On February 10, 2020, United States District Judge Dolly M. Gee denied a motion for a preliminary injunction to enjoin California from enforcing Assembly Bill 5 (AB 5) against Postmates Inc. and Uber Technologies, Inc. Judge Gee concluded: “Plaintiffs have not shown serious questions going to the merits — the critical factor in determining whether to issue a preliminary injunction — and, though company plaintiffs have shown some measure of likelihood of irreparable harm, the balance of equities and the public interest weigh in favor of permitting the state to enforce this legislation.”
What To Consider Before Using A Global Noncompete: Part 1
As multinational companies compete for highly skilled employees around the world, they are often confronted with a deceptively simple question: Do they impose a noncompetition agreement on their employees?
This article is part one of a two-part article addressing how multinational companies can use a noncompetition agreement on their highly skilled employees to protect their confidential information and other intellectual property. In part two of this article, we will 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.
Getting Ahead Of The Coronavirus: Considerations For Foreign National Employees In China
With thanks to Melissa Allchin (Chicago) for this post.
Multinational employers continue to closely monitor the latest on the Novel Coronavirus. As the outbreak becomes more widespread, companies with foreign national employees and families in China are starting to feel the impact. Many may wonder how the current circumstances could affect their immigration status. Some employers may consider contingency plans, beyond work-from-home arrangements, to support foreign national employees currently on assignment in China.
Here are key takeaways for employers with an assignee population in China that may want to end their postings early or accommodate temporary residence elsewhere in the region or a return home for a short term until the outbreak situation becomes more clear:
Granting Equity Awards To PEO Employees
(With thanks to Barbara Klementz for this post.)
Why hire through a PEO?
When companies start expanding internationally, it is often important to “put boots on the ground” as quickly and cost-effectively as possible. The traditional approach of establishing a local entity and employing employees through the local entity may not always work due to the cost and time involved in setting up and maintaining the local entity and local payroll, as well as the complexity of establishing and administering supplementary benefits.
Getting Ahead Of The Coronavirus Outbreak: A Checklist For Multinational Employers
The recent outbreak of the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) raises challenging issues for employers, particularly those that have multiple locations, provide a variety of services, and employ a global workforce that may travel routinely for business. For employers who have lived through prior global pandemics, now is the time to revisit preparedness protocol and re-evaluate the same for changes in locations of workforces and evolution in local laws. For those who are new to the scene, planning for and responding to a potential pandemic requires that multinational employers focus on three key issues: (1) how to maintain a safe workplace; (2) how to maintain operations in the face of a pandemic; and (3) how to minimize exposure to potential liabilities that may result.
Are you prepared? Click here to review a checklist for multinational employers.
While EEOC Report Shows Overall Decrease In Charges, Retaliation Continues To Be Top Charge
Last week, the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released a comprehensive breakdown of the workplace discrimination charges received in 2019. The report shows that fiscal year 2019 continued the trend of declining numbers of pending charges. Interestingly, the number of charges filed in 2019 is the lowest intake in any fiscal year since at least 1997. While there may be any number of explanations for the decrease, one possibility is that employees are turning to expanding state anti-discrimination laws and more active state administrative agencies rather than the EEOC.
Withholding Service Contracts Not Unlawful
In a significant decision for the service provider community, this month the National Labor Relations Board dismissed a claim that an employer was required to provide its employees’ union the service contracts it had with its customer. G4S Security Solutions USA, Inc. 369 NLRB No. 7 (2020). The panel decision was unanimous. Notably, however, the decision left open the possibility that a union could require the production of a service agreement if it could demonstrate the agreement was relevant to bargaining.
US Employment Law Digest
2019 kept US employers on their toes. From intensifying scrutiny of independent contractor relationships, data privacy changes, and hostility to arbitration agreements to continued pressure to examine pay data, increasing employee activism and politically charged discourse in the workplace, it has been a busy year!
Click here to continue reading the US Employment Law Digest.
Join Us January 28 For Our California Employment & Compensation Update In LA
Join us on January 28, 2020 for our California Employment Compensation Update in Los Angeles.
We’ll clarify the impact of employment and compensation developments in California, the US and abroad that raise opportunities for the visionary companies that seize them.
We will offer a choice between two sessions:
1. Predictions for the Year Ahead in Employment Law
or
2. Developments Impacting Share-Based Compensation
Click here to view the invitation.
Stop! In The Name Of The Federal Arbitration Act
On December 30, 2019, Judge Kimberly Mueller in the Eastern District of California issued a temporary restraining order that enjoined California from enforcing AB 51. AB 51 prohibits employers from requiring, as a condition of employment, employees’ waiver of any right, forum, or procedure for an alleged violation of the California Fair Employment and Housing Act or the California Labor Code. (For more on AB 51, read here).
Continue Reading Stop! In The Name Of The Federal Arbitration Act