Organised by: Employment & Immigration Law Committee
Session abstract:
With Europe being focused on GDPR and surveillance in China becoming pervasive, the US as well as many Asian countries still seem to struggle with the right balance between privacy and opportunities of data exploitation. In this context, the panel will also discuss potential impact of surveillance and data mining on employment protection, e.g., if and to which extent information derived from big data may be used for disciplinary action/dismissal of employees.
Björn Otto
Dr. Björn Otto is a certified employment lawyer and partner of international law firm CMS. A main focus of Björn’s practice is on outsourcing and restructuring as well as privatization. As Co-Head of the firm’s cluster of excellence “Restructuring and Insolvency”, Björn has particular expertise in regards to (national and international) boardroom codetermination, matrix structures of multinationals, implementation of (cloud-based) IT systems (including data protection aspects), insolvency specific employment law, European and SE (Societas Europaea) Works Council issues and cross-border reorganization projects.
Björn is based in Cologne, Germany, and a vice-chair of the IPBA’s Employment & Immigration Committee as well as a member of the IBA, the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA) and the Labor Law Group of the German Bar Association.
Speakers
Ajay Singh Solanki
Ajay Singh Solanki is a Leader of Labour & Employment Law practice at Nishith Desai Associates and is based in Mumbai, India. Ajay has been advising a wide range of high-profile multi-national and domestic clients on complex Indian employment law issues. He has a keen interest in research and has authored several articles for well-known international publications. He has been regularly speaking at panels organised by the International Bar Association. Ajay also advises and assists Nasscom, a leading industry body for information technology companies in India, in their initiatives to bring about employment law reforms in the industry. He is a cricket and football enthusiast and loves to play these sports every once in a while.
Jenny Tsin
Jenny TSIN is the Joint Head of the Employment Practice and a Partner in both the Commercial & Corporate Disputes Practice and the Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice.
Jenny is experienced in all aspects of employment laws, with particular focus on preventing and resolving disputes between employers and employees. In this context, Jenny regularly drafts and negotiates exit agreements and manages disputes when they arise. Jenny also advises clients in respect of their employment related regulatory obligations such as those under the Employment Act, the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act, the Central Provident Fund Act and the Industrial Relations Act.
Jenny is a Vice-Chair of the International Pacific Bar Association’s Employment & Immigration Committee. She is also the Employment Law Alliance’s (“ELA”) Regional Chair for Asia Pacific, and a member of the ELA Board of Directors. She speaks frequently at employment law seminars, such as those organised by the International Pacific Bar Association. She co-authors the Randstad Workpocket Singapore and is a consultant editorial board member for LexisNexis Practical Guidance on Employment Laws in Singapore.
In addition to employment related disputes, Jenny’s dispute resolution experience extends to shareholder disputes, commercial and contractual disputes and claims relating to directors’ duties, auditors’ duties and other corporate governance matters and has experience in both litigation and arbitration.
As a Partner in the corporate governance and compliance practice, Jenny advises and speaks on provisions of the Securities and Futures Act, the Companies Act and other regulatory statutes. Jenny has an interest in issues relating to corporate fraud, anti-money laundering and insider trading. Jenny routinely advises and assists corporations in their investigations of such issues.
Carol Zhu
Carol Zhu is the partner of the labor and employment law practice group of Zhong Lun Law Firm, and her area of focus covers all aspects of labor & employment law. In addition to handling general labor & employment related matters, Carol is much experienced in dealing with and advising on forefront and complex legal matters relating to labor & employment, such as termination of senior management, the solution for transnational corporate to handle its employment data, employee transition and relocation in M&A, investigation of employees’ non-compliance and mass redundancies. In recent years, Carol has successfully helped several clients to complete their large scale lay-off projects which affected hundreds of employees in different cities in China and involves intensive meeting and negotiation with local governments. Various legal rating agencies have highly recognised Carol’s expertise, including Chambers Asia Pacific, The Legal 500, Who’s Who, AsiaLaw and China Law and Practice. Prior to joining Zhong Lun, Carol was a key member of the employment group of a major international law firm. Before practicing in law firms, Carol accumulated more than ten years of experience working as Head of Human Resources in Asia and China for several major global companies where she was responsible for overall HR and employee relations.
Frédérique David
Chair of the Employment and Immigration Committee of the IPBA (Inter-Pacific Bar Association), Frédérique David is partner responsible for Harlay’s Employment Law Department. She serves clients for advisory as well as for litigation employment matters and assists clients on all aspects of employment law and human resources (advisory and litigation work). The areas of expertise include individual (day to day and special projects matters) and collective employment matters (including massive lay offs and dealings with the labour administration and the unions), due diligences and assistance during corporate transactions, international mobility matters. She is used to work in international environments and for multinational companies.