Dangerous International Employee Assignments: Littler Report Guides Employers Through the Issues
The current upheaval in Egypt and the rest of the Middle East serves as a reminder that overseas assignments can inherently be fraught with risk. The potential dangers of natural disasters, kidnapping, and terrorist attacks are wide-ranging, but the key legal, and practical, inquiries remain constant: to what extent did the employer have a legal or ethical obligation to prevent what occurred, and could the employer have prevented what occurred by implementing a thoughtful plan.
A February 2011 Littler Report, "Managing the Global Workforce: A Legal and Practical Guide to Dangerous International Employee Assignments," examines the issues facing employers under U.S. law and in a sampling of other jurisdictions. This guide also outlines a series of practical steps that employers can and should take to mitigate the risks inherent in international assignments. While there may be no way to absolutely prevent incidents of this nature, there is no substitute for effectively planning for the contingencies that may arise in international assignments. To learn more, continue reading this Littler Report, written by Philip M. Berkowitz and Michael G. Congiu.
Photo credit: Captura
Enhanced Employment Insurance Benefits End
Two temporary employment insurance enhancements, introduced by the federal government to provide increased benefits to unemployed workers and stimulate the economy during the recession, have ended. The first measure, contained in Bill C-10 (pdf), the Budget Implementation Act, S.C. 2009, c.2, increased the maximum duration of employment insurance benefits from 45 to 50 weeks in high unemployment regions. The second measure, contained in Bill C-50 (pdf), an Act to amend the Employment Insurance Act and to increase benefits, S.C. 2009, c.301, provided up to 20 additional weeks of benefits to long-tenured workers who had not previously collected employment insurance benefits. Both measures ended on September 11, 2010.
Most Large Employers Will Make Changes to Their Health Care Plans, Study Finds
A survey report (pdf) of 72 large employers finds that most anticipate an increase in health 
care costs in 2011 as a result of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("Affordable Care Act"), and are making changes to their plan designs in order to comply with the new health care law and its regulations. The Affordable Care Act will require health care plans to comply with a number of new standards as of September 23, 2010. To learn more about the survey report and how employers will ensure compliance with the Affordable Care Act and manage costs, please continue reading at Littler's Healthcare Employment Counsel blog.
Photo credit: MBPHOTO, INC.
Accidents at Work Insurance
Companies will be obliged to pay premiums for accident insurance for all civil contractors. Until 2010 these contributions did not have to be paid for contractors working outside the company's seat or outside the place where the company conducts business. This results from the amendment to the Act on the Social Security System coming into force as of 1 January 2010.
New European Social Security Regulations as of 1 May 2010
On 30 October 2009, the implementing regulation of Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004, that will replace Regulation (EEC) No. 1408/71, was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Regulation (EC) No. 883/2004 provides a series of rules to determine which social security regime is applicable in the event of cross-border employment. The basic principle is that a worker is subject to the social security regime of one Member State, namely the country of employment. Secondment and simultaneous employment are two exceptions to the rule. For an overview of the most important changes, we refer to our newsletter: 'Expats: the summer of 2009' (pdf).
Continue Reading...New Employment Insurance Statistics Hint at Labour Market Recovery
Employment Insurance (EI) statistics released recently by Statistics Canada are the latest sign that the recession may be over and the Canadian labour market may be recovering.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of people receiving regular EI benefits in July decreased by 3.8%, the first decrease in almost a year. The largest declines occurred in Ontario (5.9%), Quebec (5.3%), and Alberta (4.4%). Only Newfoundland and Labrador had a significant increase, where the number of beneficiaries increased 6.5%.
Despite these encouraging signs, the number of EI beneficiaries is still 57.4% above the level seen in October 2008. Youths and men have been particularly hard hit. The number of young men receiving EI benefits has increased by 122% in the last year, while the number of men between the ages of 25 and 54 receiving benefits has increased 86.4%. In comparison, the rate of growth in the number of female EI beneficiaries was just 32.5%.
The complete report is available online at Statistics Canada.
New European Social Security Regulations in Principle as from 1 May 2010
In principle every country has its own social security regime and its own social security rules. To promote internal mobility Regulation (EEC) 1408/71 was introduced. This Regulation doesn't provide a unified European social security regime but rather a series of designation rules to determine which social security is applicable in the event of cross-border employment. The basic principle is that one is subject to the social security regime of one Member State, namely the security of the country of employment. There are two exceptions to this principle: secondment and simultaneous employment in various Member States.
Continue Reading...Federal Government Introduces New Employment Insurance Changes
The federal government has introduced legislation to amend the Employment Insurance Act. Bill C-50, An Act to Amend the Employment Insurance Act and to increase benefits, if passed, would extend the length of time during which "long-tenured" employees may collect employment insurance benefits.
Continue Reading...Federal Government May Be Preparing to Introduce Employment Insurance Reforms
The Canadian Press and CBC News are reporting that the federal government is preparing to introduce changes to the employment insurance regime as early as next week. Although the changes have not yet been announced, according to CBC News the reforms may:
- extend benefits to laid-off workers with a long tenure who have not previously collected benefits; and
- extend maternity and parental benefits to the self-employed.