changed beyond recognition. We consider below the longer term impact of COVID-19 on flexible working, and the extent to which employees are willing (or not) to return to their ‘normal’ place of work ...
COVID-19 has forced us to completely rethink the way we live, work and move around. It has begged the question: what is it that makes a great city? Manchester is one of the fastest-growing cities in the UK. With cranes dominating the skyline, billions continue to be invested into the city centre as it evolves into a city of quarters ...
The pandemic alongside a renewed focus on climate change following COP26 and the growing interest in ESG credentials are all contributing to a changing world of work ...
With all the changes to the world of work that we have recently experienced and are continuing to experience, our webinar programme this year is focused on the future of work and in particular the hot topics that HR teams are having to handle now in order to future-proof their organisations. Our latest seminar focused on effective performance management in a hybrid working world ...
With all the changes to the world of work that we have recently experienced and are continuing to experience, our webinar programme this year is focused on the future of work and in particular the hot topics that HR teams are having to handle now in order to future-proof their organisations. Our latest seminar focused on menopause in the workplace ...
With all the changes to the world of work that we have recently experienced and are continuing to experience, our webinar programme this year is focused on the future of work and in particular the hot topics HR teams are having to handle now in order to future proof their organisations. Our latest seminar focused on recruitment and retention ...
With all the changes to the world of work that we have recently experienced and are continuing to experience, our webinar programme this year is focused on the future of work and in particular the hot topics HR teams are having to handle now in order to future proof their organisations. Our latest seminar focused on whistleblowing and, in particular, how approaches to whistleblowing have changed as a result of the pandemic ...
It is generally accepted that hybrid working is here to stay, along with all the challenges that managing a remote workforce presents. Here we focus on how an employer can effectively manage absence when employees are working remotely. As we discussed in our previous article, The Future of Work: Performance management in a hybrid working world (shoosmiths.co ...
Hybrid working is now an accepted way of working for many employees who relish the balance it brings to their lives. The approach has challenges for employers; not least performance management of remote employees and how to deal with issues that arise. Hybrid working certainly has its benefits, with many surveys reporting that employees who work from home for part of the week feel more productive and can maintain a better work / life balance ...
pMany development authorities and other economic or industrial development authorities in the State of Georgia (each, an “Authority”) offer “Economic Development and Incentive” programs for private companies which commit to make new capital investments that promote trade and commerce and provide new employment or retain existing employment ...
Global mobility is on the rise and many of the employees all over the world especially the young university graduates are keen to working overseas than ever before to strengthen personal growth and career development.The third edition of Global Mobility – An Overview of Human Resource Professionals aims to provide initial guidance to Human Resource professionals and be a ready tool to help them meet the work deliverables of this function which is vital to the organizational success ...
The Government has approved Royal Decree-Law 7/2020, of March 12, which adopts urgent measures to respond to the economic impact of COVID-19, including measures in the workplace for officials and a bonus for companies. tourism that prolongs the employment of discontinuous permanent workers. Likewise, employers and unions have agreed on a joint proposal document for the coronavirus crisis ...
The Danish government has presented its legislative programme for the parliamentary year 2016/2017. The programme contains a number of upcoming proposals for amendments within the area of employment and labour law, including e.g. proposals for amendments of the Danish Holiday Act, the Danish Childbirth Act and the Danish Public Servants Act ...
In a civil case, is it wiser for a business to try to persuade the counterparty to agree from the outset to arbitration—or potentially to place it's very solvency in the unpredictable hands of a judge and jury? Many "form" commercial contracts contain clauses mandating that any disputes that arise be resolved by binding arbitration rather than a jury or bench trial ...
From 1 October 2006, new legislation comes into effect intended to combat age discrimination. During a recent series of seminars, commercial law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn carried out a survey of delegates to understand employers' concerns and see what efforts they are making to take the new law on board. More than one in four delegates claimed they themselves intended to work past the anticipated default retirement age of 65 while a further 15% were unsure ...
From 1 October 2006, new legislation comes into effect intended to combat age discrimination. During a recent series of seminars, commercial law firm Shepherd and Wedderburn carried out a survey of delegates to understand employers' concerns and see what efforts they are making to take the new law on board. More than one in four delegates claimed they themselves intended to work past the anticipated default retirement age of 65 while a further 15% were unsure ...
Even for those who know that ESG is an acronym for Environmental, Social and Governance there is a lot of subjectivity in the way the term is understood ...
This article was originally written for the April 2005 issue of The Negotiator, the magazine of the Canadian Association of the Petroleum Landman. Protected by Copyright 2005 ...
On July 17, 2008, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered a unanimous judgment setting aside the ruling by the Quebec Court of Appeal and affirming that the employer had fulfilled its duty to accommodate in the case of Hydro-Québec v. Syndicat des employé-e-s de techniques professionnelles et de bureau d’Hydro-Québec, section locale 2000 (SCFP-FTQ). In this judgment, the Court essentially dealt with two aspects ...
The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (‘ICC’) has issued a revised version of its Arbitration Rules. The 2021 Rules enter into force on 1 January 2021 and aim to make arbitration even more efficient, flexible and transparent ...
Effective January 1, 2014, the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) replaced its Amicable Dispute Resolution rules with new Mediation Rules. The new ICC Mediation Rules (the “Rules”) set clear parameters for mediating disputes, while also providing for additional flexible procedures that allow the parties to resolve their disputes privately and confidentially ...
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sweeping new laws and regulations having a tremendous impact on California workplaces were enacted in California in 2020 and 2021. Included, among numerous others, are laws imposing health and safety obligations on employers, regulations requiring employers to quarantine employees and provide wage replacement for employees exposed to COVID-19 in the workplace, along with mandated job-protected paid sick leave and extended paid family leave ...
