Key Points The cash value of employees’ donated leave time paid to a qualified charitable organization in 2020 under an employer-sponsored leave donation program is not taxable wages or compensation. Employers may take a tax deduction for such payments as a business expense or a charitable contribution ...
On July 3rd, 2020, Supreme Decree No. 18/2020 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Securitywas published,approving the regulation of Article 152 quater M of the Labor Code, establishing specific health and safety conditions at work applicable for employees rendering services in regimes of remote work or telework (hereinafter, the “Regulation”) ...
In December 2019, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) issued a discussion paper on “Climate Change and Principle-based Taxonomy”1. The discussion paper highlights the risks arising from climate change and environmental degradation to the economy. It outlines guidance for financial institutions in identifying these risks and classifying economic activities that contribute positively to climate change objectives. According to BNM, 10.3% of the total assets of banks and 24 ...
The Franchise Act 1998 (FA) has been the main source of legislation which governs franchise businesses and the relationship between a franchisor and franchisee in Malaysia for more than 20 years. On 3 December 2019, the Franchise (Amendment) Bill 2019 was passed by the Lower House of the Parliament and received Royal Assent on 20 February 2020. Subsequently, the Franchise (Amendment) Act 2020 (the Amendment Act) was gazetted on 6 March 2020 ...
Faced with the current Covid-19 pandemic and the consequential economic ramifications, it is inevitable that affected businesses are put under increasing financial strain. Affected businesses would at some point consider a restructuring of the business to manage the tide and stay afloat, with the last resort being liquidation for businesses operating in industries that are the most impacted by this pandemic ...
Introduction The Covid-19 global pandemic which has swept the globe and caused many countries to introduce various degrees of lock down measures has given rise to various issues and scenarios which an employer must deal with and manage. This is no different for employers in Malaysia where the Government has implemented the Movement Control Order (“MCO”) since 18 March 2020 which saw the economic activity brought to a halt ...
What lies in the new frontier of investment regulation? On May 26, the New York Times reported that the US Justice Department had dropped investigations into three US senators’ stock trades conducted shortly after they had been privately briefed on the novel coronavirus in January. The politicians had dumped millions of dollars of shares in Exxon Mobil, tech giants and real estate companies, some of which later lost value when markets plunged ...
Within the agricultural and food supply chain, significant imbalances in bargaining power between suppliers and buyers of agri-food products are frequent. Those imbalances in bargaining power are likely to lead to unfair trading practices. The Directive 2019/633 (the “Directive”) aims to ensure that agri-food companies are protected against these unfair practices. Scope of the Directive The Directive’s scope is very limited ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
A recent opinion, 731 Market Street Owner, LLC v. City and County of San Francisco (Cal. Ct. App., June 18, 2020, No. A154369) 2020 WL 3285962 (“731 Market Street Owner”), issued by a California Court of Appeal in San Francisco provides some relief to San Francisco building owners ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
The new prior authorization regime for economic concentrations in Uruguay passed by Congress in 2019 is in force since April 2020 and therefore premerger control is since mandatory for a large set of transactions involving Uruguay. The Uruguayan Antitrust Commission has recently published the form for market participants to request antitrust authorization ...
On June 30th, the following Resolutions issued by the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (“CORFO”, for its Spanish acronym), were published in the Official Gazette: Resolution Nº36. By means of this Resolution certain coverage programs were temporarily modified within the State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe due to public calamity ...
Business in Bulgaria is experiencing a challenging legal environment in the context of rapidly changing emergency measures dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have prepared a summary of the key legal measures affecting business in the BULGARIA COVID-19 TRACKER. It will be updated daily, as necessary. Please check regularly for updates. If you have questions, please contact a member of our C19 Task Force ...
How successfully a business emerges following this pandemic will depend to a great extent on how quickly it identifies and implements long term necessary changes. Nobody is yet clear what the post-Covid-19 world will look like. It is possible that things revert back to the way they were quicker than anyone imagines. That said, it is very difficult to imagine no lasting or consequential changes to the way we work or live ...
As a rule, an extraordinary notice of termination can be given to a severely disabled employee within one week of receiving the approval of the Integration Office. BAG, ruling dated February 27, 2020, 2 AZR 390/19 Employers may give an extraordinary and immediate notice of termination to a severely disabled employee even after the expiry of the two-week period applicable to extraordinary termination if the notice of termination is given immediately, i.e ...
BAG, ruling dated 18 March 2020, 5 AZR 36/19 FACTS OF THE CASE The plaintiff is employed as a service technician in the field service. The defendant company is bound by the collective bargaining agreements of the wholesale and foreign trade of Lower Saxony due to its membership in the employers' association. The plaintiff drives from his home to the first customer every working day and returns there from the last customer ...
In the course of the Corona crisis, a large number of companies have introduced short-time work. Funded by statutory unemployment insurance, short-time work is an instrument of labour market policy and pursues the aim of preserving jobs. This does not mean, however, that dismissals during a period of short-time work are legally excluded. In particular, dismissals based on personal grounds and conduct that are not related to short-time work remain possible ...
This new Workplaces Manual covers all General Preventative Measures set for the by the following: Governmental Agreement 79-2020 Ministerial Agreement 146-2020 Presidential provisions in force Provisions of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance Guide to the identification of occupational hazards by Covid-19 and preventive measures in the workplace - IGSS Regulation of Occupational Health and Safety The Manual covers the specifics of all factors involved in halting
Confinement and strict measures of social distancing are now part of the reality of millions of people around the world. Given the uncertainty presented by the world panorama in the economic, political, social and cultural fields, the authorities must go one step further to try to mitigate the severe consequences that the COVID-19 pandemic has caused globally ...
On June 25, 2020, the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) broadened its guidance on who’s at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 due to underlying medical conditions and age. Under the new guidance, the CDC departs from previous guidance stating that only individuals over 65 years of age were at increased risk of COVID-19 due to age, and now states that risk from severe illness from COVID-19 increases with age ...
Even in more traditional times, summer posed staffing issues for most employers, as employers juggled employee vacation requests while working to maintain a functional workplace. Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in stay-at-home orders in most states which either limited the ability of some businesses to operate or resulted in businesses furloughing employees or having them work from home ...
Pursuant to the verbal announcement made by our Senior Minister, Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob last week, the Government has further released written guidelines on the categories of expatriates who are permitted to return to Malaysia and the measures to be undertaken prior to and after entering Malaysia ...
The Commission for the Financial Market (“CMF”), issued the General Rule No. 443, dated June 15, 2020 (the “NCG 443”), in order to establish the requirements to temporarily exempt from the presentation of certain documentation in the applications for registration of public offers of securities, and to permanently amend the General Rule No ...
