By Makarim & Taira S.

INTRODUCTION

Employment matters in general, and the termination of employees in particular, can often be both complex and confusing. Indeed, for the unwary Employer, they can also have significant impact both in terms of time and cost. Accordingly, it is important for management personnel to have a certain amount of background knowledge on Indonesian employment issues prior to entering into (and certainly before terminating) any employment relationship.

This Memorandum details in brief some of the major issues and procedures relating to the termination of Indonesian employees in private companies.

The advice given in sections I and II below relate to the procedures for termination of employment for an indefinite period and the calculation of the costs of termination or resignation. Where an Employee is subject to a working agreement for a specified time (i.e. a fixed-term contract), different rules apply. These rules are discussed briefly in section III below. Brief advice is also given in section IV on certain ways in which an Employer's liability may be limited. Please note there are many strategies, tactics and practical procedures and problems which have to be considered in any employment termination or dismissal. It is not within the scope of this Makarim & Taira S. Memorandum to discuss these and, accordingly, with the exception of section IV below, we will only discuss the legal and regulatory provisions relating to this topic.

On 25 March 2003, Law No. 13 of 2003 on Manpower (the "Manpower Law") became fully effective. The Manpower Law contains specific provisions on termination of employment and amends, but does not replace, the principal existing regulation governing manpower termination, namely Minister of Manpower Decree No. Kep-150/Men/2000 dated 20 June 2000 on the Settlement of Working Relationship Severance and the Stipulation on Severance Monies, Service Monies and Compensation in Private Companies, (as amended, "Decree 150/2000"). The Manpower Law, which was subject to much lengthy and vociferous debate and negotiation, contains provisions favourable to Employers in respect of the controversial entitlements given in Decree 150/2000 upon voluntary resignation and dismissal for serious offences. However, the compromise given to Employees in exchange includes greater entitlements upon termination for longer-serving Employees.

The other main legislative change in the field of employment termination is the passing of Law No. 2 of 2004 on Industrial Relations Dispute Settlement ("Law No. 2"). Although Law No. 2 was approved and enacted on 14 January 2004, its implementation was delayed for a year and it has only been effective since 14 January 2006.

In this Memorandum, "Manpower Department" means the Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration, "PPHI" means the Industrial Relations Court.

It should also be noted that although Indonesia"s employment regulations apply to expatriates as well as to Indonesians, in practice the termination of expatriates may be dealt with differently by the authorities.

Finally, the precise inter-relationship between and among Decree 150/2000, the Manpower Law and its implementing regulations is still not entirely clear and it also perhaps true to say that there are still uncertainties in relation to manpower termination issues in general and the vexing problem of termination of employment for serious misconduct in particular.

I. PROCEDURES FOR EMPLOYEE DISMISSAL AND RESIGNATION

A. General:

  1. The basic policy of Indonesian labour law is that dismissal of an Employee should be prevented or even in some cases, prohibited. The general principle is that the relevant authorities must approve every termination of employment.
  2. Exceptions to the general principle of approval being required to terminate an employment relationship include the following:
    • termination during a probation period;
    • voluntary written resignation of the Employee;
    • retirement of the Employee;
    • expiry for the first time of an Employee"s fixed term employment contract (see section III below); and
    • death of the Employee.

3. Dismissal of an Employee is prohibited if the reason for dismissal relates to the following:

  • activities of the Employee in a labour union;
  • the Employee reporting any illegal action by the Employer to the authorities;
  • ideology, religion, race, gender, physical condition, marital status, etc. of the Employee;
  • the Employee being ill continuously for less than 1 year as stated in a physician"s certificate;
  • the Employee becomes permanently disabled or sick for work-related reasons and the healing period is unpredictable;
  • the Employee being on State duty;
  • the Employee is required to carry out religious duties as approved by the authorities;
  • reasons of marriage, pregnancy, birth or miscarriage for female workers;
  • for female workers, the feeding of their babies;
  • an Employee is related to another Employee by blood or by marriage.

