Top 10 Labour and Employment Headlines from All Regions The Obama administration continues to tout the performance of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009," signed into law February 17, 2009 and commonly called the "Stimulus Bill" (Public Law 111-5). The November Visa Bulletin—issued by the U.S. Department of State—continues a positive trend started in October, which made visas available for individuals with older priority dates in the Employment-Based Third Preference (EB-3) category following five months of visa unavailability and priority date retrogression. In anticipation of higher-than-average absenteeism due to seasonal and H1N1 flu outbreaks, employers should implement specific best practices that protect employees, minimize business disruptions and avoid employment claims. On August 19, 2009 the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement issued an Opinion Letter stating that an employer having significant economic difficulties will not violate the "salary basis" of its exempt employees by temporarily reducing the work schedules of those exempt employees from five days to four days per week, with a corresponding reduction of 20 percent to their weekly salary. A joke has been doing the rounds recently of a facebook entry where an individual has updated her status on facebook to refer to the fact that she hates her job and that her boss is always making her do “sh*t” work and that he is a “pervy wan**r.” A serious concern has arisen over the last few months regarding the rapid spread of the H1N1 influenza virus, also known as swine flu (“H1N1”), and the possibility of significant social and economic disruption. Employers are often confused about contracts of employment – what needs to be issued & when; what these should contain; and whether a contract even exists. Failing to comply with various federal group health plan mandates, including COBRA and HIPAA portability, just got riskier and costlier for employers. On September 23, 2009, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published in the Federal Register a long-awaited Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. On April 23, 2009, the Ontario Legislature passed into law the Countering Distracted Driving and Promoting Green Transportation Act, (the "Cell Phone Act"), which amends the Highway Traffic Act to prohibit the use of certain display and handheld communication and entertainment devices while operating a motor vehicle, particularly those that are capable of receiving or transmitting telephone communications, electronic data, mail or text messages. | 
