On April 3rd, 2020, Law No.21,218 (the “Law”), which creates a monthly subsidy (the “Subsidy”) borne by the State of Chile, in order for employees to reach a minimum guaranteed income, was published on the Official Gazette. I. Requirements that employees must fulfill in order to be eligible for the Subsidy Having a valid employment contract, pursuant to the Labor Code. Their regular working schedule must exceed 30 hours a week ...
Does the COVID-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of COVID-19) constitute Force Majeure and is there any implied remedy (e.g. implied force majeure relief) arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
In recent weeks, and especially in recent days, we have seen the serious repercussions of the spread of COVID-19 on Quebec businesses and SMEs. Government authorities are planning financial assistance measures for businesses, and some chambers of commerce have already announced that new services will soon be offered to businesses to help them deal with the crisis. We are as yet unaware of the details of this assistance and how it will be allocated ...
Many states now have Executive Orders in place either requesting or requiring employers to allow employees to work from home to the maximum extent possible. Allowing employees to work from home is new ground for many employers, so here are a few tips an employer should keep in mind and traps to avoid in order to make the adjustment easier for all involved: 1 ...
On April 6, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) promulgated a temporary rule (“Rule”) interpreting and giving further guidance on the Families First Coronavirus Relief Act (“FFCRA”). The FFCRA includes the Emergency Family Medical Leave Expansion Act (“EFMLA”) and the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (“EPSL”). The Rule clarifies a number of important threshold questions in the wake of the FFCRA’s enactment ...
A recent COVID-19 outbreak at a King County, Washington state long-term care skilled nursing facility led to numerous cases and deaths among residents and visitors. Most likely as a result of continued and growing cases of COVID-19 at skilled nursing and long-term care facilities, on April 5, 2020, Cal/OSHA published Interim Guidance for Protecting Workers at Skilled Nursing and Long-term Care Facilities from Exposure to Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) ...
An increasing number of California cities are adopting expanded paid sick leave ordinances – or expanded application of local paid sick leave ordinances – aimed at providing paid sick leave benefits to employees affected by COVID-19 who may not be entitled to benefits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These cities include San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose ...
As a result of the COVID-19, employers are being forced to reduce the size of their workforces in order to keep costs down for the duration of the pandemic and perhaps beyond. Employers can choose to either furlough employees or lay them off; however, deciding which route is best requires an analysis of the employer’s situation, as well as the needs of the employees ...
With the surge of coronavirus cases across the United States, and in West Virginia, questions arise concerning compensability of work exposures. Are coronavirus claims compensable under West Virginia workers’ compensation law? The answer depends on whether the coronavirus is considered an occupational disease under West Virginia law ...
On April 8, 2020, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) provided additional guidance on the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) through an update to the Frequently Asked Questions document (“FAQs”) originally published on April 2, 2020 and subsequently updated on April 6th and 7th ...
On 30 March 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Aimed to Ensure Additional Social and Economic Guarantees Due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) Spread" (the Law), which introduces to the Ukrainian legislative environment new complex rules aimed at minimizing the negative impact of the spread of the COVID-19 in Ukraine. The below summary focuses on key changes introduced by the Law ...
On April 6, 2020, the new law on employment protection (hereinafter, the "Law") entered into effect, within the context of a series of emergency measures taken by the Chilean authority as a result of the COVID-19 disease.The new Law provides the possibility of accessing the coverage of the unemployment insurance in three main scenarios:I ...
On March 27, 2019, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “Act”) was signed by President Trump. The Act provides significant relief for employee benefit plan participants and includes both required and discretionary changes. Plan sponsors should immediately review their benefit plans to ensure that amendments are properly and timely implemented to ensure that their plans continue to operate in accordance with applicable law ...
In March, the Estonian Government decided to implement first steps to help the employers in order to avoid lay-offs and introduced also few other reliefs to support the companies. Below you can find summaries of these measures. Relief measures for employers Compensation of salary The Estonian Government approved the relief measures for the employees subject to salary cut ...
Below is a summary of key new measures, as well as clarifications on previous measures we reported on, that have been implemented by various UAE authorities since 5 April 2020 and the time of this inBrief, 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 April 2020 ...
Effective on April 6, 2020, an Order was published to establish the technical guidelines (the “Technical Guidelines”) for the activities described in Article 1, Section II, sub-sections (c) and (e) of the order that adopted extraordinary measures to deal with the health emergency caused by the SARS-CoV2 virus” (the “Order”). (We published an article on the Order, which may be foundhere ...
In order to avoid the shortage of antiseptic and disinfectant products for external use, the Colombian Ministry of Health issued Resolution 520 of March 28, 2020 in order to establish new requirements for the manufacture of the above-mentioned products within the Colombian territory ...
As employers try to comply with the new Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s (FFCRA) paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave requirements, the Department of Labor has thrown them a curveball by quietly changing the answers to some of its Guidance about the FFCRA as well as adding 19 more FAQs to its prior compendium ...
In an apparent attempt to further reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Michigan, on Friday, April 3, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Order 2020-36, which provides protection to all employees who stay home when they are at “particular risk” of infecting others with COVID-19 ...
In its continuing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19, on April 3, 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) recommended that the general public wear, on a voluntary basis, “cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission” of coronavirus ...
