By Jeffrey Percival and Kate Bresner, Pallett Valo LLP
The US concept of “at-will employment”, which allows for termination of employment for any reason without notice (so long as it is not for an illegal purpose), does not exist in Canada. In Canada, reasonable notice of termination is an implied term in all employment agreements. In order to terminate an employment relationship without cause, an employer must provide appropriate notice or pay in lieu.
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By Sarah M. Saint, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, and Cile Johnson, Talent Dimensions
US employment law is rapidly developing in the areas of LGBTQ+, religious, and disability nondiscrimination and accommodation requirements as an increasing number of US companies embrace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) ideals. How can organisations show their commitment to DEI efforts through compliance with anti-discrimination laws? How can organisations go “above and beyond”? Can DEI go too far and swing into legal hot water?
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By Jeremiasz Kuśmierz, Penteris
Two pieces of EU legislation are currently under construction. Their implementation will forever change the face of our digital world. Once the two acts in question – the Digital Markets Act (“DMA”) and Digital Services Act (“DSA”) – are approved they will come into force 20 days after being published, however due to their ground-breaking impact on our digital world, their applicability will be postponed by 6 and 15 months, respectively. Like all other EU regulations, the two acts will be directly applicable in all EU member states.
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By Patricia Goodson, Beth Langley and Sarah Saint, Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP
In Bostock v Clayton County, the US Supreme Court held that terminating an employee on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity violated the sex discrimination prohibition found in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII). The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and federal courts have interpreted Bostock to mean that other acts prohibited by Title VII are unlawful when done on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
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By Prof Sergio Guerrero Rosas, Guerrero y Santana, S.C.
In 2021, the Mexican government enacted labour and tax law reforms that prohibit the outsourcing of workers. The new Outsourcing Reform was published in the Diario Oficial de la Federación (Federal Offcial Gazette) on 23 April 2021.
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By Raf Uzar, Penteris
Residing in Poland, Raf Uzar is witnessing first-hand people coming together to support Ukrainian refugees. Here he shares lessons we can all learn from the humanitarian response to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
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By Jonathan B. Wilson, Taylor English Duma LLP
The Corporate Transparency Act is one of the biggest developments in US corporate legal practice in decades. The Act, adopted by Congress in December 2020, requires every corporation, LLC and limited partnership to file a beneficial ownership report with FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. The Act is intended to bring US anti-money laundering standards more in line with European standards and will apply both to US companies as well as non-US companies that register to do business in the US. It does this by creating a new national registry of corporate beneficial ownership data. Because this concept is new to US investors, managers and lawyers, the Act’s requirements will be unfamiliar to companies that do business in the US and the attorneys that advise them.
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By Terry Myers and Peter Flägel, Gibbons P.C.
California enacted the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act in 2010 to ensure that consumers are provided with information about the efforts of companies doing business in California to abolish human traffcking and slavery from product supply chains. There are three requirements for the statute to apply. The company must:
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By Andy Balaura and Maria Tassou, Pallett Valo LLP
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario recently released a decision regarding a municipal by-law requiring businesses to implement mask policies during the Covid-19 pandemic. In Sharma v Toronto (City), 2020 HRTO 949, Sharma brought an application against the City of Toronto, alleging that the City had discriminated against him contrary to the Ontario Human Rights Code on the protected grounds of “creed” and “disability”, because he was denied service at several businesses due to this by-law.
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By Jeffrey L. R. Kenens, TeekensKarstens advocaten notarissen
In this case the plaintiff claimed to be entitled to holiday pay including overtime hours, arguing on the basis of the European Working Hours Directive (Directive 2003/88/EC) and the case law of the European Court of Justice based on it (ECJ). The ECJ has rendered three judgments that are important for the assessment of the case – namely the judgments of 16 March 2006 in Robinson-Steele, of 15 September 2011 in Williams v British Airways and of 13 December 2018 in Hein v Albert Holzkamm.
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