Accidents at work under the influence of alcohol or drugs On 1 July 2015 changes were made to the compulsory health insurance system, under which individuals are eligible for certain payments if they are injured in an accident at work. Before 1 July...

Minimum wage: Further relaxation of the documentation obligations Since the statutory minimum wage of EUR 8.50 per hour was introduced, the administrative obligations in respect of the minimum wage continue to frustrate employers. Companies wit...

New provisions relating to staff representatives OverviewFrom 17 August 2015 new provision, referred to as the “Rebsamen Law” (the “Law”), was introduced. It is aimed at modernising and strengthening relationships with staff ...

Government plans significant changes to labour legislation For some time the government and labour market organisations have been trying, without success, to agree on reforms to employment rights in Finland. Now, in an attempt to break the deadlock,...

The Supreme Court judgment in the Alstom case In the ALSTOM case, the judgment of the Supreme Court (No 3-2-1-80-15) dated 21 September 2015 deals with how to make a claim for employment litigation costs. In addition, the judgment explains the damag...

Determining exempted employment categoriesAustrian employment law exempts certain  part-time employment from payment of health, pension and unemployment insurance contributions. In 2015 the maximum monthly salary is EUR 405.98 per month or EUR ...

Court expands discrimination lawThe CJEU has ruled that EU law covers indirect discrimination by association - a decision which expands the reach of discrimination law. It decided that an individual may claim indirect discrimination under the EU Rac...

Introduction to Abu Dhabi Global Market – Employment Regulations In 2013 the Abu Dhabi Global Market (“ADGM”) was established as a financial free zone in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Since then, the ADGM has implemented its own rules and regul...

Labour Brokers and Clients: The Assigned roles of Employers In recent years South Africa has experienced progressively stricter regulation on the use of labour brokers (also known as employment agencies in some other jurisdictions - placing workers ...

Working hours in Hong Kong Some employers are surprised to learn that (save for rules regarding children, young persons in industrial undertakings, statutory holidays and rest days) there is no regulatory framework restricting or monitoring standard...

A digital age of evidence in employment disputes In China, when an employer wishes to terminate an employee’s employment, the burden of proof falls on the employer to show that the statutory grounds for justifying the termination have been met...

Reform of section 2103 of the Italian civil code, concerning modification of work duties Section. 3 of law decree no. 81 of 2015 significantly amended section 2103 of Italian civil code. In its original form the rule set out that “an employee ...

Working after pensionable age – new legislation takes effect Over the coming years the Dutch pensionable age (currently 65) is set to increase gradually, in order to offset the costs associated with an ageing population. By 2021 the pension ag...

Changes to fixed term (definite term) employment contracts On 22 February 2016, an amendment to the Labour Code on definite period employment contracts will come into force. This amendment will introduce new rules allowing an employer to conclude no...

Court extends flexible working rights under the Spanish Constitution?In a recent case involving a request for flexible working, the court found in favor of the employee by granting his request for a flexible starting time, relying on Article 39 of t...

Amendment to the Labour Code and the Employment Act On 1 October 2015, amendments to the Czech Labour Code and the Employment Act came into effect and brought about substantial changes to Czech labour law, affecting most employers in the Czech Repub...

Swiss working time regulations simplified for higher ranked employees On 1 January 2016, new articles 73a and 73b of the Swiss Ordinance relating to the Labour Law Act (OLLA1) entered into force. Reflecting the reality of today’s work life, th...

Major new anti-slavery law affecting global organisations doing business in the UK in force The Modern Slavery Act 2015 requires commercial organisations with a turnover of £36 million and above and supplying goods or services to publicly repo...

Important EU data protection changes are a step nearerAfter years in the offing, the EU Parliament, Council and Commission representatives have reached political agreement on the drafting of the new EU data protection framework. Although minor modif...

UAE employers be aware - new UAE employment requirementsThree new Ministerial Decrees came into effect on 1 January 2016. These Decrees, issued by the Ministry of Labour (“MOL”), impact upon the way job offers are made and have implicati...

Ministry of Labour makes numerous labour law changes The Ministry of Labour made a number of changes to labour law with effect from 18 October 2015. Amongst other things, the amendments cover disciplinary procedures, training, Saudization privileges...

New requirement to issue itemised payslips and key employment terms With effect from 1 April 2016, all Singapore employers will be required to issue itemised payslips and key employment terms to employees covered under the Singapore Employment Act. ...

Latest developments in temporary employment (agency or leased workers) In Germany, the provision of temporary personnel is strictly regulated by the German Law on Labour Leasing Act (AÜG). The principle is straightforward: the agency is the emp...

2016 – A new year and a new employment claims system in Ireland 2015 brought a number of changes to the Irish employment law landscape. The most significant change was the introduction of the Workplace Relations Act 2015 (the “Act”...

Increase in parental leave days Swedish parents are entitled to 480 days of paid parental leave when a child is born or adopted. In principle, each parent is entitled to 240 days’ leave, some of which is available exclusively for that parent&...

Private sector wage increasesAn increase of 6% has been agreed for private sector pay, following a negotiation between the UGTT and UTICA. This agreement provides for an increase of 6% on basic salary, plus an increase in the transport allowance by ...

A number of employment law changes have taken effect at the start of 2016… Increased fines for unfulfilled employment quotas Employers with more than 25 employees must employ at least one employee with a disability for every 25 employees in t...