B. Negotiation:

  1. Before dismissing an Employee, the first important step is to hold "bipartite" negotiations between the Employer and the labour union (or the Employee if the Employee is not a member of a labour union). The Labour Union must be registered with the Manpower Department.
  2. The aim of the negotiation process is to discuss whether dismissal of the Employee is the only remedy. Usually, if dismissal of the Employee is the only possible remedy, and both (or all) parties can reach an agreement, the result is that the Employee agrees to resign voluntarily and the Employer agrees to compensate the Employee.
  3. This bipartite negotiation process must be settled at the latest within 30 calendar days after negotiation starts.. Anything agreed or disagreed should be recorded in Minutes of Meeting signed by both parties and the Minutes should contain certain information and other details. The Manpower Department provides a sample of Minutes of Meeting. If a settlement consensus is reached then a Mutual (sometimes called a Joint or a Collective) Agreement (Kesepakatan Bersama) is drawn up and signed.
  4. Once signed, the Mutual Agreement, together with relevant evidence must be registered by both parties with the Industrial Relations Court.
  5. If no consensus is reached in the negotiations stage then one or both parties must submit the dispute along with the relevant evidence to the Manpower Department (see section D below).

C. Resignation:

  1. The Employee can also give a voluntary written resignation to the Employer, for example when the Employee wants to move to another company. The resignation process that is initiated by the Employee is not too complicated. The Employee will usually give a written resignation to the Employer 30 days prior to his/her resignation becoming effective.
  2. As stated above, one of the most controversial provisions of Decree 150/2000, namely the entitlement of Employees who voluntarily (and properly) resign from employment to receive both service period recognition pay and compensation has now been amended so that service period recognition pay is no longer payable. However and as noted below in section II 1.D, uang pisah (separation pay) may be payable.

With regard to the payment of compensation upon resignation, there is still uncertainty as to how this is calculated in certain termination cases. As can be seen from section II.1.C below, the housing and medical element is 15% of the aggregate of the severance payment and service period recognition pay. Although logically this should be 15% of nothing in the case of resignation and serious misconduct the Manpower Department has only recently, by virtue of a circular letter, stated that employers are not required to pay the 15% in the case of resignation. It is thought by many that following this logic, the same principle should be applied (although the circular letter does not mention this) in the case of termination for serious misconduct and indeed in some of the other reasons for termination which are not due to the fault of the employer.

D. Conciliation by Independent Registered Conciliator

  1. Should the bipartite negotiations between the parties fail to reach any mutual agreement and termination is unavoidable, both parties will be offered by the Manpower Department to settle the dispute through Conciliation. If the parties refuse to settle it through Conciliation, the Manpower Department will hand over the dispute to a mediator (see section E below).
  2. The parties must submit a written application to the conciliator whom they have agreed to from the list of conciliators published in the local office of the Ministry of Manpower.
  3. Within 7 working days after the application, the conciliator must conduct research on the dispute and at the latest on the 8th working days he/she must hold the first conciliation session. This conciliation should take place within 30 days after receipt of the application.
  4. The conciliator then will issue a recommendation to settle the dispute to both parties. If both parties agree to the recommendation from the conciliator, within 3 days after the recommendation is agreed, the conciliator must have finished assisting the parties preparing a mutual agreement. The mutual agreement must then be registered at the Industrial Relations Court.
  5. If one of the parties does not accept the recommendation from the conciliator, the party can file a lawsuit to the Industrial Relations Court.

E. Mediation by the Manpower Department:

  1. If the bipartite negotiation process between the parties fails to reach any agreement and the parties refuse the conciliation process, the relevant officials at the Ministry of Manpower will bring the dispute to mediation.
  2. Within 7 days of receipt of a request for mediation, the intermediary officer from the local office of the Manpower Department should conduct research on the case and immediately commence the mediation process and this should be completed within 30 days.
  3. The mediator will issue a recommendation to settle the dispute to both parties. If both parties agree the recommendation from the mediator, within 3 days since the recommendation is agreed, the mediator must have finished helping the parties preparing a mutual agreement. The mutual agreement must then be registered at the Industrial Relations Court.
  4. If one of the parties does not accept the mediator"s recommendation, the party can file a lawsuit to the Industrial Relations Court.

