This guide covers 19 jurisdictions across Europe, Middle East and Africa and covers the latest country updates from the last couple of days, including employer obligations following school closures around the region.
The 2020 presidential race is well underway in the U.S. Labor policy has been and will continue to be a key talking point for Democratic candidates and President Donald Trump moving into the general election.
In part one of this two-part article, we examine the key labor policy proposals advanced by the leading Democratic contenders of the 2020 race — Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and former Vice President Joe Biden.
In part two, we will examine the policy proposals of any remaining Democratic nominees, after Super Tuesday, as well as President Donald Trump.
This article was originally published in Law360.
When encouraging employees to wash their hands is not enough!
As the COVID-19 virus spreads rapidly throughout the world, and the possibility of a pandemic declaration inches closer each day, much of the advice to employers so far has focused on generic “good hygiene” recommendations from health departments.This advice is of limited utility for employers who have already faced or will soon confront coronavirus cases in their workforce. Companies and government agencies are scrambling to keep up, and difficult but nuanced decisions must be made now. “Wash your hands” simply won’t cut it when you have a confirmed COVID-19 case in your midst.
Baker McKenzie’s COVID-19 Rapid Response Team takes the opposite approach – providing practical, jurisdiction-specific guidance that employers can use to deal with their most pressing COVID-19 issues. This client alert supplements our extensive guidance in our Coronavirus Resource Center, by providing US employers with specific responses to common questions about the virus.
This alert is based on lessons learned in past pandemics. After the H1N1 outbreak in 2009 rose to the level of a pandemic, the EEOC issued an employer resource titled “Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilities Act.” We have updated the EEOC’s 2009 guidance to provide employers with answers on what they can and cannot do in addressing the COVID-19 epidemic, in the form of a FAQ and examples.
As the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads into the broader economy, human resource professionals are finding that grappling with the consequences are more complicated in union-represented workforces. In a union workforce, the employer must determine what it has already agreed it will do, the extent of its freedom to address the scenarios created by COVID-19, and the legal framework within which it must act. Below we offer several considerations for employers to adopt.
First, examine the collective bargaining agreement. This will allow you to determine the extent of the company’s freedom to act independently and expeditiously. The place to start is to determine management’s right to schedule work, to idle the plant, to send workers home and to lay-off employees. Determine the restrictions, if any, in these rights, such as call-in pay or weekly guarantees.
Continue Reading Managing COVID-19 In A Union Workforce In The US
The Ninth Circuit just reiterated one of the late U.S. Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt’s last opinions after the U.S. Supreme Court wiped it out last February. (Decision here.) In February 2019, the Supreme Court vacated and remanded Rizo v. Yovino, which held that employers cannot justify a wage differential between men and women by relying on prior salary, because Judge Reinhardt, who authored the decision, was deceased at the time the decision was issued.
Noting that “federal judges are appointed for life, not for eternity,” the Supreme Court granted certiorari and vacated the Ninth Circuit’s decision. Now, upon remand, the en banc Ninth Circuit has basically repeated its previous decision. (See our summary of Reinhardt’s decision here.) The opinion revived a suit alleging a California school system violated the Equal Pay Act by paying teacher Aileen Rizo less than her male colleagues because she made less money at her previous job. The court determined that past salary is not a “factor other than sex” that can justify gendered pay gaps.
“The express purpose of the act was to eradicate the practice of paying women less simply because they are women,” Judge Morgan Christen wrote for the majority. “Allowing employers to escape liability by relying on employees’ prior pay would defeat the purpose of the act and perpetuate the very discrimination the EPA aims to eliminate.”
The rapid spread of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) is disrupting business (and life) everywhere. As new clusters are identified across Europe and the Middle East, fears of the virus are impacting the US stock market and there are concerns of a global pandemic.
With no end in sight, many US companies are questioning what policies and practices they need to put in place, and revisiting those that they may already have in place to deal with this rapidly evolving situation. We recommend that companies take the following steps now.
Continue Reading COVID-19: Essential Action Items For US Employers To Take Now
On December 10, 2019, the United States, Canada and Mexico reached an agreement on a revised United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (“USMCA”), which establishes a rapid response labor mechanism (“RRLM”) for dispute resolution for alleged violations of the right of freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining in these countries. The mechanism allows the US and Canadian governments to make claims against facilities in Mexico for potential violations of these rights, to the extent that the rights are established by Mexican law. The Mexican government may also file a claim for potential violations to these labor rights in the US or Canada, but only if the facility involved is under an enforced order of the National Labor Relations Board or the Canada Industrial Relations Board, respectively. This mechanism cannot be invoked for disputes of this nature between the US and Canada.
Continue Reading USMCA Labor Provisions Have Potential Commercial Impact
In part one of this article, we discussed when and how multinational companies can use a noncompetition agreement on their highly skilled employees to protect their confidential information and other intellectual property. In particular, we described five key factors to consider before rolling out noncompete covenants around the world.
In part two, we analyze how noncompetes differ around the world on a region-by-region basis.
Click here to continue reading.
This article was originally published in Law360.
In 2020, trade tensions, uncertainties over Brexit, significant changes in the political landscape and unexpected global events, such as the Coronavirus outbreak, continue to present challenges for the global employer. Meanwhile, the relentless advance of technology is accelerating workplace transformation, creating an opportunity for employee growth and diversification across industries.
To help navigate the global framework of constantly evolving employment laws, the Global Employer Magazine 2020 Horizon Scanner outlines the most pressing 2020 developments and forecasted trends and their impact on your multinational workforce.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE REPORT.
Whether you need information about a specific US visa type, or are looking for a high-level overview of employer obligations related to the movement of foreign nationals under US immigration and employment law, this handbook covers a wide range of topics and serves as a go-to desk-side guide for US employers.
Click here to order complimentary hard copies, or to download a PDF version.
