Belgium: Modifications of benefits in kind

Provisions on the tax and social security treatment of the benefit in kind (BIK) for the use of a smartphone, PC, tablet and/or internet are not always clear. Moreover, they are often treated differently for tax and social security purposes. To enhance legal certainty, a modification to the legal provisions is expected to come into force on 1 January 2018, particularly by determining a fixed…

Canada: New simplified immigration rules for foreign EU business people

Canada will facilitate the transfer or secondment of European professionals as part of an international mobility program within the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA). Depending on the type of work and length of stay, in some cases, Canadian businesses may not be required to conduct a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) in order to transfer professionals from Europe. On September 21, 2017, the Government…

Europe: International data transfers - are model clauses now under threat?

Max Schrems, an Austrian law student successfully brought a case to the European Court of Justice in 2015 that resulted in the “safe harbour” – an agreement that allowed the transfer of EU citizens’ data to the US – being declared invalid. Since then, transfers outside the EU have largely been conducted based on previously approved ‘model clauses’. But Mr Schrems has now brought a…

Russia: Current trends in court practice on discrimination claims

Russian courts are influenced by international labour standards, but, in practice have been reluctant to grant employees discrimination claims. However, they are now beginning to consider more cases of discrimination and are starting to be more inclined than in the past to uphold them. Background If an employee files a discrimination claim in Russia, what are their chances of prevailing? This is the question many…

France: The labour law reform

Following his election, President Macron announced major reforms starting with a large-scale overhaul of labour law. So, what are the most important changes that will impact your day-to-day HR management? The main goals of this reform are to provide more security for work relationships, to give companies more flexibility, more power to negotiate working conditions directly with employees and to reduce their financial exposure in…

Belgium: Cash for car instead of company car

On 29 September 2017, as proposed by the Minister of Finance, the Council of Ministers approved a preliminary draft bill allowing employees who wish to do so, to exchange their company car for a mobility allowance; provided, however, that the employer has set up such a system within the company. The mobility allowance consists in a cash amount that the employee would receive in lieu…

France: Major changes to whistleblowing laws

Until recently, there was no obligation to implement a whistleblowing policy in France. However, when such a policy was put in place very strict regulations applied. These included obtaining prior authorisation, which was only very reluctantly granted, from the French data protection agency (the “CNIL”). Law of 9 December 2016 on transparency, the fight against corruption and the modernisation of the economy (referred to as…

Luxembourg: Unfair competition and duty of loyalty

On 15 June 2017, the Court of Appeal ruled on distinction between the obligation of an employee bound by a non-compete clause in his/her employment contract, and the duty of loyalty inherent in any employment contract. The facts relate to an “educator assistant manager” employed in a nursery since 2011, who had also been elected as the deputy staff representative. In February 2015, her employer…

New Zealand: Availability Provisions

In August the Employment Court released its first decision on so-called ‘availability provisions’, whereby an employee must be on standby to work any hours the employer requires them to work, but on the other hand, they can only work if the employer gives them work to do. This arrangement is common in ‘zero-hours contracts’ and section 67D of the Employment Relations Act 2000 was introduced…

ECHR, Bărbulescu and breach of privacy

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (‘ECHR’) – composed of 17 judges – has released its judgment in Bărbulescu – v – Romania (5 September 2017). The case concerned the balance between two rights: the employee’s right to respect for private life and correspondence under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and the employer’s right to take measures…