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Start-ups and New Immigration Law of the USA

LL

For the last time there are a lot of posts about immigration reform of the USA, which was accepted by Senate on June 27, 2013. But we see one and the same issues which are discussed everywhere.

In this article I will try to recite the main idea of this big law (almost 1200 pages) in short, which concerns IT specialists and especially start-ups.

First of all, I have to admit that this reform can really simplify the procedure of issuance of visas for agricultural workers, medics, IT specialists, graduating students of the American universities or colleges and representatives of other hard-to-get professions.  Those people, who have got their professions in American Universities, will get green-cards out of turn, even avoiding the scoring program. The only condition is the presence of an employment offer. (more…)

Food Poisoning – Where Restaurants Can Get It All Wrong

LL

I used to work in a pub. In fact for the first seven years of my adult life I worked over 45 hours in a pub each week – I couldn’t get away. Now the majority of my work in the pub was to do with the gambling/gaming side of the venue, but every now and again I would be dragged into the pubs restaurant and forced to serve tables with a pleasant smile on my face.
Now serving tables isn’t really for me – I find it incredibly frustrating and on top of that I have a memory like a sieve which only makes for angry customers. But after seven years in this environment I do have a good understanding of Health and Safety within this type of environment, and the strict precautions which must be met to ensure that these standards are adhered to.

Our chefs would work endlessly to ensure that food was kept at the right temperature, that it was cooked appropriately and that the wrong people were kept well away from the kitchen – and all in all this meant that we had a great safety rating and that our customers were generally happy.
The same couldn’t be said for the pub down the road.

Ever the victim of food poisoning claims, I remember one year they suffered dreadfully on Christmas Day after a bad batch of food sent many revellers home ill – struck down with food poisoning. The bad press and reputation crippled the business and very nearly sent it broke. It took many years before people would go there again – and this only serves to highlight the importance of health and safety.

So if you are thinking about setting up a kitchen, or you currently run one, here are some crucial health and safety considerations to make:
Food storage – make sure that your food is stored appropriately and that your refrigerators are properly sealed. You need to make sure that your food stays at a reasonable temperature, especially meet and if it doesn’t it could be a potential food poisoning risk for your customers
Food preparation – it’s crucial that you prepare your food well and that the area is clean when you undertake any preparation. It’s very easy for your food to pick up germs and disease in an unhygienic area, so it’s crucial that you use a clean surface and clean utensils at all times
Hygiene – hygiene is absolutely crucial in any commercial kitchen and all utensils and surfaces must be cleaned to the highest standards and maintained that way. In addition it’s crucial that the chefs keep the highest levels of personal hygiene to ensure that they don’t pass any germs on to their customers
Staff – staff must be trained to the highest standards in health and safety to ensure that they can meet the appropriate standards and that customers aren’t at risk of food poisoning at any stage of the food preparation or presentation.

Workplace Rights Your Employer Might Not Tell You About

LL

Many people spend their entire lives doing their jobs without ever trying to educate themselves about the laws whose purpose is to protect them at their workplaces. In fact, if all the workers were properly informed of the privileges they enjoy under the United States laws, it would make them much more confident and productive, which is something both employees and employers could benefit from. In this article, we will try to attract your attention to certain workplace rights you might not have known about, either because your employer didn’t know about them or didn’t want you to know about them.

Paychecks

One of the most important things in every job is, of course, the paycheck. Employers tend to manipulate the facts when it comes to paying employees for the work they have done, but the bottom line is: your paycheck cannot be withheld for anything. Destroying company’s property, squandering the company’s profit or the poorest general performance in the world – none of these is a reason enough for you not to get paid for the time you spent working. Yes, you can still get fired, but you are nevertheless entitled to the money you earned before that. What’s more, not only that employers must give you your paycheck, but they also must do it in a certain amount of time, or they will have to pay additional penalties to you.

Overtime

As for working overtime, whether your job pays overtime or not does not depend on your employer, but on the government decision. If your job is on the government’s list of exempt jobs, you don’t get to be paid overtime. However, if it is non-exempt, your employer is obliged to pay you for all hours above 40 that you spend working during one week. Working off the clock is forbidden and you should be aware of that.
Comments on wages
Dissatisfied with your wage? You would like to share your dissatisfaction with your fellow employees, but the company’s policy is forbidding this? The National Labor Relations Act says you are right and the company is wrong. In order to protect workers’ right to organize, this act allows them to talk to each other about all the relevant problems, including wages and working conditions (which are also “taboo” according to some companies’ policies)

Whistleblowers

The institution of a whistleblower is gaining prominence in the 21st century. Consequently, there are laws protecting whistleblowers from retaliation. If you noticed a problem in your company, gave the employer a chance to fix it and then, after they had failed to do it, went to the governmental agency and reported them, you are protected by law (for example, in the state of New Jersey, New Jersey employment law, or more specifically New Jersey Conscientious Employee Protection Act protects employees from all retaliatory actions).

In any case, it is important to be aware of your rights and hire a employment lawyer as soon as you encounter a problem, in order to receive professional advice on your rights and responsibilities.

A Significant Confiscation in the Law of Jersey

LL

On November last year, Jersey court ordered Curtis Warren to pay £198 million after the drug dealer failed to prove that he has not earned so much amount in his entire criminal life. Though, Curtis referred the case as ridiculous, the court mentioned it will confiscate his entire properties if he failed to pay the whole amount within next 28 days. After investigating the criminal activities and the finances of one of the Europe’s renowned drug smuggler, the court can arrive to this conclusion.

The main charge against the 50 year old former bouncer from Liverpool was cocaine trafficking between 1991 and 1996 that had possibly generated millions. He has a worldwide business of drugs and he supposedly shipped cocaine from South America to Europe several times and managed to avoid punishments. The consignment range from 500kgs to several tons and expectedly generated a profit of £20million a ton. This is probably the largest ever confiscation order made in Europe for drug trafficking. (more…)

How to pick a divorce lawyer

LL

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