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Generative AI: A global guide to key IP considerations
Artificial intelligence (AI) raises many intellectual property (IP) issues.
United States | Publication | March 2021
Calculating the regular rate of pay accurately is essential in paying overtime correctly under federal and state law. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals addressed this issue in Clarke, et al. v. AMN Services LLC, DBA Nursechoice. The case involved two classes of clinicians employed by a healthcare staffing company who were paid a weekly per diem—which the company characterized as an expense reimbursement—to cover commuting costs. In reversing the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the company, the court held that the per diem functioned as compensation rather than expense reimbursement because it was paid in advance each week, did not require proof of actual expenses incurred, and was tied to the number of shifts worked each week by the employee regardless of actual travel costs.
This opinion serves as a stark reminder of the importance of proper pay policies and practices. Simply characterizing an employee benefit as a per diem or an expense reimbursement does not automatically make it a non-wage benefit for the purposes of calculating overtime pay. Failing to properly classify benefits and wages may expose employers to costly class and PAGA actions, as employees will not only be seeking unpaid overtime, but all of the corresponding penalties that can increase exposure exponentially, including inaccurate wage statement penalties and waiting time penalties.
Publication
Artificial intelligence (AI) raises many intellectual property (IP) issues.
Publication
The UK remains a world leader in offshore wind, accounting for roughly 20 percent of global offshore wind capacity, with 11.3 GW operational. It is forecast that installed capacity will rise to 19.5 GW by mid 2020s.
Publication
On 21 May 2024, the European Council (or Council) adopted the so-called ‘Hydrogen and decarbonised gas market package’ (the Gas Package). The package contains a recast of the 715/2009 gas regulation (Gas Regulation) and a recast of the 2009/73 gas directive (Gas Directive) aimed at reforming the existing EU regulatory framework to support the deployment of renewable and low-carbon gases, in particular hydrogen. As such, it represents a major development in the EU gas market.
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