Member Publications

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned the 2024 session on March 9, 2024. Following adjournment, the approved bills were sent to Governor Youngkin for his review. Governor Youngkin was given until April 8, 2024, to either approve or veto bills that were passed by the House and Senate. The General Assembly will reconvene on April 17, 2024, for a Veto Session to discuss and determine the fate of an…

Reports of unacceptable behavior in the workplace, such as bullying, (sexual) harassment, discrimination, and aggression, have increased in recent years. Unacceptable behavior not only impacts the parties involved but also entails obligations for employers as part of their duty of care. Below, we outline several considerations for employers in this regard. What constitutes unacceptable behaviour …

In a recent decision, the United States Supreme Court held that whether workers can be compelled under federal law to arbitrate disputes depends on whether their responsibilities qualify them as transportation workers, not whether they work for an employer in the transportation industry. The Federal Arbitration Act The Federal Arbitration Act (the “FAA”) is a nearly century-old law setting forth…

Ong'anya Ombo Advocates LLP, ALFA International's member firm in Africa, released a regulatory update for the first half of April 2024. Click HERE to view the PDF.…

On 4 March, Karien van Gennip, Acting Minister of Social Affairs and Employment introduced the Draft Bill on Modernizing Restrictive Covenants for internet consultation. As expected, the draft bill includes significant restrictions on both non-competition clauses and business-relations clauses. The outlines of the proposed changes are as follows. Proposed changes in brief The maximum duration of …

Any lawyer who has been involved in corporate M&A for a period of time will be familiar with the process known as due diligence (DD).  Most M&A lawyers will have been involved in conducting the legal DD for a prospective purchaser of either the shares or the assets of a target company.  Purchasers and their M&A lawyers understand the importance and value of thorough DD. In our experie…

The Office for Personal Data Protection ("OPPD", "the Office") has published its inspection plan for 2024. The OPPD will focus its inspection activities in 2024 on, among other things: the use of data from the population register by public authorities, the recording of telephone calls, processing of personal data in information systems within the Schengen area, the processing of persona…

The Government of Gujarat, vide notification no. GHR/2024/19/LED/TGS/e-file/11/2023/2453/M3, dated February 5, 2024, has granted exemption to establishments engaged in IT/ITeS services and financial services from the provisions of section 12 and section 14 of the Gujarat Shops and Establishments (Regulation of Employment and Conditions of Services) Act, 2019 (“Gujarat S&E Act”). These provisio…

The Government of Haryana, vide notification no. 11/6/2022-4lab dated March 14, 2024, has issued conditions for factories seeking exemption to employ women during night shifts, specifically between 07:00 PM to 06:00 AM, with a focus on prioritizing safety and security of women workers while increasing their participation in the workforce. This exemption will remain valid for 1 (one) year from the …

On March 13, 2024, the German Federal Government adopted the updated draft of a "Fourth Act to Reduce Bureaucracy for Citizens, Business and the Administration" (so-called Bureaucracy Reduction Act IV) presented by the Federal Ministry of Justice. Approval by the Bundestag and Bundesrat (the two legislative bodies in Germany) is considered likely. We would therefore like to summarize the possible …