30 April is to non-recurrent results-based bonus schemes in Belgium what 29 March was to the UK: a doom and gloom deadline that turned out to be … well, no big deal, really.… Continue Reading
If you have recently read the headline, say, “Directors personally liable for company’s breach of employment contract” and now quail in anticipation of a whole new avenue of attack on your business, fear not. All is not as it seems.… Continue Reading
On January 15, 2019, the United States Supreme Court held in New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira that a trucking company could not compel its drivers, which it classified as independent contractors, to arbitrate their wage and hour claims against the company because Congress intended to exempt all interstate transportation workers from the Federal Arbitration Act … Continue Reading
As the Supreme Court’s October 2018 term opened, we wrote about three significant cases on its docket involving arbitration, each of which are likely to have an impact on the arbitration of employment-related claims. The Court issued its decision in the first of those cases on January 8, 2019. In his first opinion since joining … Continue Reading
We’ve been keeping you apprised of the many developments over the past few years coming from the United States Supreme Court and other courts concerning agreements between employers and their employees to arbitrate disputes arising out of the employment relationship. The Supreme Court’s decision last term in Epic Systems v. Lewis, which we discussed in … Continue Reading
Massachusetts Imposes One-Year Cap and Other Restrictions On Non-Compete Agreements The Massachusetts Noncompetition Agreement Act (see link, at Section 24L) (“MNAA”) effective October 1, 2018, places new restrictions on the length and applicability of non-compete agreements between employers and employees who work within the state of Massachusetts. (Note that the law defines employees to include … Continue Reading
As we know, where an employee is engaged under one or a series of fixed-term contracts for a period of over 2 years, they acquire the right not to be unfairly dismissed. It is also the case that non-renewal of a fixed-term contract will count as a dismissal under the ERA 1996. An employee whose … Continue Reading
As more employers are ‘named and shamed’ in the press for paying below the National Minimum Wage, the immediate question is “How can a large employer, with significant resources, be paying below the NMW by accident?” There are numerous areas where employers may find themselves unwittingly paying below the NMW and on the naughty step … Continue Reading
Restrictive covenants in employment contracts are a bit like lifejackets: it’s nice to have them there and you hope that they will fit you in an emergency but you would really prefer not to have to use them. That said, if the time comes and your employees are approached by a competitor in breach of … Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit joins Seventh Circuit in holding that class and collective action waivers in arbitration agreements violate the National Labor Relations Act and therefore are unenforceable. The question is straightforward enough: does an employer violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) by requiring that employees sign an agreement to arbitrate any claims concerning their wages, … Continue Reading
On April 3, 2015, we reported that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had sent letters to numerous publicly-traded U.S. companies requesting their nondisclosure agreements, severance and settlement agreements, and other contracts entered into after the enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”) to determine whether the documents unduly interfere … Continue Reading
Here is a recent case which contains lessons harder than A-Level Maths for employers with discretionary bonus schemes. Mr Hills was regional sales manager in the UK for Niksun Inc, a US-owned business whose website says that it is “the primary provider of full packet capture for DISA“. No, nor me. Niksun runs a bonus … Continue Reading