F. Industrial Relations Court Process

  1. Any lawsuit filed at the competent Industrial Relations Court must be accompanied by minutes of mediation or conciliation process. The plaintiff may at any time revoke its claim before the defendant gives its response. At the latest within 7 working days after receiving the claim, the Chairman of the District Court should have determined the board of judges consisting of 1 chairman of the board and 2 other judges as members of the board. The judges will be responsible for verifying the content of the claims and if there is any deficiency, the judges may request the plaintiff to improve his or her claim.
  2. A decision of the Industrial Relations Court on disputes on rights and disputes on termination of employment can be appealed to the Supreme Court at the latest 14 working days after the court decision is notified to the parties. The Registrar of the Industrial Relations Court should submit all documents pertaining to the dispute to the Chairman of the Supreme Court at the latest within 14 working days after receiving the request of final appeal ("Cassation"). The settlement proceeding at the Supreme Court will be governed by the procedural requirements set out under Law No. 14 of 1985 on Supreme Court and should be completed within 30 working days upon receipt of the Cassation request.
  3. A decision of the Industrial Relations Court regarding disputes on rights and disputes on termination of employment will become binding on the parties if there is no written request of cassation submitted by any party to the registrar of the Industrial Relations Court during the following period:
    1. 14 days after the decision is read for a party attending the hearing; or
    2. 14 days after receipt of notification of the decision for a party who does not attend the hearing.

The Industrial Relations Court"s decision regarding a dispute on interests and disputes among labour unions in a company will be a final and permanent decision.

G. Dismissal

  1. Under the Manpower Law, approval to dismiss an Employee will be granted to the Employer for the following serious misconduct on the part of the Employee:
    1. swindling, theft and embezzlement of goods/cash owned by the Employer;
    2. providing fake or falsified information, which inflicts losses on the company;
    3. being drunk, drinking liquor, using or distributing narcotic, psychotropic and other addictive substances in the workplace;
    4. committing an indecent act or gambling at the work place;
    5. assaulting, intimidating, maltreating, or deceiving the Employer or his fellow Employees within the Company;
    6. persuading the Employer or fellow Employees to be engaged in an act against the law and the prevailing laws;
    7. recklessly or deliberately damaging goods belonging to the Employer, harming them or leaving them in dangerous and thereby causing a loss to the company;
    8. recklessly or deliberately leaving the Employer or fellow Employees in danger in the work place;
    9. divulging Company secrets, which should otherwise be kept confidential, except in the State"s interest;
    10. committing other crimes in the Company premises liable to a prison sentence of 5 years or more.

      The above actions (a. - j.) are those detailed in the Manpower Law as permitting the Employer to apply for approval of an immediate dismissal. They are more restrictive than the equivalent serious misconduct actions detailed in Decree 150/2000 and it is unlikely that any broader range of serious misconduct actions which are included in a Collective Labour Agreement or Company Regulations would be enforceable (however, this is not to say that some Employers have not been trying to continue to use their own broader list of serious misconduct actions in their recent terminations).

  2. In order to terminate an Employee for serious misconduct, as referred to above, the Employee must be caught "red-handed" or must sign a confession or there must exist other evidentiary reports supported by at least 2 eyewitnesses. This can make termination for serious misconduct very difficult, particularly if the Employee is aggressive or uncooperative; ironically, it is sometimes easier to terminate an Employee for consistent minor infringements than for serious transgressions.
  3. The ability of an Employer to terminate an Employee for serious misconduct has been thrown into confusion (and doubt) by a judicial review of the Manpower Law by the Constitutional Court. In their decision, the court deemed certain provisions of the Manpower Law relating to termination for serious misconduct to be unconstitutional, on the basis that the guilt or innocence of an Employee should be decided upon by a court of law and not by an Employer. It is beyond the scope of this memorandum to discuss the impact and implications (let alone the validity and practical effectiveness) of the court"s decision and the practical strategies that may be available to try to enable a termination for serious misconduct to be permitted. Suffice it to say that it is recommended that any Employer obtains legal advice prior to terminating an Employee on grounds of serious misconduct. In addition, the verdict of the Constitutional Court only supports the general principle that it is almost always advisable and preferable for the Employer to come to a mutually agreed amicable settlement with the Employee for any termination of employment.
  4. In the case of dismissal of an Employee based on the Employee's "minor mistakes", the Employer is obliged to pay severance pay a service period recognition payment and compensation to the Employee. Labour regulations do not provide further explanations regarding examples of "minor mistakes". Such examples are usually provided in the Collective Labour Agreement or Company Regulations or the employment contract.
  5. In practice, and as required by the Manpower Law, an application to dismiss an Employee on the basis of "minor mistakes" should be made only after at least 3 consecutive warnings have been given to the Employee over a period of time usually prescribed by the Collective Labour Agreement, Company Regulations or the employment contract. Each warning letter may not be valid for more than 6 months.
  6. The Employer may directly issue a last warning letter to the Employee where:
    1. the Employee refuses 3 times in succession to obey proper instructions as stipulated in the employment contract, the Collective Labour Agreement or the Company Regulations;
    2. the Employee intentionally or negligently puts himself/herself in such a condition as to be unable to perform the work given to him/her;
    3. the Employee shows inability to perform the work despite being given the opportunity to try;
    4. the Employee violates the Collective Labour Agreement, Company Regulations or the employment contract and the violation is subject to the issuance of a last warning.