Supreme Court rulings on fixed term and overtime work In its recent rulings, the Supreme Court of Estonia has clarified appropriate compensation for the early termination of a fixed term employment contract and also how to determine overtime work wh...

Prescription (the lapse of arbitration awards) in employment  There have been a number of conflicting judgments dealing with the prescription of arbitration awards and how the term “debt” should be defined in the employment arena. ...

New legislation on occupational accidents and diseasesThe Act on occupational accidents and occupational diseases (459/2015) came into force on 1 January 2016. By combining the earlier three Acts on occupational accidents and diseases into one, the ...

Compulsory provision of health insurance by employers in FranceThe safeguarding of employees’ wellbeing is a key focus of French employment legislation. From biannual consultations with employees to evaluate the psychological impacts of their ...

More flexibility for group companies to enforce proprietary rights and restrictions against employees? The Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Ordinance (Cap. 623) (the “Ordinance”) came into force in Hong Kong on 1 January 2016. The Ord...

On 12 February 2016, the Government gazetted the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2016 (the “Bill”). The Bill will be introduced into the Legislative Council for first and second readings on 2 March 2016 but it is not clear when it may come i...

The White House coronavirus task force will wind down as the country moves into a second phase that focuses on the aftermath of the pandemic.

In late 2008, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) reviewed how firms had implemented key aspects of the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). It has now published the results of that review. Generally the FSA has been encouraged by ...

On 19 March, the Financial Services Authority published its much anticipated second consultation on AIFMD: “Implementation of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive” – CP 13/9. The FSA paper came hot on the heels of HM ...

Morocco - New opportunities for investments of companies based in Morocco By Jawad Fassi-Fehri In Morocco, measures aiming to make Casa Finance City (CFC) a financial continental platform are progressing. After the announcement by the African Develo...

Updated AIFMD Q&As The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) has published an updated version of its Q&A paper on the application of the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD). This publication was released on...

Ury Estate Limited v BP Exploration Operating Company Limited [2019] CSOH 36 A landowner raised a court action against BP seeking compensation for their inability to develop land due to a presence of an oil pipeline.  The proposed development w...

The new Electronic Communications Code (“the Code”) received royal assent on 27 April 2017, as part of the Digital Economy Act 2017 (“the Act”). The Code came into force on 28 December 2017.  

Warborough Investments Limited v Lunar Office SARL [2018] EWCA Civ 427 The Court of Appeal has held that, contrary to the decision at first instance, the sub-clauses of a lease setting out the terms for permitting underletting should be read cumula...

I Love Biscuits and I have been searching for a quick and easy recipe to make in my countertop convection oven. Living in a hot climate – I don’t want to heat up the house with the regular oven and besides, I only want a small batch. This is a quick and easy Drop-Biscuit recipe that makes six biscuits. Plus, you can make it Vegan if you like! -- posted by Billy R.

When I was a boy growing up in the Bronx, I would often stay at my Aunt Gloria and Uncle Mike’s apartment when I got home from school until my mom got home from work. They lived on the ground floor of the same apartment building that my family lived in. My Grandpa Corbin lived with them. It was a wonderful neighborhood of many different nationalities and many wonderful cooking smells! Sometimes when turning the corner to our block, I would be greeted by the unmistakable aroma of Grandpa’s Codfish Cakes! Once, being the little chubby piggy kid that I was I ate the last two Codfish cakes from the day before. Aunt Gloria quickly scooted me outside to play, but I could hear Grandpa yell “Who ate the last codfish cakes!!” After he cooled off – Grandpa had a temper – I apologized, but I could tell he was still pretty angry. Not long after, I turned the corner to the smell of Codfish Cakes! There sat Grandpa with a glint in his eye. “I made these codfish cakes the way I really like them! It might keep you from eating them all!” He handed me one with a smile on his face. I took a bite and thought my head might explode! But I think that started my love of hot foods! I finished and asked for another through the tears. He laughed and handed me another – this one wasn’t quite so hot – I do think the first one was specially made just for me. Over the years I tried to duplicate Grandpa’s Cod Fishcakes – without any success – thinking it was an English recipe. It wasn’t until I found out that Grandpa Corbin was born in Barbados and I found a recipe from there that tasted almost like I remembered. With some adjustments over the years, I think I finally have it! -- posted by Billy R.

from Bon Appetit. A delicious glaze. Make it often. -- posted by Vicki Kaye

Amidst the attention grabbing hysteria of Coronavirus headlines, some commentators have speculated that employers may be about to face prosecution if they don’t take all precautions possible to protect staff and third parties from infection. I...

BACKGROUND New Regulations were issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act, No. 57 of 2002 (Disaster Management Act) on 29 April 2020 (New DMA Regulations). Regulation 2(3) of the New DMA Regulations provides that any Directions issued by a resp...

On 20th March, we held the 'Coronavirus Insights and practical solutions for landlords' webinar. 

On 20th March, we held the 'Coronavirus Insights and practical solutions for landlords' webinar.  In this webinar, our speakers discussed how the outbreak of Covid-19 and the subsequent political and economic impact is having a signific...

Cherry Tree Finance sought to appeal against the decision that an early redemption penalty imposed by it was unfair. Mr and Mrs Evans carried out an antique restoration business from a property they owned. The property comprised part business and p...

There are some important changes to the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR) coming into effect in April this year. The CPR is a set of rules that govern all civil court cases in England and Wales. General pre–action conduct The use of pre-action pro...