Changes to the off-payroll working rules for private sector organisations originally planned for April 2020 will now come into force from 6 April 2021. As a result, large and medium sized organisations engaging contractors through an intermediary will have various responsibilities and potential liabilities ...
i. To extend until December 31st, 2021, the occupational emergency declared by the Necessity and Urgency Decree No. 34/2019. ii. To extend the prohibition of dismissals without just cause and for the causes of lack or reduction of work and force majeure for a period of 90 days as of the expiration of the term established by Decree No ...
Imagine you instruct an employee to get tested for the Covid-19 virus infection. The employee refuses the test, claiming that the employer is not authorized to instruct him to take such a test. Moreover, the employee claims he had been vaccinated against Covid-19. What is the legal situation? 1 ...
Labor Court Siegburg 11/11/2020 - 4 Ca 1240/20 Short-time work continues to be omnipresent in many sectors of the economy due to the Covid 19 pandemic. A recent decision by the Labor Court Siegburg once again emphasizes that the ordering and implementation of short-time work requires careful preparation on the part of the company in terms of labor law in order to avoid unpleasant surprises ...
Following the Christmas Eve agreement between the UK and EU signing the Trade and Co-Operation Agreement (“Trade Deal”), we consider what impact the Trade Deal may have on employment law. The UK is free to modify or diverge from any future EU employment laws, however, if such changes have a material impact on trade or investment, the EU (subject to certain constraints and an arbitration process) may apply “rebalancing measures ...
Under the Trade Deal, the UK has agreed and committed that it will not reduce the level of protection for workers and that it will not reduce employment law rights below the standards that exist as at 31 December 2020 in a manner that affects trade or investment ...
With certain protections now being likely to protect pregnant employees, those on maternity leave and those returning from leave for longer in certain redundancy situations, how can employers mitigate their risks? Employees who are pregnant, who are on (and who are returning from) maternity leave have the legal right not to be treated less favourably or discriminated against by their employer under both the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 and the Equality Act 2010 ...
Not surprisingly, COVID-19 business interruption insurance disputes dominated media headlines for most of 2020. Nonetheless, there were a number of other insurance rulings that will undoubtedly shape the coverage landscape. Policyholders enjoyed a number of significant wins including significant victories related to COVID-19 business interruption cases. The start of a new year gives us an opportunity to highlight some of 2020’s most notable coverage decisions ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. You’d think we had it all: beautiful open plan office spaces, meeting rooms with floor to ceiling glass walls, digital collaboration platforms, virtual meetings… ...
On 18 December 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a public consultation paper (Consultation) on proposed amendments to the Code on Pooled Retirement Funds (PRF Code). The proposals are part of the SFC’s holistic review of the PRF Code following the revision of the Code on Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds (UT Code) which was implemented in 2019 ...
Two federal cases in the Northern District of Ohio recently reached very different conclusions on whether the state’s COVID-19 shutdowns of restaurants permit valid claims for business interruption insurance coverage. Reviewing essentially the same facts and policy provisions, one court found for the insurer, holding no coverage to exist. The other found for the policyholder, awarding coverage. The opposite results will no doubt lead to further upcoming appellate activity in Ohio ...
In a scenario that has played out across the country for nearly a year now, a group of restaurants based in Ohio were ordered by government authorities to close their on-site dining operations to abate the spread of the coronavirus. However, when the restaurants sought insurance coverage for their loss of business income, their insurer, Zurich American Insurance Company, denied coverage. Last week, the U.S ...
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants. Through contrasting lists of "red flags" and "best practices," the publication reveals the DOL's expectations of plan administrators and provides helpful guideposts for them to follow ...
The requirement for businesses to publish gender pay gap reports was cancelled in 2020 as a result of COVID-19. Gender pay reporting is, however, back on the agenda for 2021 so is there anything new that you need to know? In short, yes. There has been a lot of commentary over the last nine months about the impact of Covid-19, and particularly furlough, on gender pay statistics (see our previous article here https://www.shoosmiths.co ...
Article PDFJust when businesses thought they had figured out their Proposition 65 compliance strategies, the State of California, through the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), has proposed a substantial change that will drastically limit the use of the short-form safe harbor warning first authorized in 2018 ...
There were big changes in 2020 in the world of restructuring and insolvency legislation with the introduction of two new restructuring tools: the Moratorium and the Restructuring Plan, as well as the reintroduction of Crown preference. However, due to the government-imposed moratorium while the pandemic runs its course, we have seen hardly any real effects of those reforms ...
This is the first in our series of articles in which we will look at how Brexit and the EU-UK trade deal impacts research and development. In July 2020, the Government published its Research and Development Roadmap, which sets out the UK’s ambitious long-term objectives for investment in science and research to deliver economic growth and societal benefits across the UK ...
At the beginning of the pandemic, businesses had to rapidly adopt new ways of working and enable staff to work from home as much as possible. Nine months on, the threats posed by the virus remain, and ways of working have changed beyond recognition. We consider below the longer term impact of COVID-19 on flexible working, and the extent to which employees are willing (or not) to return to their ‘normal’ place of work ...
As we all know by now, the U.S. Capitol was stormed by a mob of President Trump’s supporters on Wednesday January 6, 2021. A great deal of the mob, as well as police officers who appeared to stand aside as rioters streamed inside, were captured on video and replayed repeatedly over the news. This includes two Canadian nurses who allegedly travelled to Washington D.C. to participate in an anti-lockdown event which preceded the Capitol Hill riot ...
In the state of Ohio, a light-duty job offer is a strategic way to either bring an injured worker back to the workforce or bar temporary total compensation, should the injured worker reject a valid offer. Either way, it can aid employers in eliminating, minimizing, and/or stopping temporary total disability compensation from being paid in a claim ...
The Supreme Court has handed down its much anticipated decision relating to the coverage of business interruption insurance claims made following the COVID-19 pandemic. A key question was whether the Supreme Court ruling would finally provide the clarity that the expedited test case sought to achieve for both policyholders and insurers. The good news for all is that the Supreme Court has indeed provided much more clarity in relation to most issues ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Home Working not the Panacea’. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. Home. Noun. Meaning: “The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.” Not any longer. Home is now also where many of us work ...
The United States’ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued an order that will take effect on January 26, 2021, requiring all arriving international airline passengers to provide proof of a negative COVID test taken within three days of the flight’s foreign departure. For those who have had it, the CDC will require proof of recovery ...
On Dec. 22, the Ohio Senate passed the Employment Law Uniformity Act – HB 352. Governor Mike DeWine signed the bill into law on Jan. 12, 2021. The bill is the culmination of 20 years of work by the Ohio Chamber of Commerce to address expansion of Ohio’s anti-discrimination statute resulting from Ohio Supreme Court decisions that interpreted Ohio Revised Code Section 4112 expansively ...
