UK employment law reform: the next phase UK employment law is undergoing one of its most significant periods of reform in decades. The Employment Rights Act 2025 introduces a broad programme of changes intended to strengthen employment protections and modernise workplace rights and industrial relations. The changes are being implemented in phases throughout 2026 and 2027 and affect most stages of the employment relationship, from family leave and sickness absence…
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Legislature concluded the second year of its 2024-2026 session on September 1, 2026, and sent the last of its approved bills to Governor Newsom for consideration. The Governor has until September 30 to approve or veto fewer bills than we’ve seen in years, but those that remain will still impact employers in California. On September 1, 2026, the California Legislature sent the last of its approved bills…
Quick Hits Female retail employees in the UK sued Next Retail Limited for paying them less than male warehouse workers for work of equal value. The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) determined that recruiting and retention needs at warehouses were legitimate reasons for the pay differential. The EAT found the pay differential was a proportionate response to a legitimate aim. The UK’s Equality Act 2010 prohibits employment discrimination based on sex,…
This commentary was originally published in Fortune. The views expressed are the authors’ own.Gallup tracking data shows that positive views of capitalism have slipped to 54%, marking a 15-year low since they began tracking the metric. The finding reflects a zero-sum view of the corporation: that companies prosper by extracting value rather than creating it.It is no surprise that the more than 200 CEOs we have interviewed over six years…
The state visit to Moscow by To Lam—General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) and President of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam—is undoubtedly a historic milestone in bilateral relations. It shapes a fundamentally new agenda for Russian-Vietnamese cooperation. More broadly, however, To Lam’s tour embodies Hanoi’s “bamboo diplomacy”. This is a multi-vector strategy of flexible balancing among great powers, enabling Vietnam to maintain its autonomy, avoid rigid alliances,…
Quick Hits SkillBridge provides employers with access to talented military members who are in the process of becoming civilians. These individuals continue to be paid by the military while placed with SkillBridge employers. To participate, employers can either register to serve as SkillBridge employers or work through approved intermediaries. For employers, human resource (HR) leaders, and talent acquisition teams, SkillBridge can be a practical way to connect with military talent…
On September 10, 2026, the Valdai Club held an expert discussion marking the thirtieth anniversary of the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Discussion moderator Ivan Timofeev described the CTBT regime as a major achievement of international law but noted that not all signatory nations have ratified the treaty, resulting in an ambiguous status regarding its implementation. In practice, major nuclear powers have not yet fully…
Quick Hits The 9/11 Notice Act and regulations require employers to notify “where practicable” current and former employees who worked in affected areas of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn of potential eligibility for federal compensation funds. The funds are not limited to first responders but apply to those helped with the clean-up and construction or lived, worked, or went to school in the affected areas during and after the attacks. A…
Transcript Harlan Krumholz: Howie, we’re back, baby. Hi, we’re back from hiatus. And to everyone else, welcome to Health & Veritas. I’m Harlan Krumholz.Howard Forman: And I’m Howie Forman. We’re physicians and professors at Yale University, and we’re trying to get closer to the truth about health and healthcare. First of all, welcome back to everybody. Welcome back to you, Harlan. It’s our sixth season, and we are excited to…
Quick Hits On September 8, 2026, the Mexican Institute of Social Security (IMSS) published an agreement in the Official Gazette of the Federation that approved the mandatory generation of the digital employers registration identification card (Digital TIP), which will supersede any previously issued physical TIPs. The agreement enters into force on September 23, 2026, and employers must enable access to the IMSS electronic notification portal, called Buzón IMSS, to generate…
A common liver condition thought to be harmless could be dramatically increasing the risk of heart disease, kidney failure and premature death, according to a new review led by University of Manchester and Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust researchers.Fatty liver disease, they find, has been overlooked in current approaches to assessing cardiometabolic health, despite growing evidence that it can play a central role in facilitating damage across different organs.The…
Quick Hits The NLRB upheld an arbitration confidentiality provision to the extent it protected the confidentiality of the proceedings and the outcome, while found that the provision’s blanket prohibition on disclosing the existence of arbitration was unlawful. The NLRB also upheld an arbitration provision covering “any and all” employment-related claims, finding a prominent savings clause reasonably informed employees of their rights to file a charge with the NLRB. On August…
In late May 1938, Mao Zedong began a series of lectures in Yan’an that would become On Protracted War. Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Nanjing had fallen to Japanese imperialist ambitions, while China, as a semi-feudal and semi-colonial country, remained vastly inferior in weapons, industry and military organisation. As the resistance became a major front of the World Anti-Fascist War, two conclusions took hold. The defeatist theory of inevitable ‘national subjugation’…
