U.K. Immigration: Statement of Changes, 9 March 2023 – Points of Interest

The Home Office has released the first Statement of Changes for 2023. We have highlighted some of the most important changes announced on this occasion, including the Electronic Travel Authorisation, the Innovator Founder Visa / Start-Up Visa, the Senior or Specialist Worker Visa, the Expansion Worker Visa and the Youth Mobility Visa.

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Reforms to Puerto Rico’s Labor Law Declared Null and Void Ab Initio

On March 3, 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Laura Taylor Swain, presiding over Puerto Rico’s bankruptcy, issued an opinion declaring Act 41-2022 (Act No. 41) null and void ab initio.

Law 41-2022 Amendments

Act No. 41, which took effect in June 2022, amended several employment regulations that had been established by the 2017 Labor Transformation and Flexibility Act (LTFA). As previously reported, Act No. 41 sought to broaden several labor rights applicable to employees in the private sector. Specifically, the Act provided the following employment benefits:

  • Limited the probationary period to a maximum of three months;
  • Increased accrual of vacation and sick leave;
  • Extended the statute of limitations for workers to claim benefits derived from an employment contract to three years;
  • Required bonuses for eligible employees;
  • Mandated severance pay, calculated based on years of service, for employees dismissed without just cause from positions for an indefinite term;
  • Provided for ambiguous provisions to be interpreted in favor of the employee;
  • Directed employers to provide meal periods based on number of hours worked; and
  • Established that certain employees were entitled to one day of rest for every six days worked.

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Ninth Circuit Rules California Employers Can Require Arbitration Agreements

Some good news for California employers: recently, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that California employers can require employees and applicants to sign arbitration agreements as a condition of employment, reversing its own prior decision which vacated U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California’s grant of a preliminary injunction against enforcement of Assembly Bill 51 (AB 51).

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What Is the Future for Digital Technology Global Talent Visas as Tech Nation Announces Closure?

The Global Talent visa scheme launched in February 2020 as a bespoke immigration route designed to attract talent to the United Kingdom (U.K.).

Foreign nationals can apply for a Global Talent visa to work in the U.K. if they are a leader or potential leader in the fields of academia or research, arts and culture, or digital technology.

Most applicants, unless they have won an eligible award, can only apply for a Global Talent visa if they have successfully obtained an endorsement from an approved body that verifies them as a leader or a potential leader in their field.

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NLRB: Severance Pay Cannot Include Condition to Waive Rights Under NLRA

The decision of the National Labor Relations Board (the Board) in McLaren Macomb, 372 NLRB No. 58 ( Feb. 21, 2023), reinstates a limit on the confidentiality, non-disclosure, and non-disparagement clauses that employers may include in severance agreements with most of their lower-level employees. While the Board bills its decision as a return to the standard applied in earlier cases, this decision suggests that the Board will take a broader view of how such agreements infringe on employees’ rights under Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act.

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The India Young Professionals Scheme UK Visa: Ballot Launching Soon

The Home Office has now released details relating to its new visa scheme, the India Young Professionals Scheme visa. In November 2022, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced the planned introduction of the scheme during the G20 summit in Indonesia. Full details have now been released, and the scheme will formally come into operation from 28 February 2023. The scheme is part of the planned increased collaboration between India and the United Kingdom (UK) through their free trade agreement currently being negotiated, and it aims to bring up to 3,000 Indian nationals to the UK each year.

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