The ‘roaring twenties’ of this century have left the business world in constant turmoil. After emerging from the pandemic, geopolitical tensions and the resulting economic uncertainty have pushed companies to rethink their organisational structures and rework their operating models and supply chains. Digitalisation and automation of the workforce is now at the forefront as businesses respond to rapidly changing customer needs. All of this requires companies to focus strategically on change management, as well as major workforce restructurings and reorganisations.

On 26 June 2019, the Directive on restructuring and insolvency^[1] of the European Parliament and of the Council was published in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Podwyższeniu ma ulec maksymalny wymiar kar pieniężnych nakładanych na związki przedsiębiorców przez organ ochrony konkurencji i konsumentów. A w przypadku niewypłacalności związku, przewiduje się odpowiedzialność solidarną jego członków.

On 10 October, the Dubai Court of First Instance issued a potentially ground-breaking judgment in respect of directors’ liability in the context of corporate insolvency.

In particular, in the matter of the liquidation of the public company Marka PJSC (“Marka”), the Court held the company’s board of directors and managers personally and jointly liable for the company’s outstanding debts, totalling close to AED 450 million.

Last year saw a wave of insolvency-related legislation introduced which was largely in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic but which also saw permanent reforms which have, and will continue to have, an impact on the logistics industry as well as supply-chains generally.

IP-Rechte unterliegen teilweise anderen Spielregeln als die übrigen Vermögenswerte eines Unternehmens. Gerade in wirtschaftlich schwierigen Zeiten ist wichtig, hier den Überblick zu behalten. Dies gilt in besonderem Maß, wenn IP-Rechte Gegenstand von Lizenzen sind und einer der beiden Vertragspartner insolvent wird.

Commercial aviation has been one of the sectors most heavily impacted by COVID-19, but thanks to the strong controlling measures to weather the impact of the pandemic, the People’s Republic of China (the “PRC”) has been a market in which some form of aviation recovery is happening. Unfortunately, the recovery has not come soon enough for the Chinese conglomerate HNA.

In spring 2020, the Czech Republic, like the rest of the world, was severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. The spread of COVID-19 outbreaks led to drastic shutdowns and reduced operations in almost all sectors of the economy. The loss of income and suspension of payments threatened to lead to the insolvency of thousands of businesses. So in spring 2020 the Czech Parliament approved temporary statutory measures to prevent the collapse of the business sector due to formal insolvency proceedings (the so-called Lex COVID).

Was bringt 2021 aus arbeitsrechtlicher Sicht? Wir fassen die arbeitsrechtlichen Neuerungen in 2021 für Sie zusammen:

Erhöhung des Mindestlohns

Der Mindestlohn beträgt ab dem 1. Januar 2021 9,50 Euro brutto je Stunde. Ab dem 1. Juli 2021 steigt er weiter auf 9,60 Euro, ab dem 1. Januar 2022 beträgt er 9,82 Euro und ab dem 1. Juli 2022 10,45 Euro; jeweils brutto je Stunde. Die Minijob-Grenze bleibt jedoch bei 450 Euro im Monatbestehen.

Verlängerung des Corona-Bonus

Lockdown, shutdowns, drops in revenue and related negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic faced by companies even still operating and in a healthy state have prompted the Czech government to respond to this situation and implement statutory measures to mitigate such impacts (the so-called LEX COVID), also in the area of insolvency. Most of such measures are only temporary during the extraordinary measures taken by public authorities during the COVID-19 pandemic. LEX COVID, which brings the below-mentioned changes, has already been enacted and came into force on 24 April 2020.