Robotics in the workplace - From a North American and European perspective

While automation in the workplace has been used for decades to improve speed, efficiency and cost effectiveness, until recently, automating work requiring judgment and perception was reserved for science fiction films. In the last five years, however, the wide availability of powerful computer chips, big data storage and processing, and inexpensive sensors, as well as the development of new algorithms, have led to improvements in…

EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – countdown of one more year

Die EU-Datenschutz-Grundverordnung – noch ein Jahr bis zur Anwendbarkeit – bi-lingual posting / zweisprachiger Beitrag – The European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will become applicable throughout the European Union on 25 May 2018, with additional national legislation. By then, companies need to be compliant. The German Bundesrat has recently passed the new Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, which will adapt the European Regulation into national German law. This…

Kleidungsvorschriften im Betrieb: Verbot von Kopftuch und Absatz?

Nicht erst seit letztem Dienstag spielen Kleidungsvorschriften in Unternehmen eine Rolle: Der EuGH hatte am Dienstag in Luxemburg in den Rechtssachen C-157/15 und C-188/15 entschieden, dass das Unternehmen Vorgaben zu Kleidungsvorschriften machen kann, auch wenn davon – wie im Falle des Kopftuchverbots – vorwiegend Musliminnen betroffen sind, und es sich damit um eine mittelbare Diskriminierung handelt (hierzu schon unser Bericht über das Plädoyer der Generalanwältin;…

France: New regulations in 2017

The ‘Employment’ Act of 8 August 2016 has initiated the rewriting of the labour code: collective agreements must become central and the law must become more subsidiary. In concrete terms, the labour code will set out for each of its ‘themes’: public order rules (which can not be changed or negociated); measures that can be negotiated; the measures that apply in the absence of an…

#Brexit: What next for the UK?

The UK finds itself in a state of unprecedented turmoil following the vote in favour of leaving the EU in the recent referendum. The Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative party, David Cameron, has resigned. The leader of the opposition Labour party has suffered an overwhelming no confidence vote from his own party’s MPs, largely on account of his half-hearted support for remaining in the…

The hidden dangers of “Uberizing” a workforce

Technology is changing how, when and where we work. With these changes come shifting attitudes in how workers view their relationship with employers. The “on-demand” economy purports to bridge this gap, giving workers flexibility to choose when to work and connecting employers with available skilled labor when they need it most. The on-demand model would appear to provide both workers and employers what they want….

Working and watching EURO 2016 in Portugal

Having the best football player in the world is always a good reason to watch the matches of the Portuguese national team in Euro 2016. But is this reason strong enough to put aside the employer’s internal rules and the relevant legal provisions on working conditions? Holiday and working hours No special rules exist in this regard, being both employers and employees bound by the…

Ukrainian employment law considerations during EURO 2016

“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” That’s how the comparison of football worship and (even) life looks like according to the famous British football manager Bill Shankly. Giving due credit to those keen on football, below we will try to weigh…

Italian employment law considerations during EURO 2016

„Italians lose football matches as if they were wars and lose wars as if they were football matches.“ With this sentence, Winston Churchill summarised the intense emotion felt by Italians for football: like it or not, there are very few countries in which football takes on such a historic and passionate significance as in Italy. So, given this relationship between Italians and football, it is…

Neue DatenschutzgrundVO - New Data Protection Regulation [GER/ENG]

[Please scroll down for English language version] Europaparlament beschließt Datenschutzgrundverordnung Das Europaparlament hat gestern nach mehr als vier Jahren Verhandlungen auf EU-Ebene die neue Datenschutzgrundverordnung verabschiedet. „The European Commission welcomes the final adoption of the new EU data protection rules by the European Parliament, following the adoption by the Council last Friday. Today’s vote marks a significant achievement, and the culmination of over four years…