No Written Warnings in Personal Files
All documentation related to employment of employees should be kept in their personal file. However, the contents of the file are strictly regulated and only documents recognized by the law can be stored there. The content of personal files is regulated in the Regulation of the Labour and Social Security Minister of 28 May 1996. The Supreme Court emphasized that, in particular, it is not allowed to keep in personal files any informal, written warnings not provided for by the Labour Code (judgment of 23 November 2010, I PK 105/10). The Court stated that preparing and keeping such warnings or informal disciplinary notes may lead to circumvention of the law that enumerates penalties which can be imposed on employees.
The U.K. Bribery Act's Impact on U.S. Employers
The United Kingdom's Bribery Act of 2010 became effective on July 1, 2011, and has a major impact on U.S. employers with business operations in the U.K. The Act sweeps away antiquated and piecemeal British bribery laws to create a regime of criminal offenses described by the Director of the Serious Fraud Office as, "the toughest bribery legislation in the world." Despite this, the U.K. government has emphasized that compliance with potentially stringent legislation should be a matter of common sense: a mixture of risk assessment and proportionality.
For a practical discussion of the main compliance issues from an employment perspective and guidance as to where U.S. organizations, used to complying with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the patchwork of U.S. anti-bribery laws, should focus their attention, continue reading U.K. Bribery Act "On-Line" as of July 1 - U.S. Employer Impact, by Philip Berkowitz and David Goldman of Littler Mendelson and Ellen Temperton of Lewis Silkin.
Photo credit: MBPhoto, Inc.
Employer Liable for Negligent Statements in Email about Former Employee
The High Court has ruled that an employer could be liable to a former employee for negligent and damaging comments made in an email to his new employer - even though it was sent six years after the employment relationship had ended (McKie v Swindon College [2011] EWHC 469).
The case concerned Mr McKie, who worked at Swindon College between 1995 and 2002. He received an excellent reference when he left their employment. By 2008, he was working in a new role as director of studies at the University of Bath. Part of this role involved visiting various further education colleges, including his former employer.
Swindon's HR director sent an email to the University of Bath which stated that they did not want Mr McKie on their premises or dealing with their students. The reasons given included "real safeguarding concerns for our students", and also "serious staff relationship problems" during his previous employment. As a result of receiving this email, the University of Bath dismissed Mr McKie.
Continue Reading...Obesity's Impact on Workforce Productivity & Healthcare Costs
Concern over obesity in America has grown to such an extent that the campaign to combat it now rivals the anti-smoking war that has been waged for the last decade. In much the same way that epidemiological studies linking smoking to health concerns spurred the campaign against smoking, new studies on the cost of obesity are fueling action against the obesity epidemic. The cost of the obesity epidemic is twofold: (1) it leads to a number of recognized health problems for individuals; and (2) it poses a heavy financial burden on society. Employers, in particular, are directly affected by the crisis because obesity is dramatically raising the cost of health care, decreasing employees' productivity while at work, and causing increases in absenteeism. To learn more about this issue and its implications for employers, please continuing reading at Littler's Healthcare Employment Counsel blog.
Bribery Act in Force on 1st July
The Bribery Act 2010, originally scheduled for implementation in April, will now come into force on 1 July 2011. The UK Government has finalised and published its formal guidance on the legislation.
Richard Alderman, director of the UK's Serious Fraud Office has described the Act as "the toughest bribery legislation in the world". (For a brief summary of the Act, see our previous note New Bribery Act - Implications for Employers.)
When the Act comes into force it will be unlawful to offer, promise, give, request, agree to receive or accept a bribe. Most significantly, a commercial organisation can be liable for a failure to prevent bribery by a person associated with it.
Both a "quick start guide" to the Act (PDF) and full guidance (PDF) are available. The former provides some reassurance by stating that "no one can be prosecuted in England and Wales unless one of the two most senior prosecutors ... is personally satisfied that a conviction is more than likely and that prosecution is in the public interest". So whilst the Act itself is fairly draconian in nature, it seems that enforcement is unlikely to be.
In light of the guidance, this article focuses solely on the types of measures that employers will need to take to avoid corporate liability for failing to prevent bribery.
Continue Reading...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
Avoiding the Hangover: Minimizing Liability for Holiday Parties
The end of the year is a time to celebrate. Employers often take the opportunity to join the celebration by sponsoring holiday parties for employees and sometimes their families. Employers consider such events an opportunity to foster team spirit by letting employees know that their work is appreciated. In turn, employees appreciate the chance to celebrate with coworkers outside the often hectic workday.
While the holiday party offers many positive rewards, it can also carry with it some unintended negative consequences for employers. This is especially true when alcohol is served, as alcohol consumption can quickly turn an otherwise innocuous office party into a minefield for employer liability.
Holding true to the maxim that "no good deed goes unpunished," employers may face liability for the conduct of employees who become intoxicated during office parties and thereafter behave inappropriately or illegally.
For a discussion of the types of claims that can result from holiday parties and a list of actions employers can take to minimize risks, continue reading Littler's ASAP, Avoiding the Hangover: Minimizing Liability for Holiday Parties, written by Alison Hightower and Gary Bethel.
Photo credit: cooknken
10 Tips for Employers with Operations in China
The continuing growth of the Chinese economy means that even more foreign companies are looking to the People's Republic of China (or the PRC) to expand their operations. However, while many new operators in China are focused on lower labor costs or the vast potential market, these foreign businesses often neglect to fully educate themselves about Chinese employment laws and rules critical to their operations' success.
Indeed, the rapid evolution of the Chinese labor environment in the face of ongoing social changes presents many challenges for both foreign and domestic companies. Below, we summarize 10 key considerations for global businesses with employees in China and highlight some common mistakes.
Continue Reading...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...Guidelines Released on the Re-employment of Older Workers in Singapore
The Singapore government intends to introduce re-employment legislation to take effect on 1 January 2012. The Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers was charged with the task of working through the practical aspects of the re-employment legislation and producing guidelines for employers. The guidelines were finalised following a round of public consultation in late 2009.
The guidelines are not legally binding. Rather, they are intended to assist employers and employees to prepare for the implementation of the re-employment legislation in 2012. The guidelines identify good re-employment practices that employers are encouraged to adopt in advance of the legislation coming into effect.
To read more about this development, please click here.
Contributors: George Cooper, Partner, and Celia Yuen, Senior Associate