In the wake of a spate of high profile sexual assault and harassment allegations in recent weeks, the federal government has announced it will implement a suite of anti-harassment reforms in response to the Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s landmark Respect@Work national inquiry report, which was released in March 2020. The Respect@Work inquiry found that Australia’s current … Continue Reading
On May 29, 2020, the President issued a proclamation blocking certain nationals of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) from entering the United States in F-1 or J-1 nonimmigrant status in order to study or conduct research. The proclamation takes effect on June 1, 2020 at 12:00 pm (EDT) and remains in effect until terminated … Continue Reading
In a bid to reawaken the Australian economy, the Federal Government is developing a return to work health and safety “toolkit” and is encouraging workplaces to become “COVID-safe”. At the same time, the Government is continuing to encourage the public to download its COVIDSafe digital contact-tracing App.… Continue Reading
By Presidential Proclamation, dated January 31, 2020 and effective on February 2, 2020 at 5pm EST, the United States is suspending the entry of “foreign nationals who pose a risk of transmitting the 2019 novel coronavirus.” As a result, foreign nationals (of any nationality), other than immediate family of U.S. citizens, permanent residents and certain … Continue Reading
The Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Ensuring Integrity) Bill 2019 introduced to the House of Representatives on 4 July passed the House at the end of the month and is now before the Senate. The Bill forms part of the Government’s broader agenda on industrial relations reform to increase the regulation of unions in the … Continue Reading
Although industrial relations did not heavily feature in the Coalition’s election campaign, now that the dust has settled on its re-election the Government has announced a Review of industrial relations laws. The areas to be targeted include:… Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs presents a webinar to discuss current hot employment law topics in Asia. Asia has, without doubt, some of the most challenging and diverse sets of employment laws in the world. Legal counsel and HR professionals in Asia often hold a remit that cuts across multiple jurisdictions and have the unenviable task of … Continue Reading
In many countries, individuals are identified by a unique number issued by the government. Probably the most ubiquitous example is the Social Security Number in the United States, which is generally necessary to obtain employment, open a bank account or obtain a driver’s license, and is used for credit monitoring and other private sector purposes. … Continue Reading
The birth of a child is one of the most important moments in a parent’s life. Some say that time spent preparing for the birth and/or with the new born child is never enough. Though the statutory leave days will definitely be a finite number, there may be some good news to share in this … Continue Reading
On 25 September 2017, the Hong Kong Court of Appeal passed down a unanimous judgment in the case of QT v. Director of Immigration to allow QT to obtain a dependent visa through her same-sex partner who works in Hong Kong. The spousal visa in question previously was granted by the Immigration Department only to heterosexual couples, … Continue Reading
As Hong Kong employers are well aware, the Mandatory Provident Fund Scheme Ordinance provides that any employer that, without reasonable excuse, fails to make a timely payment of mandatory contributions commits an offence and could be fined up to HKD 450,000. Culpable bosses could also face up to four years’ imprisonment. The Mandatory Provident Fund … Continue Reading
The scrutiny by the Australian Courts of independent contractor relationships continues with the recent case of Putland -v- Royans Wagga Pty Limited. The Federal Court found in August this year that a husband and wife who provided home-based clerical work exclusively to one company were its employees rather than independent contractors. Royans Wagga’s business involved … Continue Reading
During the 2016 US election, President Donald Trump promised many changes with the potential to affect businesses and employers across the United States. Join us to learn what has happened, what has not, and what you should do to prepare for 2018 on the employment legal front. On 7 December 2017 at 4.00 p.m. GMT … Continue Reading
As I wrote in this space last year, layoffs for economic circumstances exist under Japanese law, but are exceedingly difficult to achieve without constituting wrongful dismissal. One major international airline is learning this the hard way. Three years ago, the airline terminated three Japan-based employees in connection with the closing of its call center in … Continue Reading
Last week, Japanese newspapers reported that a national medical research center in the suburbs of Osaka had entered into a so-called “36 agreement” with its doctors and nurses in 2012, allowing these employees to work up to 300 hours of overtime per month and up to 2,070 hours of overtime per year. (To be clear, … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs presents a webinar focussing on key labour and employment issues affecting Australian employers and overseas employers with Australian operations. On 27 September 2017 at 9.00 a.m. BST (UK) (10.00 a.m. CEST, 4.00 p.m. AWST, 6.00 p.m. AEST), Bruno Di Girolami will discuss: Business Immigration – An update on recent changes affecting the employment … Continue Reading
The ever-vexed question of whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor has once again come before the Australian courts. The recent decision of Balemian v Mobilia Manufacturing Pty Ltd & Anor provides a reminder to employers of the potential financial ramifications of getting this wrong.… Continue Reading
Following recent differing decisions of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) it seems that Australian employers must still tread a fine and uncertain line in determining whether employee misconduct on social media is a valid reason for dismissal. In the recent case of Stephen Campbell v Qube Ports Pty Ltd t/a Qube Ports & Bulk in … Continue Reading
Squire Patton Boggs presents a webinar to discuss recent changes and trends in the employment landscape in Asia that have or will have a significant impact on the cost of doing business in the region. On 24 May 2017 at 8 a.m. GMT (9 a.m. BST (UK), 10 a.m. CEST, 4 p.m. SGT) Julia Yeo, … Continue Reading
On February 9, 2017 a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit unanimously upheld a Federal District Court judge’s decision (TRO) to temporarily block the President’s Executive Order (EO) entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. Our previous update regarding the TRO, the current state … Continue Reading
Significant confusion has arisen in the week since President Trump issued his Executive Order (EO) entitled Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States on January 27, 2017. Our previous summary can be found here. Following a frenetic week at U.S. ports of entry and international airports and increased litigation in several … Continue Reading
On Friday January 27, 2017, the president issued an Executive Order (EO) entitled, Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry Into the United States. The EO has yet to be posted on the White House website but the text can be found here. The purpose of this Executive Order, as stated, is to “protect our … Continue Reading
As the Festive Season reaches its peak Down Under, we have taken a look back at the more ‘interesting’ cases of 2016 to help Santa prepare his Naughty or Nice List for Australian employers: First to be considered for Santa’s list is a labourer who, in the midst of a heated discussion, somewhat unchantably called … Continue Reading
