U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released long-awaited guidance on the 2021 H-1B lottery process. The service announced it would continue with a random-selection lottery for 2021. The registration system will be open from noon Eastern March 9, 2021 to noon Eastern March 25, 2021 and the entry fee will be $10 for each case entered into the system. USCIS also announced plans to delay the Trump-era wage-based lottery registration through Dec ...
The Minister of Communication and Informatics (“MOCI”) has finally issued MOCI Regulation No. 5 of 2020 on Electronic System Organizers (“ESO”) in the Private Sector (“MOCI Regulation 5/2020”) that serves as the new implementing regulation of Government Regulation No ...
On 30 December 2020, Bank Indonesia issued Bank Indonesia Regulation No. 22/23/PBI/2020 of 2020 on Payment Systems (“Payment Systems Regulation”). The Payment Systems Regulation is intended to serve as an “umbrella” regulation that provides a regulatory framework for the Indonesian payment systems industry. This regulation will come into force on 1 July 2021 ...
On 8 February 2021, two significant developments took place in the employment law arena. These will have far-reaching implications for employers and employees alike. New earnings threshold First, the so-called “earnings threshold” has been increased for the first time since July 2014. Previously the earnings threshold was ZAR205 433.30. As from 1 March 2021, the new earnings threshold will be ZAR211 596.30 per year (approximately ZAR17 633.00 per month) ...
Following the renewal of the state of emergency, Decree 3-A/2021 of14January of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, determines the closure of various types of establishments. Inthiscontext, the employment support measures were amended by Decree-Law 6-C/2021 of 15 January and Decree-Law 6-E/2021 of15January, which we summarised below. 1 ...
Traditionally, Dutch mortgage lenders have always found themselves in quite a good position in the event of their borrower and mortgagor becoming insolvent. As a firm general rule, it is fair to say that the position of a secured creditor is quite secure under Dutch law. Recent insolvency and COVID related regulations have, however, made some inroads into the Dutch secured lender’s stronghold ...
Our latest Brexit Insight: Immigration series of webinars focusses on the impact of Brexit on workers and businesses since 31 December 2020. Our Immigration expert, Rachel Harvey, kicked off the first session by discussing the issues surrounding the new frontier worker permit and eligibility, including what a frontier worker is, what a frontier worker permit provides and what your obligations are as an employer for the next 6 months and beyond ...
Our latest Brexit Insight: Immigration series of webinars focusses on the impact of Brexit on workers and businesses since 31 December 2020. Our Immigration expert, Rachel Harvey, kicked off the first session by discussing the issues surrounding the new frontier worker permit and eligibility, including what a frontier worker is, what a frontier worker permit provides and what your obligations are as an employer for the next 6 months and beyond ...
On January 25, the State of California lifted its previously enacted emergency stay-at-home order for all 58 counties. The stay-at-home orders were put in place at the beginning of December and were designed to help ease the burden on ICUs throughout the state, which were becoming increasingly inundated with new COVID-19 patients ...
Dr Michael Psaila, Managing Partner of Mamo TCV Advocates, underlined the firm’s commitment to the visually impaired and the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation (MGDF) in particular when he not only presented a donation but committed the firm to assisting the foundation in its legal affairs in the coming years. It was the wish of the firm, which has a staff complement of over 70 people, to select the MGDF as one of the beneficiaries of their annual charity donation ...
Aron Beezley of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP enumerates the key impacts of the Federal Acquisition Regulation Council's final rule adopting mandates of the executive order Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials. The Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Council recently issued a final rule1 that implements the requirements of the Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods, Products, and Materials Executive Order ...
On 30 December 2020, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No. 152/2020/ND-CP (“Decree 152”) which will take effect on 15 February 2021 and replace Decree No. 11/2016/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam dated 3 February 2016 (“Decree 11”), Decree No. 75/2014/ND-CP of the Government of Vietnam dated 28 July 2014 (“Decree 75”) and its corresponding amendments and supplemental decrees ...
On Jan. 29, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released updated guidance regarding mitigating and preventing the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace. Important highlights are as follows. First, the guidance emphasizes that employers should implement a COVID-19 prevention program for the workplace ...
1. Background to the case The case concerned a young, female employee in a mechanical workshop, who felt she had been sexually harassed by two of the enterprise’s customers. Customer No 1 had on one occasion, while the female employee was sitting on the floor in a forward-leaning position, performing work, put his hands on her lower back, under her top ...
The Pension Protection Fund (PPF) has published its determination for the levy year 2021 to 2022, following its autumn consultation. Ordinarily, the PPF considers matters across the levy triennium with a view to keeping the rules relatively stable on a triennial basis. However, in considering the impact of COVID-19 on schemes, the PPF wishes to take a more flexible approach with the aim of switching back to a multi-year approach in 2023/24 ...
Bank Negara Malaysia issues Licensing Framework for Digital Banks Bank Negara Malaysia issued its policy document on Licensing Framework for Digital Banks on 31 December 2020. It has indicated in its press release that up to five licences may be issued to qualified applicants and notification of the grant of licence will only be made by the first quarter of 2022 ...
Introduction In the recent Industrial Court Award of Azffanizam bin Abd v Prince Court Medical Centre Sdn Bhd [Award No.11 of 2021] dated 4 January 2021, the Industrial Court accepted evidence taken from social media in dismissing a claim of forced resignation ...
In a decision that could be a game-changer for cookie and candy manufacturers, the Third Circuit has recently denied trade dress protection for the shape of the popular Pocky cookie. The Pocky is a long, thin Japanese cookie stick that is almost completely dipped in chocolate, except for the very bottom. Ezaki Glico created the Pocky in 1966 and obtained two trade dress registrations to protect the configuration of the cookie ...
On 26 January 2021, the Central Bank of Myanmar (the “CBM”) issued Notification1/2021 (the “Notification”) outlining the requirements and specifications for the establishment, operation and business activities of non-bank financial institutions (“NBFIs”). This Notification is effective from 26 January 2021. 1 ...
Domestic extremism is not new, but heightened law enforcement scrutiny in the wake of the Capitol riots has added yet another layer of complexity to the jobs of already challenged AML compliance professionals and investigators ...
Traditionally, Belgian labour law distinguishes between two forms of telework, namely structural telework, regulated by the Collective Labour Agreement n° 85, and occasional telework, regulated by the Act on Workable and Agile Work. Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, a third category has been added, namely 'Covid telework', which was, at a certain point, recommended but has now been made compulsory again by the government ...
Introduction In the recent Industrial Court Award of Harry Wong Wei Chen v Petroliam Nasional Berhad [Award No.11 of 2021] dated 4 January 2021, the Industrial Court upheld the dismissal of an employee (“the Claimant”) on account of several allegations of sexual and workplace harassment. An interesting point in the instant case was the absence of corroborative witnesses in respect of several of the complaints against the Claimant ...