      This must be stipulated in the employment contract, the Company Regulations, or the Collective Labour Agreement.

  1. If after the last warning letter, the Employee still cannot improve his/her performance and/or commits another violation, the Employer can file a lawsuit to the Industrial Relations Court. However, before bringing a lawsuit, the negotiation process described above must be undertaken.
  2. During the termination of employment process, the Employee is still entitled to be paid in full and is obliged to perform his/her duties. However, if the Employee was suspended in accordance with the relevant Collective Labour Agreement, Company Regulations or employment contract, under the Manpower Law, the Employee is entitled to 100% of his/her wages and other benefits. Any suspension must be in writing, giving clear reasons for the suspension and the Employee must be given a chance to defend him/herself.
  3. Specific procedures for termination of employment are contained in the Manpower Law in circumstances where the Employee is detained by the authorities and also where the Employee is absent without notice for at least 5 consecutive business days and therefore considered to have resigned improperly (with the Employer having given 2 written summonses to the Employee). Employees cannot be considered absent if they are staging a lawful strike.

II. CALCULATION OF SEVERANCE PAY, SERVICE PERIOD RECOGNITION PAYMENT AND COMPENSATION

1. General Principles

The guidelines to calculate severance pay, the period recognition service payment and compensation are now contained in the Manpower Law. The minimum calculation (which may be amended from time to time by government regulation) is as follows:

A. Severance Pay

Service period less than 1 year 1 months salary
Service period 1 year or more but less than 2 years 2 months salary
Service period 2 years or more but less than 3 years 3 months salary
Service period 3 years or more but less than 4 years 4 months salary
Service period 4 years or more but less than 5 years 5 months salary
Service period 5 years or more but less than 6 years 6 months salary
Service period 6 years or more but less than 7 years 7 months salary
Service period 7 years or more but less than 8 years 8 months salary
Service period 8 years or more 9 months salary

B. Service Period Recognition Payment

Service period 3 years or more but less than 6 years 2 months salary
Service period 6 years or more but less than 9 years 3 months salary
Service period 9 years or more but less than 12 years 4 months salary
Service period 12 years or more but less than 15 years 5 months salary
Service period 15 years or more but less than 18 years 6 months salary
Service period 18 years or more but less than 21 years 7 months salary
Service period 21 years or more but less than 24 years 8 months salary
Service period 24 years or more 10 months salary

C. Compensation:

  1. Untaken annual leave that has not been forfeited.
  2. Transportation costs for the Employee and his/her family to the place where the Employee was recruited.
  3. Housing, medical treatment and medication allowance service equal to 15% of the severance pay and service period recognition payment if the service period fulfils the requirement for the service period recognition payment (but see notes above in relation to this entitlement).
  4. Other matters as stipulated in the relevant employment agreement, Company Regulations or Collective Labour Agreement.

    "Salary" for the purpose of calculating severance pay, the service period recognition payment and compensation consists of the basic salary as well as all fixed allowances given to the Employee and his/her family permanently and regularly, including the value of benefits (e.g. uniform, footwear) given free of charge to the Employee.

D. Uang Pisah (Separation Money)

One of the benefits given to Employees and labour unions as compensation for the abolition of service period recognition entitlements on resignation and on termination for serious misconduct was the introduction of the concept of uang pisah or "separation money". The idea of this is that the Employer should voluntarily provide a reward for an Employee"s service with the Employer. Indeed, it is expected that the amount of this entitlement should be set out in the Company Regulations or Collective Labour Agreement. There still remains some uncertainty as to the expected or permitted amount of uang pisah. If this has not yet been provided for in the Employer"s Company Regulations or Collective Labour Agreement, the competent manpower authority will usually reject the application for registration of the relevant Company Regulations or Collective Labour Agreement.

