Month: May 2018

Protect Yourself from the Law with a DUI Attorney

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May 14, 2018

2:51 pm

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Everybody makes mistakes. Thats just life. When we do make mistakes that involve breaking the law, we are entitled to the best legal representation available. Everyone is innocent until proven guilty in our court system. In offenses involving drinking and driving, a Seattle DUI attorney will help you show the court you are a levelheaded, practical, decent citizen who had a momentary lapse of judgment and made a mistake.

It would seem DUI law is pretty cut and dry. You either blow into a breathalyzer or get your blood tested. Theres all the evidence the police need for a conviction. You were driving with blood/alcohol level over the limit so therefore youre guilty. That isnt necessarily true. Most people only hire a Seattle DUI lawyer to help with court proceedings, but dont bother finding one who may actually help get the charges reduced or dropped because they think there is no point. Any Washington DUI lawyer will tell you this isnt true.

You drove while drunk making you automatically guilty. This is not the right attitude to have. No one is saying you dont have to pay for your mistake but you dont want that mistake to haunt the rest of your life. Yes its true that DUI charges are somewhat cut and dry. You broke the law and youll have to pay for it. However, a good Washington DUI lawyer can properly assess your situation and hopefully get the sentence reduced or possibly convince the court to change it to a different, lesser charge.

A Seattle DUI lawyer specializes in DUI law just as other lawyers specialize in areas such as personal injury or criminal defense. Its important to find a Seattle DUI attorney, since this is what they base their entire career around. They can provide you with valuable experience in defending DUI cases. They know all the ins and outs, and details lawyers of more general practices may not know.

No matter what part of the country you live in, youre facing serious charges after a DUI arrest. The right Seattle DUI attorney can get your sentence lowered to a fine, community service, and/or counseling, perhaps directly through AA.

A DUI can seriously affect the rest of your life. By finding a Washington DUI lawyer willing to work with you, youre hiring someone who knows every law regarding DUI. This is a priceless resource you cannot afford to be without.

Investing In China Proposed Labor Contract Law

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May 12, 2018

7:12 pm

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If you are considering setting up a company in the People’s Republic of China (the PRC) you should be aware that Chinese law is more protective of employees than the laws of many western nations, particularly the United States. The current PRC Labor Law was enacted in 1994; however, a new PRC Labor Contract Law, intended to supplement the Labor Law, is expected to come into force at the end of 2006. This new law contains both bad news and good news from the point of view of the foreign investor; however, in general it further strengthens the protection of employees.

The Bad News:

Severance Pay

Because it is difficult under the PRC Labor Law to terminate open-term labor contracts, employers usually prefer fixed terms. The Labor Contract Law will address this issue by requiring employers to pay severance compensation to employees on fixed term labor contracts if these contracts are not renewed at the end of the contract term. The proposed compensation is at least one month’s salary for each year of service.

Company Rules/Employee Handbooks

No provision in the employee handbook or other rules affecting the employee’s “personal interest” may be put into force absent consultation with the labor union or other employee representative body (under Chinese law, virtually all employees are required to be unionized).

A Shorter Probationary Period

Currently, the probationary period may be agreed between the employer and employee in the labor contract, but the maximum probation may not exceed 6 months. The Labor Contract Law shortens this period to one month for non-technical work and two months for most technical work (the six-month maximum is still retained for senior technical work, probably because these highly skilled employees are seen as less vulnerable in the employment market. This is significant because it easier to fire an employee during the probationary period than afterwards.

Non-Competition Clauses

Foreign invested companies in particular have tended to insert post-employment non-competition clauses into labor contracts in order to protect their intellectual property rights in China’s wild west business atmosphere. Although the Labor Contract Law allows post-employment non-competition restrictions, it will limit their enforceability to two years and restrict the geographical area of applicability to areas where actual competition is likely to occur. In this respect the reform will render Chinese law more similar to US law, since the current Labor Law does not impose any geographic restrictions at all (but does permits a maximum duration of up to three years). The Labor Contract Law goes even further, however, by requiring the employer buy a non-competition clause by paying a minimum compensation equal to the employee’s annual salary upon termination of the labor contract. It is still unclear what, if any compensation will be due the employee if the period of restriction is less than a year.

Contract Interpretation

Any ambiguous term in a labor contract will be construed in favor of the employee. This rule does little more that codify what has long been the prevailing practice in PRC courts.

Representative Offices

The current Labor Law requires Representative Offices to go through designated agencies such as FESCO (similar to Manpower in the United States) in order to hire employees. The new Labor Contract Law offers Representative Offices greater flexibility by allowing them to directly contract with employees for their first year of employment.

In summary, the new Labor Law will restrict foreign investor’s flexibility and make it more expensive for them to operate. The only good news is that Representative Offices will find it somewhat easier to operate. Typically, the new Labor Contract Law does not bother to define terms like technical, senior technical; and personal interest However, foreign investors have long been used to waiting months and even years for ambiguous terms in Chinese law to be defined through the further issuance of implementing regulations to supplement the main law; meanwhile the government’s actual implementation of the law in particular cases will be closely watched.