In another step in President Trump's ongoing efforts to relax environmental restrictions impacting economic development, on January 10, 2020, the Council on Environmental Quality published its proposed rulemaking to update its regulations for implementing procedural provisions of the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA") ("Proposed Rule"). The deadline for filing comments on the Proposed Rule is March 10, 2020 ...
Majoritarianism, South African courts have acknowledged, is the concept that the will of the majority is favoured over the will of the minority in serving the legislative purpose of advancing labour peace, orderly collective bargaining and the democratisation of the workplace. But a fundamental pitfall of majoritarianism is the possibility that the rights of the minority could be infringed pursuant to the will of the majority ...
In 2000, Jennifer Lopez debuted the much-publicised and spoken about Versace jungle pattern dress at the Grammy Awards. The dress offered surprisingly little coverage for a garment that comprised so much material. Some 20 years on, Versace is suing a company called Fashion Nova for selling a jungle pattern look-a-like. Versace’s complaint is that Fashion Nova’s dress will cause confusion, in the sense that the public will assume that it is connected with Versace ...
In South Africa, copyright judgments are few and far between, especially judgments of the Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”). This makes the recent case of Tellytrack v Marshalls World of Sport (Pty) Ltd and others, worth noting, even if it does deal with a somewhat esoteric issue. The case concerned the world of horse racing ...
You know what it’s like – you have a cushy job, you’re earning well, you’re travelling the world. Yet, you’re still not happy. The head honcho stubbornly refuses to retire, the designated successor clearly isn’t right for the job, and you have this somewhat awkward relationship with the next-in-line ...
Following our previous general Q&As on labor management issues that may arise during the novel coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) epidemic prevention and control period, we have compiled for your reference additional issues identified in the regulatory documents promulgated by central and local governments and human resources and social security bureaus ...
The Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) has recently issued two technical advisories with helpful California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidance on two prominent California land use topics. The first advisory outlines potential CEQA exemptions for immediate-term disaster recovery, with the goal of helping communities and public agencies prepare their climate change adaptation and resilience strategies ...
A flurry of regulatory documents has been promulgated in response to the recent large-scale spread of the novel coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”), many of which substantially impact the rights and interests of enterprises and their employees ...
Near the end of 2007, the United States was hit by the subprime mortgage market meltdown. For years before, the public had experienced a steady increase in home prices and a seemingly never-ending supply of mortgage lending. Homeowners were able to enjoy ever-increasing home equity and mortgage products, virtually guaranteeing that anyone who wanted to get financed could ...
In last quarter’s issue, we discussed the rise of digital currencies and the blockchain, or distributed ledger, technology that supports them. We now turn our focus to how the financial industry and governments have embraced this technology and are working to adapt it to traditional banking services and applications as far ranging as recording property transfers and safeguarding nuclear missiles ...
As we enter into a new decade, we cannot over emphasize the importance of protecting your brands. In this digital age, trademarks are becoming more vulnerable to infringement. Mass production and counterfeit products are swamping the market ...
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has announced several enforcement actions and settlements for violations of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) rules. OCR Secures Voluntary Resolution with Hospital to Settle Provision of Auxiliary Aids and Services to Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing Individuals On Jan ...
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced that in Fiscal Year 2019 (FY2019),1 total settlements and judgments in False Claims Act (FCA) cases rebounded back over the $3 billion mark after dipping to $2.9 billion in FY2018. The Department’s annual statistical overview of FCA-related fraud actions2 showed nearly three-quarters of recovered funds, or $2 ...
Effective Oct. 1, 2017, Ohio Revised Code 4123.84 was amended to shorten the statute of limitations for the filing a traditional workers’ compensation claim (a standard physical injury resulting in either a lost-time, medical-only, or death claim) from two years following the alleged date of injury to one year. The amendment does not apply to either occupational disease claims or VSSR filings, which maintain the two-year statute ...
Effective January 2020, U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) increased the salary thresholds for several of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) exemptions. The salary threshold levels for the white-collar exemptions and the highly compensated employee exemption have increased, making it more difficult for an employee to be classified as exempt under the FLSA. As a result, an estimated additional 1.3 million workers now qualify for overtime premiums ...
According to Panamanian law, all employees must have an employment contract with some mandatory content which cannot be replaced by a job offer. Salary and working hours, must be agreed in this employment contract. The salary could be paid by month, fortnight, week, day or hour, but the practice is to negotiate a monthly salary, which must be at least equal to the minimum wage established by law ...
This article updates information published in "Is Your Online Business Accessible To Persons With Disabilities?" In 2018, practitioners scouring nationwide federal court records identified more than 2,250 lawsuits filed alleging website inaccessibility under Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)1 ...
Pursuant to Israeli employment law, an employer cannot employ workers on their weekly rest day unless it obtains a special permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. A weekly rest is 36 consecutive hours. Under certain circumstances, it is possible to shorten shift workers' weekly rest to 25 consecutive hours. For Jewish workers, the weekly rest day is Saturday (ie, from the beginning of the Sabbath on Friday evening until Saturday evening) ...
On 12 December 2019, the new Minister of State Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, issued new Ministry of State Owned Enterprises Regulation No. PER-08/MBU/12/2019 on General Guidelines on the Implementation by State Owned Enterprises of the Procurement of Goods and Services (“MSOE Reg 8/2019”), which came into force on 16 December 2019. This regulation replaces the previous regulation, MSOE Regulation No. PER-05/ MBU/2008 as amended by MSOE Regulation No ...
On 14 January 2020, the Employment Law Amendment Law (DIFC Law 4 of 2020) and the Employment Regulations (the Amendment) were enacted. The Amendment introduces a new mandatory workplace savings scheme, which replaces the current end-of-service gratuity regime. The new scheme commences on 1 February 2020 ...
As you know, the 2020 Regular Session of the West Virginia Legislature commenced on January 8. As of this writing, the House has introduced 903 bills, while the Senate has introduced 467. We will be reporting on and tracking the progress of significant legislation during the course of the Session. During the legislative process, certain critical deadlines are imposed by the Legislature that impact the consideration of pending bills and their chances of success ...
