Canada’s Online Harms Act Aimed to Address Harmful Online Content

Earlier this week, Canada introduced Bill C-63, also referred to as the Online Harms Act (the “Act”), which would require online content providers to act responsibly with regard to the platforms they operate and to remove harmful online content. The Act further establishes a Digital Safety Commission of Canada to administer and enforce the legislation, as well as ensure that operators of social media services are held accountable under the requirements of the Act.

Purpose

The Act is aimed to promote online safety and protect children from harmful online content. The Act requires content providers to swiftly remove all harmful content, defined under the Act to include:

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Overview of U.S. Employment Law for International Employers

This guide is a non-comprehensive overview of employment laws in the United States for international employers.  We hope that it will assist employers that already employ individuals in the U.S. and employers that are considering becoming operational in the U.S. in better understanding U.S. employment laws and practices.

Generally speaking, what differentiates U.S. employment law from that of other countries is that the U.S. has very few legally required benefits that an employer must offer its employees.  Although it can differ state by state, things that are legally required and commonplace in other countries—such as paid holiday, paid leave, and mandatory severance benefits—are generally not legally required in the United States.  Instead, most benefits offered by employers are considered gratuitous and used as tools to recruit and retain employees.  This has led employers to be creative in their benefit offerings, including the use of “unlimited” vacation policies, fully remote work, egg freezing or fertility stipends, and the like.

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Menopause in the Workplace: A Multi-Faceted Issue

Menopause is something that approximately 50 percent of the workforce will experience during their working lives, but it is still infrequently discussed or considered in the workplace and many of us are unaware of how menopause can affect those going through it. However, employers are seeing an increase in employees concerned about menopause and their experience with it at work. This is a multi-faceted issue that encompasses a range of potential employment law issues.

Discrimination

Most countries do not recognise menopause as a characteristic that is specifically protected by discrimination laws. But employees experiencing menopause may be protected by discrimination laws relating to age, sex, disability and gender reassignment. Generally, people experiencing menopause are women aged between 45 and 55 so any unfavourable treatment (whether direct or indirect) towards an employee experiencing menopause could amount to sex and/or age discrimination. Gender reassignment discrimination may also be relevant if the employee experiencing menopause is transgender.

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Considerations for Israeli Employers During Israel-Hamas War

As a result of the recent terrorist attacks in Israel and the resulting Israel-Hamas war, Israelis continue to be called upon for active duty under Israel’s emergency call-up notice. Global employers with operations and/or employees in Israel should become familiar with the emergency orders in place and the applicable employment developments to best support their employees and comply with local obligations.

Israel’s Compulsory Military Service

Israel’s military operates under a system of reserve forces known as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Military service is compulsory for Jewish Israeli citizens over the age of 18, requiring men to serve for a minimum of 32 months and women to serve for a minimum of 24 months. After completing compulsory service, citizens are transitioned into the IDF reserves, subject to recall for active duty in times of need. Because Israel is currently under a state of emergency, an emergency call-up notice (Order 8) has been issued for the immediate enlistment of most IDF reservists to report for active duty for an indefinite timeframe.

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Puerto Rico Amends Domestic Abuse Prevention and Intervention Act

On July 28, 2023, the Governor of Puerto Rico signed Law No. 74 of 2023 (“Law 74”) into law. Law 74 amends Puerto Rico’s Act for the Prevention and Intervention with Domestic Violence, adding additional protections for victims of domestic violence.

The amendment includes “economic violence” as a modality for domestic abuse. “Economic violence” is defined as:

“[C]onduct directed at impairing the present or future financial capacity, economic stability, or lodging and housing security through threats, coercion, fraud, restriction, or preventing access to or use of accounts, assets, financial information, identification or credit cards, money, or government assistance; concealment of information related to the payment of rent or mortgages,  or forced evictions; exercising undue influence on a person’s decisions or behavior or financial and economic decisions of a person, or interference in a person’s employment relationship or performance or in his or her own business. It also includes misusing the person’s financial resources, including money, assets and credit for personal gain, and preventing access to formal courses of study and impairing the victim’s academic performance.”

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India Passes New Data Protection Legislation

After several years of debate, India has passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023 (DPDPA), an overhaul of the country’s data protection regime that will require employers operating in India to take stock of current data protection policies and ensure alignment with the new law.

Like the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the DPDPA is a comprehensive framework that will require data processers to identify a lawful purpose for processing personal data, with limited exceptions such as in cases where the data is publicly available or the processing is necessary as part of a merger or a restructuring.  Similar to the GDPR, it applies to all data processing in India or that is related to the provision of goods and services to individuals in India.

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