By Kate Bresner, Pallett Valo LLP
Major changes to the Canada Labour Code (“CLC”), legislation affecting federally regulated employers, came into force on 01 September 2019. Federally regulated employers primarily include those conducting business in banking, federal Crown corporations, many First Nations activities, and those operating in industries that cross provincial and/or national borders (such as railways; road, marine, and air transport; telephone and cable systems; and radio and television broadcasting). Further reforms are expected to continue to be implemented gradually throughout the rest of the year and 2020.
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By Ekaterina Kabanova, KBK Accounting
The appeal court of the city of Nizhny Novgorod made an interesting pronouncement, in June 2019, accepting that it is possible to notify an employee about an upcoming dismissal due to staff reduction via email. This court decision appears to be quite uncommon; the current judgement insists on execution of all staff-related documentation on paper and only reluctantly gives weight to materials in other forms and without the “real” signature on it.
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By Harmajinder Hayre, Ward Hadaway
The date for Brexit is now 31 October 2019; although uncertainty still prevails, the UK’s new Prime Minister is pushing for a no-deal Brexit. Measures are in place to ease the transition for UK-based employers relying on EEA workers on a temporary or permanent basis, in addition to revised rules which will come into effect in the future for non-EEA workers.
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By Ahmed Bulbulia, Pallett Valo LLP
On 17 June 2019, a new trademark regime came into force in Canada. Transformational changes to Canada’s trademark laws have been adopted to align Canada with international standards and obligations. This new regime contains a number of fundamental changes that brand owners and their legal advisors should be aware of. Some of the key changes are summarised below:
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By Ran Kamil, Soroker Agmon Nordman | IP & beyond
The second decade of the twentyfirst century will probably be marked by future historians as the dawn of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) era. While we are yet to be hunted by legions of killer robots guided by an AI resolved to correct God’s mistake of saving Noah from the flood, we no longer use machines just to substitute or enhance human physical labour, but also as a substitute for human discretion in the decision-making process.
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By Marty Rabinovitch, Devry Smith Frank LLP
Emerging technologies are able to predict with a high degree of accuracy how the Canadian courts will decide issues related to the legality of drug testing of employees in the workplace.
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By Huub Kapel and Wytske Wijnnobel, LIMES International B.V.
As of 16 February 2019, the Regulation on Public Documents (Regulation 2016/1191) is applicable in all EU Member States. This Regulation aims to lower formalities and costs for citizens presenting public documents in another EU country than the country where the documents were issued, such as court documents, birth certificates, marriage certificates or a certificate on the absence of a criminal record.
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By Akin Alcitepe, Offit Kurman
Most foreign governments require disputes with parties with which they have agreements to be litigated in their courts using their domestic law. Under certain circumstances, however, a company doing business with a foreign government may be able to bring its claim to a neutral international arbitration forum through the use of a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) or a Multilateral Investment Treaty (MIT).
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By Chris Gantt-Sorenson, Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.
The last several years in the employment-law arena have been energised with multi-faceted issues. This article details four lesser-known issues employers and their practitioners need to be aware of: an imminent ruling on Title VII protections for LGBTQQIA workers; OSHA’s use of drones for investigations and inspections; social media gaffes; and lingering retaliation liability.
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By Narcisa Przulj and Zach Merkle, Sandberg Phoenix & von Gontard P.C.
As with most Supreme Court terms, the high court has handed down opinions with which all employment-law practitioners should be familiar. October Term 2018 has been a big one for arbitration provisions, which directly affect many employment contracts.
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