Trade unions should shape working life in a meaningful way through collective agreements ensuring good working relations. In order to be eligible for collective bargaining, they must have a minimum bargaining unit vis-à-vis the workplace, says the German Federal Constitutional Court. In Germany, the labour courts decide whether associations are eligible for collective bargaining and … Continue reading
The French authorities have been very prolific in the area of effecting reforms to employment law, and 2019 will not be an exception to this general rule (although perhaps less so than was the case in 2017 and 2018). First, in 2019, a certain number of reforms promulgated in 2017 and 2018 will either come … Continue reading
An estimated 8 to 10% of Singapore’s existing workforce comprise freelancers and self-employed individuals.[1] This percentage is likely to increase with the expansion of the gig and on-demand economy. In recent months, there has been increasing public concern as to the ‘employment’ rights and legal status of these freelancers and self-employed individuals. Are they employees … Continue reading
In March 2016, we issued a legal update discussing Private Member’s Bill C-234. This Bill, tabled by the NDP, proposed the introduction in the Canada Labour Code of measures comparable to the anti-scab provisions contained in the Québec Labour Code. This NDP proposition was undertaken to support longstanding unions’ demands – in the past, similar … Continue reading
On August 22, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit joined the Seventh Circuit in finding that an employer violates the National Labor Relations Act (“NLRA”) by requiring employees to sign an agreement including a class arbitration waiver. In Morris v. Ernst & Young, plaintiffs were required to sign “concerted action waivers” as a … Continue reading
In the much anticipated Columbia University decision, the National Labor Relations Board reversed its most recent precedent and held that student teaching assistants at private colleges and universities are statutory employees under the National Labor Relations Act and may therefore vote to form a union. This decision is a return to an earlier decision by … Continue reading
There is a growing body of arbitral jurisprudence upholding summary dismissal of employees who breached workplace codes of conduct, confidentiality and privacy policies by deliberately snooping into co-worker or client records without any legitimate purpose and for reasons of their own. A number of these cases have concerned privacy breaches by hospital employees. Ontario Nurses’ … Continue reading
Last week, the Ontario Medical Association (“OMA”) challenged the constitutionality of the provincial government’s decision to cut fees for doctors. The OMA is relying on section 2(d) of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) which expressly protects freedom of association – a right most often invoked by trade unions. The organization is seeking … Continue reading
Please view this month’s video from Paul Griffin, Head of Employment & Labour in London, which provides a review of consultation papers issued by the UK Government affecting UK employment law. … Continue reading
On August 17, 2015, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) declined to assert jurisdiction to determine whether the Northwestern University (Northwestern) scholarship football players should be considered employees under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). In April, we reported that the Regional Director of Region 13 of the NLRB found that scholarship football players from … Continue reading
The Ontario Court of Appeal has recently upheld a decision of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal which discussed the interaction of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”) and the Ontario Human Rights Code (the “Code”) with respect to discrimination in the employment context. In the case of Taylor-Baptiste v. Ontario Public Service … Continue reading
The government’s new School Boards Collective Bargaining Act, which passed last year, has become the subject of controversy. Secondary school teachers across Ontario have been on strike for multiple weeks keeping approximately 70,000 students out of the classroom. The three school boards have taken this issue of these local strike’s legality to the Ontario Labour … Continue reading
Arg strapaziert wird derzeit der Geduldsfaden der Bahnkunden – über Tage hinweg legten Gewerkschaften den Bahnverkehr mit Streiks lahm. Da eine Einigung der Lokführergewerkschaft GdL bzw. der Eisenbahnergewerkschaft EVG mit der Deutschen Bahn noch immer nicht in Sicht ist, ist zudem bis Weihnachten mit weiteren Streiks zu rechnen. Doch was ist der Hintergrund der verhärteten … Continue reading
In Quebec, time devoted to paid work has considerably increased over the years. Moreover, the number of single-parent families and households where both spouses work is growing. Consequently, we are left with an increasing imbalance between work and family obligations. Quebec is no exception to this rule. Indeed, the Bureau de Normalisation du Québec (BNQ) … Continue reading
The fallout has continued from the industrial dispute between building company Grocon and the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), which culminated in a major blockade in Melbourne’s central business district in August 2012, with the Full Federal Court partially allowing an appeal by the CFMEU against a decision that would have permitted the … Continue reading
The German Federal Labour Court recently held that an employee is not entitled to use an email account that has been provided to him by his or her employer for official work purposes in order to distribute a strike call within the company. In the case at issue, the German trade union ver.di decided to … Continue reading
This post was contributed by Valentina Albarrán, Associate, Norton Rose Fulbright Caracas A few months after the 1st year anniversary of the Venezuelan New Labor Law the legislative body has proven itself to be a modern take on the Pandora´s Box myth. Of the many controversial aspects of the law, there is still one that … Continue reading
After surviving a three year consultation process and hefty deliberations in the National Economic Development and Labour Council, strike ballot provisions were voted out of the Labour Relations Amendment Bill by Parliament’s labour committee last week. The provisions, which were intended to amend the sections regulating workers’ right to strike in the Labour Relations Act … Continue reading
Eco Recyclers Pty Ltd (Eco), a contractor that performs demolition work in the construction industry, has become drawn into a larger dispute between the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) and the Victorian Government, in relation to the Government’s “Implementation Guidelines to the Victorian Code of Practice for the Building and Construction Industry” (the … Continue reading
This post was contributed by Kate Paterson The High Court has overturned a decision by the Minister of Labour to extend a collective agreement in the textile industry to non-parties to the bargaining council. The agreement set out the minimum wages that employers who were parties to the agreement had to pay their employees. The … Continue reading