A recent ruling held that the copyrighted work of an illustrator had vested with the employer, regardless of the lack of explicit provisions on the assignment of intellectual property rights, as the illustrator had been contracted and employed specifically to design and illustrate copyrighted work
Dec
19
2019
Spain: Salary complements must be paid even during the holiday period
The Supreme Court determined that salary complements should be included, together with the base salary, as computable concepts in order to calculate the payroll during the holiday period
Dec
19
2019
Saudi Arabia: New Ministerial Resolution removes the Yellow nitaqat band
The government recently issued a resolution wherein the yellow rated band within the Nitaqat programme will cease to exist from 26 January 2020. Any companies currently in Yellow will be automatically moved to the Red band and will be considered non-compliant until ratings are improved
Dec
19
2019
Poland: Amount of the write-off for the Employee Social Benefit Fund increases
Previously, the basis for calculating the amount of the write-off of the Employee Social Benefit Fund for the entirety of 2019 was supposed to be the average monthly salary in the national economy in the second half of 2013. A recent law, which has partially unfrozen the write-off amount for 2019, also included a draft bill to adjust the time period and average monthly salary figures to be used in calculating the amount of the write-off to the fund, although the exact figures of the basis to calculate the 2019 amounts have not yet been announced
Dec
19
2019
Norway: Supreme Court rules on the validity of the downsising group used to terminate a senior employee
The Norwegian Supreme Court has ruled that the termination of a senior employee was invalid because the selection group for downsising was too narrowly set. Employers bound by similar seniority clauses/principle of seniority in collective agreements must now be careful not to set aside seniority considerations by limiting selection circles
Dec
19
2019
The Netherlands: Unacceptable behavior (#MeToo) is not a legitimate ground for summary dismissal due to the working atmosphere
The common trend in court rulings is that certain behaviour is not acceptable. This especially applies to certain unwanted touches, such as the ‘hand on the buttock’. An employee must be blamed for such behaviour. In principle, it does not matter if the other employee gave any cause for the approach. This applies all the more so when considering the age difference between the two employees concerned. For certain behavior, the judgment reads, a warning is not necessary because you ‘just do not do that’. However, this behaviour does not directly result in a legitimate summary dismissal. All circumstances of the case need to be taken into account. An employer that accepts certain behaviour from its employees and furthermore promotes a ‘self-styled’ atmosphere designed to be informal, cannot suddenly reverse course and decide to punish morally reprehensible behaviour. Therefore, in creating an atmosphere where the lines of acceptable and unacceptable behaviour are blurred, the employer’s culpability for the misconduct of its employees is shared equally between employer and employee. While there was no doubt as to the employee’s culpability for his actions, the circumstances of the case were nevertheless insufficient to support a legitimate case for a summary dismissal
Dec
19
2019
Italy: New law on Gig Workers entered into force on 3 November 2019
New law provides protections for people delivering goods on behalf of a third-party, using bicycles and/or motorcycles within the territorial limit of the city, by means of digital platforms (so called riders)
Dec
19
2019
Germany: Happy New Year 2020 – What changes are to be expected in German employment law?
The new year 2020 is just around the corner and will bring about some changes with regard to German labour and employment law. Some of those changes are already certain due to a change in statutory law, while others can only be predicted at this time
Dec
19
2019
Germany: Releasing an employee from work with continued payment of remuneration only compensates existing claims for compensation of working time credited to a working time account, if this purpose of the release is made sufficiently clear by the employer at the time of the release
When releasing an employee from his/her obligation to work with continued remuneration (“garden leave”), which is common in particular in termination cases, employers need to make it sufficiently clear at the time of the release that the release is also intended to compensate a positive balance on the employee’s working time account. A clause only referring to an irrevocable release from the obligation to work without further specifications is insufficient, and does not cover compensation for working time accrued in a working time account
Dec
19
2019
France: The exceptional purchasing power bonus will be renewed in 2020
The exceptional purchasing power bonus will be renewed in 2020 with some adjustments. The bonus will be exempt from income tax, charges and contributions up to a limit of € 1,000 per beneficiary. The exemption will apply on the bonus paid to employees who have received less than 3 times the annual minimum wage in the previous 12 months. It will have to be paid between the date of entry into force of the law and 30 June 2020. The main novelty: a profit-sharing agreement must have been put in place on the date of payment