On July 18th 2017 the European Court of Justice (ECJ) held, that employees of a subsidiary located in the territory of another member state do not have the right to vote and stand as a candidate in elections of workers’ representatives on the supervisory board of the German parent company of that group and
For many years, the structure of employment law in Poland has been characterized by a large number of civil law agreements, which serve as a substitute for employment contracts. According to statistical data, up to 85 per cent of service providers in Poland historically have been hired under civil law agreements, but not as a matter of choice – they would have preferred to work under an employment contract[1]. Although there are many reasons for this situation, one of the principal ones has been the practice of circumventing the minimum monthly wage legislation, which applies only to employment contracts.
In order to minimize the negative effect of such practices on workers, as from 1 January 2017, the legislator introduced a new minimum hourly wage act (Journal of Laws 2016, item 1265).
The retraction of an accepted offer of employment can create significant legal challenges for an employer. The BC Supreme Court recently reaffirmed that, absent an express contractual provision to the contrary or just cause, a pre-employment retraction of an accepted offer of employment constitutes termination of employment entitling the individual to reasonable notice or damages
The Supreme Court in the UK handed down its judgement on 26 July 2017, holding that the introduction of fees in the Employment tribunals prevents access to justice and is unlawful under both domestic and EU law. This is a very significant decision in the field of employment law and the enforcement of employment rights.
The digital age has revolutionized the way we eat out. At the tap of a finger we can now enjoy our favourite restaurant-cooked meals in the comfort of our own homes. This “dining in” trend has speckled bike lanes with couriers sporting thermal backpacks. As the trend is on an upswing, bicycle and foot couriers
The Italian Data Protection Authority (IDPA) is increasingly faced with issues relating to the ways employers may monitor the Internet usage of its employees. In 2016, the Authority handed down two important decisions on this topic.
In the first decision, the IDPA stated that an Italian University (the University of Chieti and Pescara) was acting unlawfully in the way that it used e-mails to trace the identity of Internet users. This University, without having given any prior warning to its employees, implemented a system that retained information regarding personal Internet access, for the purpose of service monitoring, internal security and for the prevention of possible investigative inquiries by the Authorities. In essence, the policy, which controls, filters and monitors information on Internet data, enabled the employer to indiscriminately monitor employees from a distance. The IDPA’s decision was based on the argument that this policy breached the relevant principles of “actual need and proportionality of the treatment”. The IDPA considered that the policy was not in accordance with the law because it did not refer to tools used by the employees in performing their duties and had not been previously communicated to the employees.
The Wrongful Dismissal – What Happened?
Esther Brake worked for McDonald’s for over twenty-five years, first in Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, and then as a restaurant manager in Ottawa. She had received nothing but excellent reviews for years, but in 2011 she was suddenly told her performance was inadequate and that she had two options: accept a
When an organisation is considering making redundancies, it is important to consider whether employees who are pregnant or on parental leave are afforded any special protections under Australian law.
Both the Fair Work Act 2009 and anti-discrimination legislation include provisions particularly relating to pregnancy and parental leave, including the right to return to the same or a similar position. The fact that declaring a position redundant may result in the termination of an individual’s employment means consideration must be had to whether the termination employee’s employment is in fact lawful, even if there are genuine grounds for making a position redundant. This takes into account whether the termination violates any of the protections afforded to pregnant and parental leave employees. In addition, the fact that the Fair Work Act 2009 provides a reverse onus of proof for adverse action matters means that there is an even higher obligation on employers to ensure that the redundancy was lawful in all of the circumstances.
The position in Australia can be contrasted against the position in France, for example, where employers are not allowed to dismiss an employee from the moment she is medically certified as being pregnant and must reinstate an employee who was terminated when pregnant when informed of her pregnancy. The position in France is discussed in an earlier post which can be assessed at the following link.
Two Toronto firefighters found themselves fighting to get their jobs back after some vulgar tweets on their personal Twitter accounts landed them in hot water. The cases of Matt Bowman and Lawaun Edwards demonstrate the importance of ensuring employees understand the reach of their social media accounts. After a National Post article exposed both firefighters
As reported on the blog last year, the result of the EU referendum in the UK on 23 June 2016 was that the UK should leave the EU. Since then, formal notice of withdrawal was served on 29 March 2017 which means that the UK’s exit from the EU will take place once agreement is