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Employment Agreements

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In the wake of the #metoo movement, several lawmakers proposed legislation to ban confidentiality provisions in workplace sexual harassment settlements.

Critics of confidentiality agreements say that they enable serial abusers and silence victims. But, some advocates question whether a ban could actually harm individuals. For instance, some victims may actually prefer confidentiality and the prospect of publicity may discourage them from coming forward. Further, the promise of confidentiality may lead to larger (and earlier) monetary settlements for victims.Continue Reading #MeToo Breaks Silence, Legislators Follow: Confidentiality Provisions

The use of mandatory employment arbitration agreements has long been the subject of debate, but the controversy has intensified since the inception of the #MeToo movement. Some legislators believe that mandatory arbitration of sexual harassment claims silences harassment victims and perpetuates harassment.
Continue Reading #MeToo Breaks Silence, Legislators Follow: Arbitration Agreements

In our latest podcast, Baker McKenzie partner Joe Deng introduces Tomohisa Muranushi to discuss employment laws in Japan and give an overview of what changed in 2017 as well as what we can expect for the year ahead.

Key Takeaways:

  1. Reduce excessive overtime
  2. Encourage greater female participation
  3. Watch out for developments regarding fixed term contracts

…

Our Baker McKenzie colleagues in our London office just shared their January 2018 Employment Law Update. Find it HERE.

Highlights include:

  • Increases to statutory payments for time off work
  • Tribunal claims: volume of claims increasing following abolition of tribunal fees
  • Brexit: proposed technical changes to employment laws published
  • Gender pay gap reporting: pressure

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Seraphim Ma, a partner in Baker McKenzie’s Taiwan office, shares a broad overview of Taiwan’s new Act for Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals.

The Act provides a package of benefits designed to increase the desirability and convenience for foreign nationals to work in Taiwan. Currently, the Executive hopes to promulgate the Act by the end of February. While the Act is limited in applicability to specific fields, the passage of this legislation marks the start of an exciting era for Taiwan as it begins to compete for foreign talent.Continue Reading Taiwan Passes Act To Encourage Employment Of Foreign Professionals

Attention employers using biometric identification technology, such as retina scans, fingerprint identification and facial recognition technology:

A number of corporations in Illinois, including internet and video game companies, food product manufacturers, gas stations, and restaurant chains, have been sued in the past few months for alleged BIPA violations.

Here’s what you need to know

Continue Reading How To Avoid Class Action Liability Under Illinois’ Biometric Information Privacy Act

Since many Texas companies send employees on international assignment, they should be mindful that the U.S. federal income tax rules don’t apply to everyone in the same way.  A case in point is a recent Tax Court Memorandum decision, Qunell v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue.  In that case, the Tax Court held that even though the taxpayer was employed in Afghanistan for 16 months, he was not entitled to exclude his income earned in Afghanistan for 2011 from U.S. tax because he was deemed to have a U.S. abode.  For those who have only a high-level understanding of the foreign earned income exclusion under Section 911 of the Internal Revenue Code (see previous post here), this result may not be obvious.  But the statute is clear that even if a taxpayer otherwise qualifies to exclude foreign earned income under Section 911, that exclusion is not available if the taxpayer has an abode within the United States.

So, what is an “abode”?
Continue Reading Expatriate Taxation, Part II: Not All U.S. Expats Can Exclude Their Foreign Earned Income

Texas companies that send their employees on international assignment shouldn’t let their employees figure out their US federal income taxes by themselves. A case in point is a recent Tax Court Memorandum decision, Gerencser v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, where the taxpayer not only lost to the IRS but was assessed with penalties as well. A well-written global mobility policy that requires expats to use the company’s designated tax return preparer is best practice, but surprisingly not all companies take this approach. Because a failure by the expat to properly compute taxes could, in fact, subject the employer to liability, it is important that companies review their global mobility policies.
Continue Reading Expatriate Taxation – Don’t Be a Cowboy!