Employment

Some significant transactions which we have worked on include:

• Advised one of the foremost leading Washington DC headquartered software/IT industry organisation which is active in more than 80 countries in a restructuring exercise relating to their employees in numerous jurisdictions in Asia including dealing with inter jurisdictional requirements on retrenchment and termination of employment, compensation claims.
• Advised a leading European pharmaceutical group on the structuring of their regional based employees after the disposal of their business in a South East Asia country and which required legal and tax consequences based on the nationality of the employees and the principal place of business of the company and the employees.
• Defended a claim brought by an employer with substantial operations in various parts of Asia on behalf of its former senior employees. The employer is in the business of providing travel services to companies in the marine, offshore and cruise industries. It commenced an action against its senior employees deployed all over Asia alleging they have committed serious breaches of their duties as employees and fiduciaries in the jurisdictions under their respective charge.
• Advising a leading global consumer electronics firm relative to the sale of one of its product lines.  The work involved the dismissal and transfer of affected employees across multiple jurisdictions.
• Advising a global conglomerate on the successful migration -- of employees absorbed by the client following the acquisition of the energy business of a global energy and transportation entity -- into the client’s existing retirement plan. There was a wide gap between the retirement schemes of both entities and the migration had to contend with a rule in the Philippines prohibiting the diminution of employment benefits.
• Defending the Chief Executive Officer of a leading global insurance firm against charges of harassment and discrimination filed by a direct subordinate.
• Advising a multinational engineering and design consultancy firm relative to the retrenchment of around 200 employees.
• Advising several multinational employers on how to properly engage the services of local workers without having a presence in the Philippines.
• Advising multinational corporations on how to properly comply with the latest Philippine regulations on contracting arrangements and, where adverse findings have already been made by the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment, defending the employers against charges of labor-only contracting.  
• Providing comprehensive advice to a multinational client that has put up a shared services centre in the Philippines on all the matters necessary for it to comply with Philippine employment law requirements, including advice on the Philippine labour law framework and environment, and the preparation of key employment related contracts and policies.
• Advising an employer on compliance with the recently enacted Philippine Anti-Age Discrimination in Employment Act.
• Investigating allegations of fraud against one of the top executives of a leading global electronics firm, and advising the employer on the termination of the executive’s employment.  
• Advising a leading multinational semiconductor manufacturer on the reorganization and retrenchment of around 800 affected employees following demand fluctuations.
• Advising a leading Philippine energy conglomerate relative to its deployment of workers for a geothermal project in Japan. This involved the reconciliation of conflicting rules of the Philippines and Japan regarding staffing and contracting.
• Advising a multinational information technology and business process outsourcing firm on the various requirements, reporting obligations, and tax implications applicable under Philippine laws to its acquisition another multinational entity’s global procurement center, including advising on the transfer of employees and infrastructure.

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