2. Specific Termination Examples

To determine exactly how much, if anything, an Employee who is terminated or resigns may by law be entitled to, it is necessary to refer to the Manpower Law.

There are many different circumstances and events which may lead to a termination. Similarly, there are a number of combinations of severance payment, service period recognition payment and compensation which may be payable as entitlements. The following table shows the termination entitlements under the Manpower Law (this does not include retirement entitlements). It should be noted, of course, that these are minimum entitlements and the various facts and circumstances of each case may result in greater entitlements being paid in practice. It is highly recommended that professional advice be sought prior to any termination of employment as each of the reasons for termination may have its own procedures and processes, as well as being affected by written or unwritten policies of the Manpower Department.

Reason for Termination Manpower Law Provision Entitlement

Serious misconduct

158(3)

COMP

Serious misconduct where Employee"s duty/function does not directly represent Employer"s interest

158(4)

UP (AS PER EA, CR OR CLA) + COMP

Criminal action against Employee + guilty/6 months

160(7)

SPRP + COMP

Minor mistakes, etc.

161(3)

SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Voluntary resignation

162(1)

COMP

Voluntary resignation where Employee"s duty/function does not directly represent Employer"s interest

162(2)

UP (AS PER EA, CR OR CLA) + COMP

Change of status, merger, consolidation, change of ownership and Employee terminates

163(1)

SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Change of status, merger, consolidation and Employer terminates

163(2)

2 X SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Employer closed due to continuous losses or force majeure.

164(1)

SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Efficiency/redundancy/downsizing

164(3)

2 X SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Employer"s bankruptcy

165

SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Death of employee

166

2 X SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Employee absent for 5 days consecutively

168(3)

UP (AS PER EA, CR OR CLA) + COMP

Employer"s actions " guilty

169(2)

2 X SEVE + SPRP + COMP

Employer"s actions " not guilty

169(3)

COMP

Long-term illness of Employee

172

2 X (SEVE + SPRP) + COMP

SEVE = severance payment
CR = company regulations
CLA = collective labour agreement
SPRP = service period recognition payment
EA = employment agreement
COMP = compensation
UP = uang pisah

III. TERMINATION OF FIXED TERM CONTRACTS

As explained, the advice given in sections I and II above relate to the usual form of employment relationship encountered in Indonesia, namely employment for an indefinite period. However, it is also possible for employment contracts to be for a definite or fixed term period.

An employment contract for a fixed term (as defined) will be subject to the Manpower Law and also to Minister of Manpower Decree No. KEP-100/MEN/VI/2004 ("Decree 100/2004"). Decree 100/2004 contains important provisions which relate to the form and content of an employment contract for a fixed term, but unlike its predecessor, which it revoked, it fails to provide detailed procedures for terminating such a contract. Therefore, the provisions of the Manpower Law (and of course, the contract Company Regulation and Collective Labour Agreement) will apply.

In principle, a fixed term contract ceases when the term of the contract expires or upon the completion of the specified job. The main advantage of a fixed term contract is that there are no compensation or other financial entitlements upon the expiry of the fixed term contract (or its renewal or extension).

So far as misconduct is concerned, and in the absence of any specific provisions dealing with this in Decree 100/2004 and in the Manpower Law, it appears that the policy of the Manpower Department is that for serious misconduct (which must be mentioned in either the employment contract, the Company Regulations, or the Collective Labour Agreement) no severance or other entitlement is payable, but for minor mistakes by the Employee and subsequent termination, compensation for the remainder of the contract is payable by the Employer. In other words, the termination of fixed term Employees is treated differently to that of permanent Employees.

In addition, a fixed term contract may be terminated early by either party without cause, but the Manpower Law requires the party that terminates the fixed term contract to pay compensation for the remaining period of the fixed term contract to the other party.

Furthermore, there is no compensation payable where the contract is for a fixed term (say, twelve months) and the job or project which the employee is to carry out is completed after, say, ten months. In such an event the fixed term contract will automatically expire upon completion of the job or project.

