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Meitar’s Employment and Benefits Group, has published a Client Update analyzing a recent case heard in the Israeli National Labor Court, regarding an independent contractor’s right to social benefits as an employee.

In order to prevent claims by independent contractors to receive social benefits as an employee, employers had included a section in their agreements with the independent contractor, according to which, if the independent contractor were to be deemed an employee the amounts paid to him shall be reduced accordingly by the amount of those social benefits granted to an employee. The Israeli National Labor Court has now ruled that this section is only one parameter and will not necessarily indicate the type of relationship between the parties.

The full update (in Hebrew) is available through the PDF icon.

Meitar’s Employment and Benefits Group, has published a Client Update regarding a possible change in employment agreements which will enable employers to calculate employee overtime hours on a monthly basis, and not on a daily basis, according to the Working Hours Law.

According to the Working Hours Law, an employee who works over 8.36 hours a day is entitled to an overtime payment. Many employers feel frustrated in light of this legal situation, since they do not supervise their employees’ arrival and departure and wish to give them the flexibility of arranging their own working hours.
The Labor Courts in Israel have permitted employers to agree with their employees on an alternative arrangement whereby the employees’ working hours will be flexible at the employer and employee’s convenience, as long as the employee fulfills the monthly hourly quota.

The full update (in Hebrew) is available through the PDF icon.

David Mirchin has published a Client Update which analyzes a recent case in the United States on website liability, including a brief comparison to Israeli and EU law, and some suggestions how you can avoid liability.

It used to be that websites had complete immunity in the United States from claims that content posted by third party users was defamatory. In Barnes v. Yahoo!, an important recent case in the 9th Circuit, however, the court held that Yahoo! could be liable for defamatory content posted by a user which they promised to take down, but did not.

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

Meitar partners contribute chapter to “The International Comparative Legal Guide to: International Arbitration 2009″

Dr. Israel (Reli) Leshem, head of Meitar’s Dispute Resolution and Litigation Group, and Ron Peleg, partner in the litigation group, contributed the Israeli chapter in “The International Comparative Legal Guide to: International Arbitration 2009″, A practical insight to cross-border International Arbitration work”. Published by Global Legal Group, London. http://www.iclg.co.uk

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

Meitar attorneys are authors of the Israeli chapter in “The International Comparative Legal Guide to Pharmaceutical Advertising 2009”

Ron Peleg, a partner in the litigation department, and Gilad Schiff contributed the Israeli chapter in “The International Comparative Legal Guide to Pharmaceutical Advertising 2009- A practical insight to cross-border Pharmaceutical Advertising work” published by Global Legal Group Ltd, London. http://www.iclg.co.uk

The full update is available through the PDF icon.

Meitar’s Employment and Benefits Group, has published a Client Update regarding an amendment to the Sick Leave Payment Law, according to which a termination of employment may come into effect only after the employee has exhausted his accrued sick days.

According to the commentaries to the amendment, the employer is still entitled to conduct the hearing procedure and to set a date for termination, as long as the date falls after the employee has exhausted his accrued sick days.
The limitation regarding the date of termination shall not apply if notice of the termination and the date of such termination were given to the employee prior to his sickness or if the employer is no longer in existence.

The full update (in Hebrew) is available through the PDF icon.

The Antitrust Authority amended its position regarding cooperation between institutional investors in connection with restructuring negotiations with bond issuers. The newsletter reviews in Hebrew the several changes that took place in the Antitrust Authority’s position and the current legal situation.

The amendment of the Antitrust Authority’s position follow previously published guidelines, concerning the terms under which institutional investors may cooperate in order to renegotiate the terms of corporate bonds, without having to receive an exemption for this cooperation from the Antitrust Authority. According to the amendment, the Antitrust Authority will allow institutional investors to cooperate in this matter either under the terms articulated in the previously published guidelines or according to customary antitrust laws. The newsletter explains the required terms under customary antitrust law.

The full update (in Hebrew) is available through the PDF icon.