Flemish Government Eases System of Individual Professional Training
Very recently, the Flemish government modified the regulation on Individual Professional Training (IPT).
The IPT permits a company, in consultation with the "Vlaamse Dienst voor Arbeidsbemiddeling en Beroepsopleiding (VDAB)" (the public employment service of Flanders, comparable with the FOREm in Wallonia and Actiris in Brussels), to train and employ a job seeker during a certain period of time under favourable conditions. As long as the IPT runs, the employer only pays approximately one third of the usual labour cost.
The employer is, however, obliged to enter into a permanent contract with the trainee immediately after the training.
Continue Reading...Golden Parachutes
The problem of "golden parachutes" is very interesting and complicated, especially in connection with labour relations in Russia. At the time of the world financial crisis this problem becomes more crucial than ever before. Due to the lack of financial resources in the market, employers rarely conclude agreements with the clause of golden parachutes and even if they do so the amount of the parachutes is significantly less than before the crisis.
Golden parachutes are also of great interest now because some large judicial trials concerning these provisions occurred recently. Continue reading ALRUD's Golden Parachutes in Russia (pdf) for a discussion of these judicial trials along with a description of the main provisions of golden parachutes.
ALRUD's discussion first appeared in Executive View's "Labour & Employment 2009 Digital Guide."
Rome I and Terms of Employment
Employers who post employees abroad should check which terms of employment they should provide to them at the level required by the law of the country of posting. They should make sure whether, under the new Regulation No. 593/2008 on the Law Applicable to Contractual Obligations ("Rome I"), which came into force on 17 December
English Courts Broadly Interpret the Territorial Reach of U.K. Employment Legislation
The territorial reach of U.K. employment legislation has come under scrutiny recently. Two judgments handed down from the Court of Appeal and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) have broadly interpreted the territorial reach of the Fixed Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2002 (the "Fixed Term Regulations"), the Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA) and the Employment Equality (Age Regulations) 2006 (the "Age Regulations"). In the first case, the Court of Appeal held that the Fixed Term Regulations could be enforced by a U.K. national who worked overseas. More worryingly in the second case, the EAT held that the RRA and the Age Regulations could be enforced by foreign nationals who work partly in England. These two judgments potentially will have significant impact on U.S. companies operating in the U.K. and/or employing U.K. nationals. For a detailed discussion of these two judgments, as well as recommendations for multinational employers, continue reading Littler's ASAP English Courts Broadly Interpret the Territorial Reach of U.K. Employment Legislation, written by John Kloosterman and Anita Vadgama.
New Language Requirements Applicable to Workplace Communications by Employers in Indonesia
On 9 July 2009 a new law came into effect in Indonesia which will have a significant impact upon the way in which foreign companies with operations in Indonesia communicate in the workplace and document their employment arrangements.
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New York Court Rejects Foreign Corporation's Attempt to Dismiss Employment-Related Claim on Jurisdictional Grounds
It appears that the reach of
Employment Documents in Foreign Language
From 15 October 2009 employment documents (employment agreements, notices of termination, etc.) for an employee who is not a Polish citizen may be prepared in a foreign language spoken by the employee. The employer should inform the employee about the right to receive employment documents in Polish but the employee can select a foreign language. His request is then binding. This is a result of an amendment of the Act on Polish Language of 27 August 2009 (Journal of Laws No. 161, Item 1280). In respect to Polish employees, the law now sets forth the rule that when employment documents are bilingual (in Polish and in another language), the Polish version shall always prevail.
Fixed-Term Employment Agreements
Concluding a fixed-term employment agreement for a period unsubstantiated by a business reason may constitute a breach of the law. This is the case for instance when a fixed-term contract is made for a very long period of time, the employer has no intention to actually continue employment throughout its entire term and the conclusion of such agreement is only aimed at providing an easier way to dismiss the employee. Dismissing an employee with a fixed-term employment agreement is not subject to various restrictions applicable to permanent contracts. In such case, the fixed-term employment agreement may be found to be an agreement for indefinite period of time. This is the conclusion from the ruling of the Supreme Court of 25 February 2009 (II PK 186/08).