The economic landscape continues to place mortgage customers under significant pressure. Following discussions between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and some of the largest mortgage lenders in the UK, the Mortgage Charter was signed to address measures aimed at helping customers who may be struggling to meet their mortgage repayments amid the cost-of-living crisis ...
From caterpillar cakes and “anti-establishment” IPA beer to gin, the issue of “copycat” own brands has been thrown into the spotlight by a series of recent court actions involving some of the country’s best-known food and drink producers and discount supermarket chains ...
On March 18, 2020, Congress passed H.R. 6201, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The Act, which is on its way to the President’s desk for immediate signature, includes many emergency measures to address COVID-19. The provisions with the greatest potential to impact employers and employees nation-wide are the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act of 2020 and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act ...
It was the age of wisdom, it was the age of incredulity. Blazing yellow sun. Lapping blue waves. Tanned beach bods and a palm tree’s silhouette swaying against an orange sky. Once ubiquitous, the California Fitness logo that hints at its fabulous lifestyle offering has vanished from Singapore. In its heyday “Cali”, as its legions of fans called it, was not merely a gym, it was a status symbol ...
Module 6 of the UK’s Covid-19 Public Inquiry opened on 12 December 2023, with public hearings set to begin in Spring 2025. This article explores what Module 6 will examine and explains how and why members of the Care Sector may want to become involved ...
Thanks to the pandemic ‘working from home’ is a phrase we are all used to hearing. With the lifting of restrictions, however, ‘hybrid working’ is set to take its place. We consider the benefits of having a hybrid working policy and what to include in it ...
B.C.’s Provincial Health Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry,[1] and the Public Health Agency of Canada,[2] have recommended that individuals who are not fully vaccinated[3] continue wearing masks in indoor public spaces. At the same time, public authorities are providing little to no guidance on how or when businesses can continue mask requirements ...
ALRUD experts have prepared this material for HR directors, compliance officers and heads of legal departments, detailing the obligatory and recommended actions that should be taken in the event of an occupational accident. The purpose of this step plan is to provide high-level guidance on how to protect the interests of affected employees, investigate occupational accidents and thus mitigate risks of administrative and criminal liability for the employer and its officers ...
1. Introduction Equinor’s pioneering «Hywind Tampen» project, set to become the biggest floating wind farm in the world and scheduled to commence construction in late 2022, will mark the first foray into offshore wind production in Norway. Further, the areas «Utsira Nord» (floating turbines) and «Sørlige Nordsjø II» (bottom fixed turbines), both in the North Sea, have as from 1 January 2021 been opened for development ...
In the Loop: With the Hanson Bridgett Government Group We’ve been getting lots of questions from public agencies about the General Data Protection Regulation—known as GDPR. GDPR is a new European Union privacy law that governs the processing of personal data about people residing in Europe. It just went into effect on May 25 ...
This Need to Know Express is part of a series of newsletters which each answers one or several questions in a practical and concrete way. These bulletins have been or will be published over the next few weeks. In addition, a consolidated version of all the Need to Know Express newsletters published on this topic will be available upon request ...
The Brexit referendum vote and its potential impact on free movement has already resulted in many businesses struggling to meet their labour needs; the number of EU migrants has declined markedly at a time when Scotland and the UK is enjoying record levels of employment. As a consequence, immigration has risen to the top of many organisations’ agendas to ensure they can recruit and retain the talent they need to grow their businesses and remain competitive ...
When the company was purchased, you will have entered into a Share Purchase Agreement. If you think that there might be potential for a warranty claim, you need to revisit the agreement to establish the basis of your claim and the manner in which it requires to be processed. The warranties in your agreement amount to assurances from the seller with regards to the condition of the business and outstanding liabilities at the time the deal was completed ...
Employers who are faced with employee requests for accommodation on the basis of family status may find that the response to such requests depends on the province of employment ...
Hydrogen is seen by many as the fuel of the future, a substance that can provide heat through combustion, or electrical power from fuel cells, emitting only water in the process. Its potential usefulness, specifically its ability to replace fossil fuels without generating greenhouse gases, makes it the poster child for clean energy. There are various ways of producing hydrogen, but currently most of it is done in the most cost-efficient way, by steam reforming ...
In light of ongoing litigation between General Motors and Fiat Chrysler, Dinsmore partner Mark Carter wrote an article for Automotive News explaining the basics of RICO actions: "Any person injured in his or her business or property by a pattern of racketeering activity may have standing to seek relief pursuant to the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970 ...
In its recent decision in TFD Network Africa (Pty) Ltd v Singh NO & Others, the Labour Appeal Court (the “LAC”) considered the interpretation of section 17 of the Basic Conditions of Employment Act, 1997 (“the “BCEA”); in particular, subsections 17(1) and (2), which regulate night work. Subsections 17(1) and (2) read as follows: “(1) In this section, 'night work' means work performed after 18:00 and before 06:00 the next day ...
It is a sad fact that the current economic crisis is causing many employers to consider cost saving measures like redundancies. But it can be difficult to know what amounts to a redundancy situation. We consider the legal definition and how it applies. What the law says Redundancy is a mechanism used by employers when a company needs to reduce the number of its employees. It is one of the five potentially fair reasons for which an employer can dismiss an employee ...
As the general counsel of a company, you are busy working one day and the CEO walks into your office and says, "In the board meeting this morning, one of our directors asked me if a special committee was needed for a new issue that has come up. How do we know when a special committee is needed?" The following summary can be used as a starting point in determining your answer ...
The scope of the insured’s liability (and thus, the insurance companies’ auxiliary liability) is affected not only by national law, but also by EU legislation and case law regarding “use of a motor vehicle.” After a recent Supreme Court resolution, a contradiction between the two has emerged. Motor insurance is one of the most economically significant types of insurance policies ...
Many governmentalregulations may prevent contractual obligations from being duly fulfilled. How can you best handlethe performance, or more precisely, thenon-performance of your contracts? Force majeure Section 2913 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll ...
VAT payers, who have monthly obligations, may no longer be oriented in the flood of newly adopted tax measures to help taxpayers to overcome the current situation caused by the spread of the coronavirus. For this reason, we provide a brief overview of the tax measures specifically related to VAT and add some important remarks that should be kept in mind ...
As we draw to the end of 2021, Lauren Bholé and Lizzie Lord reflect on some of the HR challenges faced by many companies over the past 12 months. 1. Employees wanting a change in career – the ‘great resignation’ A study by Microsoft found that 41% of the global workforce is considering leaving their employer this year ...
