We’re excited to announce that Shoosmiths is one of the partners behind Platform – a six-month campaign that aims to make town centre property more accessible to communities and businesses. Being based in thirteen locations across the UK and with many clients whose businesses rely on a successful town centre, Shoosmiths is heavily invested in the issue of urban revival ...
The Government of B.C. has tabled legislation which, for now, entitles employees to three paid sick days for leave related to COVID-19. Employers will be required to pay employees their full wages (based on an average of the prior 30 days). The proposed law (Bill 13) also allows for a permanent paid sick leave to be prescribed in the future. The B.C ...
In the latest article in our Tricky Issues series, we consider the need for follow-up right to work checks, the steps employers should take to carry out such checks and the legal position when dismissal is a consideration. “Why is a follow up check needed if I have already done a right to work check?” Employers in the UK must carry out right to work checks with all employees before they start their employment ...
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has issued a favorable advisory opinion addressing an investment in an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) made by a health system, certain physicians employed by the same health system, and a management company. OIG Advisory Opinion No. 21-02 is the first advisory opinion since 2009 to provide guidance on ASC investments and related safe harbors to the Anti-Kickback Statute ...
Before going into the details of the proposal it should be mentioned that the actual rules of the proposal were not presented in the revised budget. The government stated that they aim to present the rules in the budget for 2022. The rules will also be subject to a hearing round and since the scheme constitutes state aid in accordance with the rules in the EEA Agreement, they will also require notification to and approval from ESA before implementation ...
On May 5, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) officially withdrew from the Trump-era rule for classifying workers as independent contractors. This withdrawal has been anticipated since President Joe Biden assumed his role, and was official on May 6. The DOL is expected to publish a Final Rule in the Federal Register within the coming days. Trump-Era Independent Contractor Test Contrary to FLSA Purpose and Intent On Jan ...
Electronic signature in employment documents The first set of amendments provided by the new normative act introduce expressly the possibility of concluding the individual employment agreement or addenda thereof using the qualified electronic signature or the advanced electronic signature, accompanied by the electronic time stamp or the qualified electronic time stamp and the qualified electronic seal of the employer ...
Dispute ResolutionThreshold to Commence Winding Up Proceedings RaisedBy the Federal Government Gazette Notification No. 4159 dated 22 March 2021, the amount of indebtedness required to commence winding up proceedings under section 466(1)(a) has been fixed at RM50,000.00 with effect from 1 April 2021.This means that a creditor may only commence winding-up proceedings against a debtor company where the debtor company has failed to satisfy a debt owed to the creditor exceeding RM50,000 ...
The impact of the pandemic can be seen across all sectors of society but those who are disabled have been particularly affected, not least because employees with an underlying disability are likely to have been identified as clinically extremely vulnerable and told to shield for considerable parts of the last year. Being away from the workplace and separated from colleagues has left many feeling insecure ...
We all need our town centres. But more than that, we need our town centres to work better for us. As consumers grow increasingly comfortable with online shopping, the realisation that our towns are over-reliant on retail is being played out at a national level. No longer can we expect empty retail units to be snapped up by new tenants in a matter of weeks ...
To support our IHL community, on 21 April we hosted our latest webinar on “Fraud” where we discussed the recent upsurge in fraud due to home working, general awareness of fraudulent activity and what businesses can do to protect themselves. Here are the key takeaways: What types of fraud are you seeing at the moment? The world is a turbulent place right now, and therefore the perfect time for fraud and illicit activity to thrive ...
Unpacking the Economic Aid Act and American Rescue Plan Act: Consolidated First Draw PPP Interim Final Rule, New First Draw PPP Loans, and Increases to First Draw PPP Loans On January 6, 2021, the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) and the Department of Treasury released an Interim Final Rule called “Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Program as Amended by Economic Aid Act” (sometimes referred to as the “Consolidated First D
On January 6, 2021, the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) and the Department of Treasury released an Interim Final Rule called “Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Second Draw Loans” (“Second Draw Rules”). These rules announced the implementation of section 311 of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (the “Economic Aid Act”) ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has presented many novel challenges and questions for employers, from administration of Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) leave to managing performance of remote workers. For healthcare providers, these challenges and questions have been only one of many burdens of operating during a pandemic. As vaccines become more widely available, the pandemic raises new challenges, some unique to employers in the healthcare industry ...
Last spring, many businesses did the unthinkable. In response to the spread of Covid-19 and subsequent stay-at-home orders, they seemingly overnight deployed fully remote workforces. Then everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon realizing that a fully distributed workforce ... works. As it turns out, cybercriminals were among those most eager to take advantage of distributed workforce arrangements ...
The U.S. Department of Labor announced the Essential Workers, Essential Protections Initiative on April 26, 2021. The Initiative is designed to educate workers on the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) ...
In our second quarterly case law update for 2021, we take a look at some of the key cases published since the start of the year and consider the lessons we can learn from them. Disability discrimination In Elliot v Dorset County Council, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently allowed an appeal against an Employment Tribunal’s finding that a claimant was not disabled ...
In Elliot v Dorset County Council, the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) has recently allowed an appeal against an Employment Tribunal’s finding that a claimant was not disabled. The EAT held that the Tribunal had failed to adopt the correct approach when determining whether the claimant had a disability according to the statutory definition of disability in section 6 of the Equality Act 2010 ...
There have been a number of significant rulings on the topic of holiday pay over recent years and Smith v Pimlico Plumbings Ltd is the newest addition. Before we look at Smith, it is useful to understand how this area of law has developed over time ...
The Home Office has published guidance on making late applications to the EU Settlement Scheme. Employers are rapidly having to get their “heads around” the fallout from Brexit and ensuring all their existing EU workers have or in are in the process of obtaining EU settled status is just one of the many headaches. The deadline of 30 June 2021 for EU, EEA and Swiss nationals to apply under the EU Settlement Scheme is fast approaching ...
In what has been a period of unprecedented upheaval, employers have learnt a lot about their working practices and staff. As we enter the new world, employers have a unique opportunity to build back better including normalising flexible working for all ...
Below is an update on the most relevant employment law measures adopted after the Decree of March 22, 2021, no. 41 (the so-called “Sostegni Decree”) within the framework of the COVID-19 emergency legislation and the on-going vaccination campaign ...
New Promulgated Law and Subsequent Regulations on Health, Administrative and Other Measures during Covid-19 Outbreak In response to the recent community outbreak of Covid-19 on 20 February 2021, the Royal Government of Cambodia (“RGC”) promulgated and issued a number of regulations, specifically: Law on Preventative Measures against the Spread of Covid-19 and other Highly Contagious Diseases dated 11 March 2021 (“Preventative Measures Law”); Sub-Decree 37 dated 12 Ma
