EMPLOYMENT LAW ONLINE GUIDE 2012 in association with CorporateINTL Editor’s Talk Employment Law Online Guide 2012 in association with Corporate INTL This guide is presented in association with Corporate INTL, and is intended for use by investors and other commercial operators. It contains profiles of advisers within the area of Employment Law / Labour Law. Each profile provides firm summaries, as well as service availability information and the latest industry observations. The advisers’ profiles are organised alphabetically by region. In addition, at the back of the guide you will find an index, wherein firms are listed alphabetically by name, in order to assist with quick searches. Corporate INTL hopes that this guide will be a useful tool in finding the right adviser for you. 04 Introduction / 10 – 24 Adviser Profiles / 25 Index Reprints & Permissions All rights reserved. No part of this Corporate INTL Employment Law Online Guide 2012 may be reproduced or transmitted in any matter or by any means without the prior permission of the publishers. Disclaimer Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the contents of the Corporate INTL Employment Law Online Guide 2012. However, the publishers cannot accept responsibility for any errors and subsequent claims made by any third parties. The Guide contains predictions for the future of various companies and sectors; however, no forward statement should be construed as profit forecast. Contributors: Editor: Ryan Daff Designer: Kevin Thompson Employment Law Employment law, or labour law, is order to protect employees, and to the body of laws, administrative facilitate a fluid labour market. rulings, and precedents which address the legal rights of, and Unlike in the US, in many countries restrictions on, working people it is compulsory to provide written and their organisations. As such, particulars of employment with it mediates many aspects of the the essentialia negotii (Latin for relationship between trade unions, essential terms) to an employee. This employers and employees. aims to allow the employee to know what to expect and what is expected: There are two broad categories in terms of wages, holiday rights, of labour law. First, collective notice in the event of dismissal, job labour law relates to the tripartite description and so on. An employer relationship between employee, may not legally offer a contract employer and union. Second, in which the employer pays the individual labour law concerns worker less than a minimum wage. employees’ rights at work and An employee may not agree to a through the contract for work. contract which allows an employer The labour movement has been to dismiss them unfairly. There are instrumental in the enacting of laws certain categories that people may protecting labour rights in the 19th simply not agree to because they and 20th centuries. Labour rights are deemed categorically unfair. have been integral to the social and However, this depends entirely economic development since the on the legislation of a particular industrial revolution. country. Global variations A worldwide arena The basic feature of labour law in The expansion of international almost every country is that the trade, investment and business rights and obligations that bind operations to a worldwide arena the worker and the employer are has brought considerable changes mediated through the contract of in the employment laws in many employment between the two. This countries. Businesses planning to has been the case since the collapse expand their operations globally of feudalism, and is the core reality should understand the current of modern economic relations. legal environment and the laws Many terms and conditions of the that govern employment in a contract are, however, implied by particular country to be able to legislation or common law, in such create a successful workforce. It a way as to restrict the freedom of is essential to be familiar with the people to agree to certain things in specific laws relating to hiring and 04 INTL firing, unions, employee benefits workforce to obtain a comparative ‘injustice, hardship and privation’. and other important aspects. One advantage. Government initiative According to the ILO, international of the crucial concerns of workers is spurred, because rational long labour standards contribute to the and those who believe that labour term investment will be perceived possibility of lasting peace, help rights are important, is that on a as the better choice to increasing to mitigate potentially adverse global platform, common social regulation. This theory concludes effects of international market standards ought to support that an emphasis on deregulation competition, and help the progress economic development in common is more beneficial than not. That of international development. markets. At the same time, said, it is worth mentioning that the international enforcement of rights International Labour Organization Specifics of German employment has to be in place. does not share this opinion. law A primary concern is that with The International Labour Germany’s economy is the biggest the breaking down of trade barriers Organization (ILO) is a specialised on the European continent, and one in the global economy, while this agency of the United Nations that of the best performing in the world. can benefit consumers, it can also deals with labour issues. One of It recovered from the recession faster make the capacity of multinational the principal functions of the ILO than any other European country, companies to bargain down wage is setting international labour and in the first three months of 2011 costs even greater – in wealthier standards through the adoption of it grew by 1.5%, beating forecasts. Western countries and developing conventions and recommendations Aside from its stable economic nations alike. The ability of covering a broad spectrum of situation, its central location in corporations to shift their supply labour-related subjects and which, Europe and reliable business chains from one country to another together, are sometimes referred to partners make it an ideal place for with relative ease could be the as the International Labour Code. investment in all business areas. starting point for the limitation of The topics covered include a wide Nonetheless, those planning to open regulations on employment. range of issues, from freedom of up their businesses and employ a In that case, many countries are association to health and safety workforce in Germany need to be forced into a merciless downward at work, working conditions in aware of a broad range of provisions spiral – for instance slashing the maritime sector, night work, of the national labour law. tax rates and public services. discrimination, child labour and German employment law is Countries are forced to follow the forced labour. not consolidated into a single process because, otherwise, foreign Labour and employment policies labour code. It is based instead investment will dry up. within companies are shaped by the on the service contract provisions On the other hand, however, law and practice of the countries of the German Civil Code and a one should remember that free in which they operate. Many of plethora of individual statutes, competition for capital investment these laws are based largely on including German health and between different countries increases international labour standards that safety law, occupational health the dynamic efficiency of the market are designed to eliminate unjust and insurance, The Works Constitution place. Faced with the discipline inhumane labour practices. The ILO Act, Federal Data Protection Act, that markets create, countries advocates international standards Equal Opportunities Act, Hours of are then incentivised to invest in as essential for the eradication Work Act, Collective Bargaining education, training and skills in their of labour conditions involving Agreement Act and European Works INTL 05 Councils. Collective agreements in Germany have full legal status, with a redundancy payment after and collective labour law is one of the few areas where judicial two years. precedent has helped to develop a systematic body of rights. If a company gets taken over, the Germany – Co-determination and cooperation rights of works Transfer of Undertakings (Protection councils of Employment) Regulations 2006 The works council in Germany is a form of institu¬tionalised state that employees’ terms cannot representation of interests for employees within an organisation. be worsened, including to the Its relationship to the work¬force is governed by a duty to point of dismissal, without good conduct its business impartially, without regard to race, religion economic, technical or organisational and creed, nationality, origin, political or union activity, sex or reason. age. Consequently, manual workers and white-collar workers and Further, beyond individual – in principle – both sexes, as well as the individual departments rights, workers have the ability of the establishment, must have representation on the council to participate in decisions about proportional to their presence among the workforce. how their enterprise is managed, Works councils have been an integral part of Ger¬man business via a widening set of statutory and industry since the early 20th century and are the most rights as well as the traditional important pillar of workplace indus¬trial relations in Germany. models of collective bargaining. The