Employment

The Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (BMAS) has already published general regulations for infection protection in April 2020 as part of the SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Safety and Health Standard. Following some criticism, the working committees of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs have now specified the requirements for occupational health and safety and, together with the Federal Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (BAuA), published the SARS-CoV-2 Occupational Health and Safety Regulation on August 10, 2020.

The Draft Code of Good Practice on the Prevention and Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work (Draft Code) was recently published for public comment in South Africa. Tiisetso Rabolao, Associate and Kirsty Gibson, Candidate Attorney, in the Employment and Compensation Practice in Johannesburg, outline the details of the new Draft Code.

Employees – including supplier workers – are the backbone of any business.  Protecting worker safety in the supply chain is a complex undertaking, and...

The regional Employment & Compensation team is pleased to present the Latin America COVID-19 Quick Guide for Employers in preparation for the reopening of business in our region.

The EAT has held that on the facts of this case it was a reasonable adjustment to promise to pay a severance package to a disabled employee, if certain circumstances arose in the future, as part of a package of adjustments designed to enable the employee to continue working. In this case, the promise was part of an undertaking to keep an employee with anxiety from working with two colleagues, and, if that became impossible, to pay a redundancy severance package. This decision is surprising but other cases where this type of undertaking would be reasonable could prove rare.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given recent events, we have seen a significant rise in the number of employees sending requests to their UK based employer to work from "home" in another country. We anticipate that this trend will continue, and in fact employers may be considering this as a more permanent solution in respect of its workforce given the anticipated impact Brexit will have on human capital. Whilst on the face of it this may seem like a simple solution, these arrangements give rise to a number issues from a HR perspective - and will be made more complicated post Brexit.

Following a significant increase in COVID-19 transmissions in recent weeks, the relevant Myanmar authorities have promptly issued additional notifications on top of existing directives to address the developing COVID-19 situation in Myanmar, notably on:  Stay-at-home Orders affecting 7 Townships in Yangon; and Mandatory Quarantine and Testing for visitors/residents travelling to Nay Pyi Taw.

Countries around the globe are facing unprecedented and rapid change due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Government Intervention Schemes Guide provides a summary of...

One of the most important issues that arises in any M&A transaction from a compensation perspective is the treatment of stock options, restricted stock,...

At the end of July 2020, the National Treasury in South Africa released the Draft Taxation Laws Amendment Bill for comment. The Bill includes proposed amendments to both section 15 and section 36 of the Income Tax Act, effectively noting that capital expenditure allowances are only available to taxpayers that hold the relevant mineral rights. The proposed amendment, if passed in its current form, means that contract miners will not be entitled to claim any accelerated capital expenditure allowances, and will have to claim allowances for capital expenditure in terms of other provisions in the Income Tax Act. Denny Da Silva, Senior Tax Advisor at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, explains how this will impact contract miners.