In April 2005 a new Disability Discrimination Act was passed by Westminster. The Act extends existing non-discrimination legislation, primarily the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. While some provisions of the Act came into force in December 2005, many others will be coming into force over the course of 2006. It is essential that businesses are aware of their new responsibilities under the Act and prepare for its implementation ...
Introduction Since June 1, 2004, the Labour Standards Act (hereinafter the “L.S.A.”) requires employers to provide a work environment free from psychological harassment. Thus, employers must, as a first step, take reasonable measures to prevent psychological harassment and then, whenever they become aware of such behaviour, put a stop to it. These duties imposed on employers are obligations “of means” as opposed to obligations “of result” ...
The Court of Final Appeal made a landmark ruling at the end of February on an unprecedented claim for holiday pay or annual leave pay based on commission in Lisbeth Enterprises Limited v Mandy Luk. The Court concluded that, apart from the contractual commission which accrued and calculated on a daily basis in amount varying from day to day, no commission is to be included in the calculation of holiday pay and annual leave pay ...
Doctors working in public hospitals claimed that, in breach of their employment contracts as well as the Employment Ordinance, for many years the Hospital Authority had required them to work long hours without proper compensation. The doctors in this latest round of confrontation with the HA successfully claimed compensation for "rest days" and "holidays" for which they had been deprived but lost their claim on compensation for "overtime" worked ...
This paper appears in the March 24, 2006 issue of The Lawyers Weekly, published by LexisNexis Canada Inc. Over the past few years, courts in Canada have faced the apparent conflict between competing statutory mandates with respect to class proceedings and arbitrations. In Ruddell v. BC Rail Ltd., 2005 BCSC 1504, Mr. Justice Holmes of the British Columbia Supreme Court reviewed this conflict in the context of pension litigation ...
On March 6, 2006, the Ministry of the Economy published the Explanatory Notes for the Tariff Classification of Goods in the Federal Official Gazette, after a delay of over four years from the date of publication of the Federal Law on Import and Export Duties (“FLIED”) on January 18, 2002. These Explanatory Rules should have been published at the same time ...
On March 31, 2006, the Treasury Department published in the Federal Official Gazette the "General Foreign Trade Rules for 2006" (GFTR), intended to help taxpayers in the application of the law. While the GFTR may give taxpayers rights, they may not establish obligations different from those contained in the Mexican Constitution or in laws and regulations ...
There are three possible courses of action in this situation. These are: Derivative action A derivative action is brought under common law by a member on behalf of a company in respect of a wrong done to that company. Remedies awarded are for the benefit of the company. Derivative actions are an option where the company itself could sue and there has been a fraud on the minority, illegality or a failure to approve a matter by the members passing an appropriate resolution ...
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 ...
The phenomenon of personnel agencies Generally, Labour Relations laws assume the interaction of two parties, an employer and an employee. The employee offers his services, for pay, to an employer, who determines the working conditions and ensures discipline. This is a bipartite relationship. However, when a business entrusts the management of its human resources to a personnel agency, there is a tripartite relationship ...
A distribution franchise agreement allows a producer of goods or services (the “Franchisor”) to transfer to another entity (the “Franchisee”), in return of a fee, the commercialisation of such products under the Franchisor’s trade mark(s) and distinctive signs, in conformity with its uniform business method and upon the provision, by the Franchisor to the Franchisee, of technical know how and regular assistance ...
The commercial distribution of goods and services developed with the dynamics between sophisticated global markets, where the European Internal Market is integrated, with traditional markets of a local character or national dimension. The type of contract adopted by the producers or importer companies in order for their products or services to reach, through the commercial intermediaries, the final users – consumers or not – i. e ...
One of the essential components of organizing sport events is the ticketing system. Usually implemented by the Organizing Committees (OC), it is not unusual that these agreements contravene EC Law. In the Italy 1990 World Cup, the OC entered into a worldwide exclusive agreement of ground entrance tickets with a single tour travel agency for the purpose of putting together package tours for the event ...
In a judgment rendered on February 7, 2006, the Quebec Court of Appeal reiterated the obligations of the employer and the employee to play a role in seeking a reasonable accommodation. In cases where a collective agreement exists, the union has the same obligation ...
In recent times, the issue of post-retirement healthcare benefits has taken on new significance for employers and sponsors of pension and health and welfare plans. Factors such as increasing numbers of retirees, rising drug and healthcare costs and government cutbacks to universal healthcare programs are causing organizations to re-evaluate the extent to which they can or are willing to continue to provide post-retirement healthcare benefits ...
On 6 April 2006, new regulations, called the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) – TUPE - Regulations 2006 came into force to replace the well-known 1981 Regulations. These are the Regulations that make provision for protection of employees – from dismissal and in their terms and conditions - where a business is transferred from one company to another. TUPE 2006 differs in a number of ways from the 1981 Regulations ...
There have been fresh developments in the continuing battle between pharmaceutical manufacturers and parallel importers. National and European courts have been attempting to strike a balance between the principle of the free movement of goods within the EU and the legitimate protection of intellectual property rights. The most recent contribution has come from Advocate General Sharpston (AG) in her opinion in the ongoing case of Boehringer and others v Swingward and Dowelhurst (C-348/04) ...
Article 55 of Supreme Decree No. 21060 of August 29, 1985, established that both private and public entities could freely enter into or terminate labor agreements subject to the General Labor Law and its Regulatory Decree. Also, under article 39 of Supreme Decree No. 22407 of January 11, 1990, the voluntary hiring and termination of employees was established ...
Lessons in Using Employee Non-Compete Agreements An increasing number of companies are requiring their employees (new and existing) to sign so-called “non-compete” agreements. Many of these agreements prohibit employees from working for their employer’s competitors for a period of time after the termination of employment. Some are less restrictive—prohibiting former employees from performing certain duties or dealing with the former employer’s customers ...
This quarterly newsletter summarizes some of the recent administrative actions that will go into effect this year and which will impact funds and their advisers, beginning with the EDGAR requirements that mutual funds and separate account issuers designate new codes for each series and class when making their EDGAR filings ...
EDGAR Identifiers for Series and Classes Last July, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted amendments to Regulation S-T to require mutual funds and insurance company separate accounts issuing variable annuity contracts or variable life insurance products to obtain identifiers and electronically identify in their filings made through the Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system to which of their series or classes the filing relates. See Rel. No ...
China has traditionally restricted foreign investment in the retail and wholesale sectors with the aim of nurturing strong domestic players before their foreign counterparts would be allowed into the country. Since becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation, China has gradually opened up its distribution sector to foreign investment ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”), the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the State Administration of Taxation, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce and the State Administration of Foreign Exchange jointly promulgated the Measures for the Administration of Strategic Investment of Foreign Investors in Listed Companies on 31 December 2005 ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) issued the Notice of the Ministry of Commerce on Entrusting Local Authorities with the Examination and Approval of Commercial Enterprises with Foreign Investment on 9 December 2005. The Notice, which became effective on 3 March 2006, is expected to reduce the time required for setting up a commercial enterprise with foreign investment (“commercial FIE”) ...
The Ministry of Commerce (“MOFCOM”) issued the following notices on 20 January 2006: the Notice on Entrusting the Provincial Level Authorities in Charge of Commerce with the Examination and Approval, and Administration of Non-Vessel Carrier Enterprises with Foreign Investment, the Notice on Entrusting the Provincial Level Authorities in Charge of Commerce with the Examination and Approval, and Administration of Road Transportation Enterprises with Foreign Investment, the Notice on Entrusting the
