On 29 September 2020, the Minister of Law and Human Rights (“MOLHR”) issued Minister of Law and Human Rights’ Regulation Number 26 of 2020 on Visas and Stay Permits During the Adaptation to the New Normal Period (“MOLHR Reg. No ...
Key Points Employers may mandate employee COVID-19 vaccination programs, subject to certain exemptions. When requiring employee vaccinations, employers should consider the fact that these COVID-19 vaccines are currently approved under the FDA's Emergency Use Authorization (EUA). Mandatory employer COVID-19 vaccination programs must include religious and disability-related employee exemptions. INTRODUCTION On Dec ...
So called ‘direct agreements’ in the context of debt financing, has the main purpose of establishing a direct contractual relationship between a lender and the borrower’s counterparties for the purpose of enabling the lender to gain control over the borrower’s contracts. Direct agreements are most common for project financings and other facilities where the value of the assets being financed at large depend on the borrower’s contracts. Examples are e.g ...
Is coronavirus vaccination a cure that will solve many challenges faced by employers or does it just inject further issues for employers to deal with? We answer the key questions. To be vaccinated or not to be vaccinated? That is the question... being discussed in homes and in workplaces up and down the country ...
With employees potentially returning to the workplace, we take a look at what will need to be done to tackle a number of mental health challenges – both for people and the companies they work for. Part three of our mental health series. With the second lockdown now over and the tier system fully in play, some employers are finding themselves able to open and trade again ...
The emergence of COVID-19 has changed the workplace as we once knew it. California employers need to be prepared for unprecedented compliance challenges in recent legislation related to the ongoing pandemic, expanding leave protections, wage and hour compliance risks, and much more. Employers will need to review and adapt their policies and procedures in order to keep up in the coming year with California’s ever-changing employment laws ...
It is clear that government restrictions and trading difficulties have created an environment in which existing transfer pricing policies will not always be appropriate. The OECD has done well to reach rapid consensus among its members on four key transfer pricing topics, namely: comparability analysis, losses and the allocation of COVID-19-specific costs, government assistance programmes and advance pricing agreements (APAs) ...
With the growing popularity of the Hong Kong open-ended fund company (OFC) structure following revisions to the OFC Code in September 2020, fund managers are increasingly looking at practical considerations when planning ahead on the establishment of new OFCs. One of the key areas is the appointment of the OFC’s board of directors. The key operators of an OFC are the directors, the investment manager and the custodian ...
As Seen in Law360 Last month, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan issued its opinion in Roseman v. International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers Of America.[1] ruling in favor of the employer, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles US LLC, and the union, known as United Auto Workers, or UAW ...
On Dec. 16, 2020, the United Stated Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released much-anticipated guidance regarding employers’ ability to enact mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policies. The new guidance addresses many questions regarding the interaction between mandatory vaccination policies and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1963 (Title VII), and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (Act) ...
Changes are coming in 2021 to the eligibility requirements for “Qualified Mortgage” or “QM” loans. The Ability-to-Repay/Qualified Mortgage Rule administered by CFPB (“ATR/QM Rule”) requires a creditor to make a reasonable, good faith determination of a consumer’s ability to repay a residential mortgage loan according to its terms ...
Ever since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the promise of an effective vaccine has been held out as a key component to a return to normality. Now, with the Pfizer vaccine approved, and the Moderna vaccine on the path to approval shortly, employers have begun struggling to determine what their legal obligations are towards employees who refuse to be vaccinated. While we have addressed these issues recently in a Dec ...
The new Inheritance Act enters into force on 1 January 2021. The law was passed on 15 May 2019 and replaces the current law from 1972. The most important change is pedagogical, as the law has a better language and a clearer structure. The language has been simplified, and terms such as «landowner» and «legatee» have been replaced by the common term «heir» ...
All eyes were on health care in 2020, as the industry faced unprecedented challenges presented by the global coronavirus pandemic. Stories and images of overburdened frontline health care workers dominated the news cycle for most of the year, and the rapid development of one or more seemingly effective vaccines has engendered a cautious optimism for a return to normalcy in 2021 ...
Non-surgical extended duration therapeutic services (NSEDTS) are services which have a significant monitoring component that can: extend for a lengthy period of time, are not surgical, and typically have a low risk of complications after the assessment at the beginning of the service ...
On December 8th, 2020, The President of the Russian Federation signed the Federal Law, introducing the new rules for remote work (hereinafter the “Law”). This Law will come into force from January 1st 2021. Here is a brief summary of new rules: i. New types of temporary remote work In accordance with current labour legislation, an employee and employer can conclude a remote employment contract only on a permanent basis ...
On 10th December 2020, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular on “New License Categorisations for the Nigerian Payments System”. The introduction of the policies highlighted in the circular may impact significantly on the fintech landscape in Nigeria as the CBN now clearly sets out the activities that can be carried out by fintechs that operate in the electronic payments system space in Nigeria ...
With ‘financial assistance’ in this context, we refer to assistance granted by a company in connection with the purchase of the shares in that company or its parent company. The most common example is that a company grants a guarantee or security in connection with the purchaser’s financing of the purchase price for the acquisition of shares in the company ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed Canadian workplaces. For many organizations, the pandemic and its containment measures have fast-tracked the shift to teleworking. In this context, the Canada Revenue Agency (the “CRA”) and the Agence du Revenu du Québec (the“ARQ”) have published administrative positions regarding deductible expenses for employees working from home as well as for their employers ...
The Industrial Court in Malaysia is an important institution that is established under the Industrial Relations Act 1967 to hear and decide on disputes in relation to the terms and conditions of employment in a collective agreement. In a collective agreement dispute, salary adjustments, increments and bonuses are usually the hotly contested articles. The Industrial Courts are usually guided by a set of principles in deciding on such financial-related articles ...
The CFPB’s debt collection rule goes a long way towards resolving a long standing FDCPA question: How often can I call a debtor? Rather than institute a bright line rule, the CFPB adopted a rebuttable presumption which effectively limits debt collectors (including loan servicers subject to the FDCPA) to placing seven calls in a seven-day period. To further complicate matters, the rule also effectively prohibits calls for seven days after you actually reach a debtor ...
I Banking and Finance The Government of Latvia has approved a business support program that provides for financial measures ensured in cooperation with state development agency Altum. The program is planned to continue until mid-2021. Depending on individual needs, companies, regardless of industry, can use six crisis alleviation programs: Working capital loan – a liquidity support for companies, whose activities have been affected by Covid-19 ...
On November 24, 2020, British Columbia issued a Public Health Order requiring the use of masks in all public indoor spaces in the province (the “Order”). In this blog post, we answer some frequently asked questions posed by business owners and employers about the Order. Mandatory Masking in Public Indoor Spaces Masks are now mandatory in all “indoor public spaces” in B.C ...
