Venezuela’s new labor law referred to as the Organic Law of Labor and Workers (“LOTTT”), became effective May 7, 2013.  LOTTT establishes several critical labor reforms relevant to wage and hour requirements, maternity leave and pension requirements. All employers who are doing business in Venezuela or who are considering doing business in Venezuela should familiarize themselves with the specific provisions of LOTTT and review their current policies and practices to ensure...

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) continues to issue Form I-9 Notices of Inspection to businesses across the nation.  In fiscal year 2012, ICE served 3,004 Notices of Inspection to businesses, totaling over $12 million in fines.  Additionally, ICE made 520 criminal arrests tied to worksite enforcement investigations.  These criminal arrests involved 240 individuals who were owners, managers, supervisors or human resources em...

Going global in Chile gives employers the opportunity to hire some of the leading professionals and creative talent in Latin American.  The official population of Chile is just under 16,000,000, of which over 51% is female.  Chilean economic policy is based on the free market principle, and Chile has a wide range of small, medium, and large private companies that have a great production, marketing, and investment capability.  Major industries include mining (copper), wine, tourism...

For more than 1,000 years, the Roma (still more commonly known in the English-speaking world as “Gypsies,” although this term is now outdated and considered to be derogatory) have lived on the fringes of the societies of the European nations in which they reside.  This is true in spite of the fact that the Roma, also known as the Romani, are the single largest minority group in Europe.  Indeed, in some countries Roma (which for the purposes of this article is meant to inclu...

On March 3, 2013, voters in Switzerland approved a referendum providing one of the world’s most onerous restrictions regarding executive compensation.  The referendum entitled, “Eidgenössische Volksinitiative ‘gegen die Abzockerei’” or, in English, “Federal popular initiative ‘against the rip-off’” (the “Referendum”) was approved by 67.9% of those who voted in all of the country’s 26 cantons (Switzerland’s me...

On April 5, 2013, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced that it had received enough petitions to meet the statutory H-1B cap of 65,000 new H-1B visas to be issued each year.

The United Kingdom (“UK”), comprised of England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, has a population of over 62 million people, is culturally diverse and remains one of leading financial and service centers of the world. It is often considered the entry way to the rest of Europe and is a major international trading power. For these reasons, many companies decide to do business in the UK. This article will provide a brief overview of some of the basic employment and labor laws in t...

In March, China’s leadership announced that the Ministry of Health and the National Population and Family Planning Commission will merge. This has been widely seen as a downgrade in authority for the latter commission, which oversees the implementation of China’s one-child policy. In fact, this governmental action has raised questions about whether China’s one-child policy itself will be eventually phased out. China’s one-child policy was established in 1979. This policy...

  Since the landmark 2012 U.S. Supreme Court decision in NFIB v. Sebelius, largely upholding President Obama’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”), the U.S. government has been moving full-steam ahead on implementation of healthcare reform mandated by the ACA. The ACA places a number of new regulations, restrictions, and requirements on employers, including U.S. companies employing foreign workers, and potentially foreign companies, depending on various...

With the Catholic Cardinals’ election of their fellow Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio to Pope (Francis I), a spotlight has been cast in recent days upon his native Argentina.  The white smoke announcing the Cardinals’ decision had barely begun to dissipate, when news media outlets began publishing stories and articles not only lauding the “revolutionary” selection of the first Latin American and Jesuit Pope, but also profiling the new Pope’s relationship to his ...