On November 5, 2020, the Washington Supreme Court altered a 60-year provision of Washington’s Minimum Wage Statute when it issued its decision in Martinez-Cuevas v. DeRuyter Brothers Dairy. The court held that the agricultural overtime exemption at RCW 49.46.130(2)(g), which exempted agricultural employers from paying overtime at a rate of 1.5 times the regularly hourly rate, violated article I, section 12 of the Washington State Constitution as applied to dairy workers ...
Changes to the Chilean Labor Code require employers to adopt measures that facilitate the inclusion of disabled employees Law No.21,275 was added to the Labor Code and published in the Official Gazette on October 21, 2020. The new law is intended to facilitate the inclusion of disabled employees in the labor force. Companies to which the law applies The Law is applicable to those companies that, in accordance with article 157 bis of the Labor Code, have 100 or more employees ...
A temporary work agency had, over a period of four years, hired out workers to an oil company that had a bonus scheme at company level for its employees. The Supreme Court found that the bonus scheme was a form of performance-related pay and thus covered by the term «pay» in section 14-12 a subsection 1 (f) of the Working Environment Act. The temporary work agency was thus obliged to pay a bonus to the two workers as if they had been permanently employed in the oil company ...
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, in March 2020 Israel imposed significant restrictions on foreign nationals' entry into Israel. As a general rule, the entry of foreigners into Israel is prohibited, except for a limited list of exceptional cases (for further details please see "COVID-19: exceptional cases in which Population and Immigration Authority will allow foreigners to enter Israel") ...
Decree-Law 94-A/2020 of 3 November amends, among others, Decree-Law 79-A/2020 of 30 September, which established “exceptional, transitional arrangements for reorganisation of work”. Its aim was to minimise the spread of COVID-19. The Decree-Law makes remote working mandatory for all workers whose place of work is located in a geographical area where the epidemiological situation justifies it ...
The Retail Industry team would like to provide you with an update on legal developments in the retail and consumer products industries as posted on the Hunton Retail Law Resource blog. If you wish to receive email alerts when new posts are published, please visit our blog and enter your email address in the subscribe field ...
In the age of COVID-19, demand for surface wipes, sprays and similar products is at record levels. Retail stores have struggled to keep supplies stocked and shelves may once again be emptied when the winter flu season arrives. If schools and businesses reopen concurrently, the prospects of securing these products becomes even bleaker, which may re-fuel consumer stockpiling ...
The top three most read articles for the month were: Policyholders Pump Out Another COVID-19 Litigation VictoryA Pennsylvania trial court denied an insurer’s early attempt to lunge out of coverage for COVID-19 business interruption losses suffered by a fitness center, stating it would be premature for the court to resolve factual determinations the insurer raised in its demurrer. Ridley Park Fitness, LLC v. Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance Co., No ...
The Russian insurance market is facing fundamental changes that will reshape the industry, by creating new opportunities for foreign insurance companies to operate in Russia. Within the framework of its obligations as a WTO member state, Russia must allow access of branches of foreign insurers, from WTO countries, to the Russian insurance market, by August 2021 ...
In Brown v. Morehouse College, a False Claims Act (FCA) retaliation action, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed the case’s dismissal, agreeing with the district court that while the plaintiff’s ethics complaints may have led to retaliation against him by the College, the complaints did not allege FCA fraud and therefore were not protected by the statute. No. 19-13773, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 33444 (11th Cir. Oct. 23, 2020) ...
On October 20, 2020, San Francisco County was upgraded to the “minimal” tier within the California COVID-19 tracking system, meaning it has the fewest restrictions on reopening all businesses as promulgated by the State of California. In order to qualify for the “minimal” tier, a county must have an infection rate of less than one daily new positive COVID case per 100,000 residents and have a positive test rate of less than 2% for two consecutive weeks ...
On 30 September 2020, the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) issued a press release and rolled out ‘Round 6’ of measures aimed at mitigating the impacts of COVID-19 on businesses and workers in Cambodia. These represent a combination of new and existing measures (that have been extended) ...
Belgium is, for the second time, in lockdown. The new Ministerial Decree of 1 November 2020 stipulates that, as from today until 13 December 2020, all workers are obliged to telework. However, an exception applies when either the employee’s role or the continuity of business operations, activities and services does not allow for teleworking ...
As Election Day quickly approaches in the highly anticipated presidential and congressional elections, employers are faced with a slew of questions about their employees’ rights on November 3 and beyond. Election Day is not a national holiday; therefore, federal law doesnotmandate employers provide employees with time off to vote ...
Most employers are familiar with the role of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in enforcing standards to ensure that the working men and women in the United States have a safe and healthy workplace. The current COVID-19 pandemic has presented new challenges to OSHA for reviewing how employers are protecting their employees ...
Introduction On 16 October 2020 the government reinforced the urgent measures to limit the further spread of COVID-19. Teleworking is no longer highly recommended, but has become the standard for all employees whose roles allow for telework. Yet, the new rule is less far-reaching than that in place during the first lockdown in March 2020, as an exception now applies when the continuity of business operations, activities and services does not allow for teleworking ...
With the explosion of remote work arrangements during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are more likely to have remote employees who live in different states. A company should examine whether it is actually subject to potential jurisdiction for legal claims in each state where it has a remote employee. In other words, if your company has employees working remotely in other states, can you actually be sued in all of those states? The answer is maybe ...
New year, new laws. That's right; it's time to prepare for the new year, which means being aware of the latest labor and employment laws that are sure to impact your organization. Most importantly, it's time to revise those handbooks to keep up with these changes. For an in-depth analysis of how each law might affect your organization, contact your Hanson Bridgett labor and employment lawyer and join us for our Annual Client Seminars in January ...
A North Carolina court has required Cincinnati Insurance Company to provide business interruption and extra expense coverage to 16 North Carolina restaurants that lost the use of and access to their properties due to COVID-19 civil authority orders (see North State Deli, LLC, et al. v. Cincinnati Insurance Co. et al.) ...
Months of working from home have made at least one thing clear – the “Freshman 15” has nothing on the COVID-19. Boredom, stress, and ease of access to the refrigerator has caused many employees to trade in their suits for sweatpants and their heels for flip-flops. As offices see more and more employees return to work, employers may want to consider taking proactive steps to curtail such casual attire in the workplace. Can employers require a dress code? Yes ...
On October 21, 2020, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) published a new guidance for use by contact tracers that clarifies what had been a somewhat fuzzy definition of “close contact.” The new definition increases the number of individuals presumed to have an exposure to COVID-19, and will significantly affect schools and workplaces since those presumptively exposed individuals will be asked to isolate for a period of 14 days ...
On July 10, 2020, the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (OCIE) released a Risk Alert highlighting the dangers of ransomware to SEC-registered entities, including investment advisers. The Risk Alert is a response to a marked uptick in both the prevalence and sophistication of ransomware attacks in recent months. Ransomware is a type of malware used by criminals to gain control of your or your firm’s confidential information and customer data ...
This 28th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, includes a number of updates on the mounting number of business interruption coverage disputes -- including a claim against a broker whose alleged failure to obtain infectious disease coverage left the insured without coverage for COVID-19-induced losses ...
This digest is a curated list of Bradley content regarding the coronavirus. In an effort to provide our clients with the easiest way to find information that may be beneficial in responding to the impact of COVID-19, we have provided links to our most recent blog posts, news alerts, webinar recordings and more. Additionally, this digest will now be deployed on a weekly basis in an effort to reduce the number of emails our clients receive ...