IV. PLANNING DEVICES TO REDUCE EXPOSURE

Generally speaking, it is difficult, if not impossible, for the Employer to reduce its exposure to termination liability to less than that set out in the Indonesian labour laws and regulations. Planning devices to reduce exposure should emphasize limiting exposure to these statutory minimums, and generally enhancing the Employer's contractual right to terminate.

It is likely that the significant potential financial burden imposed by law will result in Employers continuing to enter into fixed term contracts (see below), utilise employee outsourcing arrangements (to the extent permitted by the Manpower Law), provide more non-fixed allowances than increases in salary or fixed allowances, and hire independent consultants.

  1. Fixed Term Contract

    Since no termination benefits are payable under Indonesian law upon the proper expiry of a fixed term contract, an obvious planning device to be considered by the Employer is to hire certain eligible employees only on fixed term contract.

    Under a fixed term contract, if the Employer wishes to terminate the Employee without cause during the contract, the Employee would ordinarily be entitled to termination compensation based on the unexpired term of the contract. However, a fixed term contract leaves the Employer with the option of not renewing the contract at the end of its term, with the result that no termination benefits are payable. It will be apparent that an Employee terminated towards the beginning of a fixed term contract may be entitled to greater termination benefits than an Employee employed under a contract of indefinite duration as in the latter case the probationary period may not have expired. Conversely, the Employee's entitlement will likely be less if terminated towards the end of a fixed term contract, or where his employment is not renewed at the end of the fixed term contract.

  2. Probationary Period

    The Employer may wish to place an Employee on probation for a short period of time. During this probationary period the Employee can be terminated by the Employer without first having to obtain the approval of the relevant authorities. Any employment relationship, which includes a probationary period, must be documented in writing, and the probationary period cannot be longer than one period of 3 months. As stated, a fixed-term employment contract may not contain a probationary period.

  3. Description of Duties

    It will be of some assistance in the termination procedure if the employment contract contains a detailed description of duties. Although the relevant authorities have the ability to disregard the "cause" of termination when reviewing the termination, it is likely that detailed provisions in an employment contract will at least be of some value to the Employer.

  4. Pre-Termination Discussions

    Negotiations or discussions with the Employee may be of assistance and should certainly not trigger any additional exposure on the part of the Employer. It will almost always be the case that a voluntary resignation by an Employee will be more advantageous to the Employer than commencing a dismissal procedure. As in many other areas of Indonesian law, consensus and conciliation are valued much more than an adversarial resolution.

  5. Sanctions for Non-performance

    It is important for Employers to provide in their Company Regulations or Collective Labour Agreement for sanctions to be imposed on Employees who fail to perform or who might be guilty of misconduct. Such sanctions might include decreases in allowances associated with the employee"s position or transfers or downgradings to lower jobs. It is not possible to reduce basic salary. It is not uncommon for such sanctions to result in the resignation of the Employee. However, as a general rule, it is still difficult to terminate an Employee based only on poor performance, not least because it is not easy to determine poor performance.

  6. Updating of Documents

    Employers should review carefully their existing Collective Labour Agreements or Company Regulations, as well as their standard form employment contracts, to ensure that these are updated to take into account the provisions of the Manpower Law and its implementing regulations as well as, in the case of termination for serious misconduct, the most recent developments in this particular area. There are specific provisions which can be inserted into these documents in order to, if not reduce exposure, at least introduce further certainty into applicable termination procedures and to allow, for example, relocation, demotion, reallocation of tasks and even termination for serious misconduct in certain cases. Similarly, in the event of an employee resigning, a properly drafted mutual agreement or resignation letter should always be used. This should contain certain specific provisions drafted to protect the Employer.

The above commentary is only intended to be a brief summary of some of the issues and procedures involved in the termination of employment in Indonesia as at the date of this Memorandum. It should not form the basis of any termination or severance entitlement decision, nor should it be relied upon as legal advice or as a substitute for detailed advice in individual cases. There are still many uncertainties relating to the implementation of the Manpower Law and in particular, those provisions relating to certain terminations for cause. In addition, the position and procedures of the Industrial Relations Court are not entirely clear. The services of a professional advisor should be obtained in each instance, so that the applicability of the relevant legislation or other legal developments to the particular facts can be verified.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.