September 8, 2026 - Seyfarth Shaw LLP advised Links Car Wash, LLC, the express car wash operator controlled by Ryan Hanks, in connection with the multi-phase acquisition of the "Woodie's Wash Shack" car wash platform from WWS Enterprises, LLC and related seller parties. The acquisition is being carried out through the client's affiliated buyer, Links Car Wash Management, LLC. The transaction involves the acquisition of the entire "Woodie's Wash Shack" platform, comprising…
Quick Hits The Home Office is introducing mandatory Multi-Factor Authentication for all Sponsor Management System (SMS) users beginning 3 September 2026, requiring a one-time passcode in addition to existing login credentials to protect against unauthorised access. The Level 2 user role will be discontinued from 9 September 2026, and sponsors must upgrade eligible Level 2 users to Level 1 status or deactivate their accounts by 8 March 2027. Because sponsors…
In United States ex rel. Zafirov v. Florida Medical Associates, LLC, the Eleventh Circuit vacated a district court decision that had declared the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act (“FCA”) unconstitutional under the Appointments Clause. The panel held that private relators who bring FCA suits on behalf of the government are not “Officers of the United States” because they do not occupy a “continuing” position, and therefore need…
Quick Hits Whether live, in-person teaching was an “essential function” was a fact question for the jury, particularly given that the job description did not distinguish live from virtual instruction and the college had used virtual classrooms during COVID-19 and inclement weather. Failing to communicate a decision on a requested accommodation, even while considering it internally, may constitute a denial sufficient to establish a prima facie failure-to-accommodate claim. Both parties…
The exact timeline of the recent Nepal flooding disaster is becoming clearer. At 8:37am, instruments recorded what was initially interpreted as an earthquake near Nepal’s border with China. Seven minutes later, CCTV recorded the Gyirong Port border post being destroyed by a massive debris flow and flood.Nepal’s flood authorities learned about the incident at about 9:00am and sent out an emergency SMS alert at about 9:15am. But by that time,…
On 14 September at 10:00 AM, the Moscow venue of the Valdai Club will host the presentation of a new Valdai Paper titled “Turkey and Iran: The Limits of Regional Influence”. The armed conflict between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas that broke out in 2023, and its subsequent escalation, have altered the balance of power in the Middle East. The key factor in the region’s further transformation remains the…
Sanctions constitute a tried and true part of the US foreign–policy toolkit, with the central role America enjoys in the global financial system according it immense coercive power over the behaviour of both friend and foe. The future of US sanctions against Russia may have some role to play in the newly revitalised negotiations over Ukraine, writes Ivan Timofeev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club. The latest round of…
On September 4, 2026, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted a presentation of the report in Moscow titled “Middle Powers in a Polycentric World: The Quest for Strategic Autonomy?”, prepared jointly with the TRENDS Research & Advisory think tank. Anton Bespalov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, moderated the discussion. Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, emphasised in…
Quick Hits NOM-035, published in 2018, established Mexico’s first explicit regulatory framework addressing psychosocial risk factors and employer obligations related to employees’ physical and mental well-being in the workplace. The standard catalyzed a series of labor reforms including expanded vacation entitlements, remote work regulations, recognition of mental health disorders as occupational diseases, the Chair Law requiring workplace seating, and the gradual reduction of the workweek to forty hours by 2030.…
Developers marketing presale units in British Columbia must continue to disclose material developments throughout the life of a project or risk losing the ability to enforce their purchase agreements. In KingSett Mortgage Corporation v. Lumina Eclipse Limited Partnership, 2026 BCSC 1598 (Lumina Eclipse), the British Columbia Supreme Court held that a developer's failure to disclose material developments affecting a condominium project rendered 39 presale agreements unenforceable against the purchasers, notwithstanding…
British Columbia enacted the Construction Prompt Payment Act, SBC 2025, c 24 (the “Act”), which received Royal Assent on November 27, 2025. It will come into force on a date to be prescribed by regulation. The Act will apply to new contracts and subcontracts made after the legislation comes into force. Until the Act comes into force, there is much speculation of the application of the Act in the construction…
Ogletree Deakins’ Traditional Labor Relations Practice Group is pleased to announce the publication of the Summer 2026 issue of the Practical NLRB Advisor. This issue discusses the latest news from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in the wake of a year-long period that the five-member Board lacked the statutorily required three-member quorum due to unfilled vacancies. Even following this extended period when the Board did not have the authority…
Disrupting the newsroom: How news creators are redefining media Download our latest report to explore how the creator economy is reshaping news and what it means for established media. Q5 Media Lead Katie Burridge and Q5 Media Sector Lead Graham Page examine the changing relationship between creators and institutions, and the strategic questions publishers and broadcasters need to consider next. Reading time: 4 minutes In September 2025, our report The…
Quick Hits SEVP issued Broadcast Message 2608-01 on August 12, 2026, signaling heightened scrutiny of CPT authorizations that may not satisfy regulatory requirements. Broadcast Message 2608-02, issued August 24, 2026, provides additional Q&A guidance on when practical training is considered “integral” to an established curriculum. Both messages are directed at DSOs and SEVP-certified schools rather than employers, and they do not create new regulations or alter existing CPT requirements. On…
In this episode, Heidi Brooks talks with Jim Ferrell, who invites us to notice the invisible default of individualism that fragments our organizations and our lives. He describes a process for groups to map, measure, and manage the relational space—the “space between us”—for collective impact. Jim challenges us to see relationships fundamentally as the primary unit of analysis in work and life rather than the individual, arguing that everything we…
Our growth journey, specialist approach and perspective on the future of consulting Our Co-Founder and Managing Partner Olly Purnell speaks to City AM about building Q5 as a challenger to traditional consulting, the shifts reshaping the industry and the opportunities ahead. The interview explores our growth, our specialist approach to organisational performance and Olly’s perspective on the impact of AI. Reading time: 2 minutes Our Co-Founder and Managing Partner…
Quick Hits On June 5, 2026, FinCEN and several other federal agencies issued a joint advisory highlighting fraud typologies and suspicious activity linked to unlawful employment and employers, including immigration-related schemes. The Treasury Department is expected to propose revisions to the Bank Secrecy Act related to customer due diligence requirements, as well as updates to customer identification program rules to address foreign consular identification cards. On June 8, 2026, the…
New analysis finds that a third runway at Heathrow would blow a hole in the UK’s ability to meet legally binding climate targets.The case for aviation expansion hinges on sustainable aviation fuels and greenhouse gas removals but there is currently no evidence that these technologies can support the scale of expansion envisaged by the government.The climate scientists behind the report recommend the government rejects plans for a third runway. There…
Bursts of prejudice against entire peoples and their cultures have accompanied geopolitical tensions since time immemorial, with numerous nationalities and ethnoreligious groups falling victim to bigotry that emerges out of conflict in the international system. Anton Bespalov, Programme Director of the Valdai Club, explores the nature of Russophobia, a form of national prejudice that is politically charged like no other. For the past several years, Russia has been consumed by…
Quick Hits The IRS unveiled a new set of detailed FAQs on August 6, 2026, that supersede FAQs that were posted on January 23, 2026, regarding taxation of tips and overtime pay under 2025’s omnibus spending bill. The new FAQs provide information concerning the definition of qualified overtime, eligibility for the deduction, tax withholding obligations, and reporting and correcting qualified overtime on year-end tax forms. The “no tax on tips…
On August 9, 2014, Michael Brown, a Black teenager, was stopped by police officer Darren Wilson in Ferguson, Missouri. Within minutes, Brown had been shot and killed. In the wake of the killing—and as more deaths of Black men and women at the hands of police officers made headlines—the Black Lives Matter movement, which had begun as a social media campaign the previous year, grew into a nationwide protest movement.The…
Quick Hits Because FAMLI allows an employer to choose to cover an employee’s portion of the contribution, a unionized employer that implements FAMLI’s default 50/50 contribution split without first providing the union with advance notice and an opportunity to request bargaining may risk an unfair labor practice charge. Since employers must already bargain over the contribution split, they could include notice of whether they will implement an Equivalent Private Insurance…
2 September 2026By Johanne Evrard, Wagner Eduardo Schuster, Fabian Wassmann and Michael Wedow Synthetic securitisation can free up bank capital. But does that mean banks lend more to firms? This ECB Blog post explores the effects of loan securitisation. We find that banks that issue synthetic securitisations lend marginally more, but also tend to pay more dividends.In theory, the securitisation of bank loans can strengthen the lending capacity of the…
With a precise understanding of the region’s political geography and the international system, the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei transformed the continuous challenges posed by external pressures into golden opportunities for creating sustainable coalitions, writes Mohammad Hossein Masoumzadeh. In analysing and examining the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran, reviewing the approaches and decision-making legacy of Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei across various diplomatic arenas assumes special analytical significance. During…
AI investment alone won’t create value. The real question is whether your organisation is ready to turn ambition into adoption, performance and return. Reading time: 5 minutes Every board we speak to has an AI mandate. Almost none of them can tell us whether their organisation can actually deliver it. That gap between the ambition on the board slide and the reality of the organisation is where much of the…
Executive Summary The oil agreement announced by the United States and Venezuela on August 28, 2026, together with OFAC’s August 27 amendments to several Venezuela-related General Licenses, signals a potentially significant new phase for investment in Venezuela’s energy sector. Publicly disclosed terms indicate a 25-year framework covering 17 strategic oil fields, a production objective exceeding 1.5 million barrels per day, and approximately US$100 billion in contemplated private investment. Venezuelan authorities…
Quick Hits The State Department has paused immigrant visa interview appointments at consulates and embassies worldwide so that its officers can undergo training on new public charge screening guidance. Nonimmigrant visa categories—including tourist, student, and temporary work visas—are currently not impacted by the pause. The pause in appointments appears temporary, though a specific timeline has not been announced. The postponement of immigrant visa interviews comes after DHS policy changes affecting…