Key Points Fully vaccinated employees no longer need to wear face coverings indoors or outdoors. The revised ETS removes all social distancing requirements. Employers must provide respirators to employees who are not fully vaccinated "upon request." Governor has issued an executive order which makes the revised ETS enforceable immediately upon submission to the Office of Administrative Law ...
In the latest article for our Tricky Issues series, we explore what employers need to consider when seeking to change contracts of employment and the legal risks which may arise when those changes are not agreed by the employees concerned. A contract is a binding agreement between its parties and cannot normally be amended without the express consent of all signatories ...
The Government has published its first statement setting out its vision for legal migration and border control as part of the new plan for immigration. This article summarises the key goals that form part of the vision. The statement sets out key delivery priorities for 2021 – 22 ...
Although this issue was debated in the plenary session on 18 May 2021, the Judgment has not yet been published in the official gazette (Diário da República), so it has not yet taken effect. However, the 180-day trial periods of contracts entered into before this declaration of unconstitutionality are not safeguarded. Therefore, in practice, we will have terminations of contracts during the trial periodthat may now be declared to be illegal dismissals. 1 ...
In light of the continuing Covid-19 outbreak in Vietnam and various regulations issued by the Government and the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (“MOLISA”), some key considerations remain with respect to employee entitlements that employers must address and make due preparations for, as outlined below: 1 ...
Last week, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) for employers only in the health care sector in response to President Joe Biden’s January Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. The ETS becomes effective on the date it is published in the Federal Register, which is yet to be determined. In addition, OSHA promulgated new non-binding guidance for employers in all other sectors ...
An additional bank holiday has been announced to take place in June 2022 to mark Her Majesty the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. But are all employees automatically entitled to paid time off and what approach should employers take? What is changing? Next year, the Spring Bank Holiday (normally due to take place on the first Monday in May) will be moved to Thursday 2 June. The additional Bank Holiday will then take place on Friday 3 June ...
We've seen two trade union-related decisions being handed down within a week of each other: Mercer v Alternative Future Group Ltd and Nexus v NURMT & Unite. For those employers with recognised trade unions the decisions are worth taking a closer look at. Mercer v Alternative Future Group Ltd Mercer is not good news for employers ...
A Data Protection Impact Assessment (“DPIA”) is a process which helps employers to identify, analyse and minimise the data protection risks of a project. But when should employers be using a DPIA and what makes a DPIA effective? When should employers be using a DPIA? The Data Protection Act 2018 (the Act) states that a DPIA must be implemented before any processing is undertaken which is “likely to result in a high risk” to individuals ...
Workplace testing has proven to be a crucial piece in the UK government’s jigsaw to get British business back on its feet. But how can businesses implement a workplace testing programme and will the vaccine roll out make a difference? What is a lateral flow test? In March 2021, the government confirmed that almost 50,000 businesses had registered for free and regular lateral flow tests through the government funded workplace testing scheme ...
Haynes and Boone, LLP Counsel Raquel Alvarenga talked with HR Magazine about continued COVID-19-related accommodations for vaccinated employees.Below is an excerpt:Many businesses have developed policies on providing reasonable accommodations to employees who refuse to get a COVID-19 vaccine for religious or disability-related reasons. Employers shouldn't forget that fully vaccinated workers may need accommodations, too.In recently updated guidance, the U.S ...
On Friday 4 June 2021, a new Ministerial Decree was published in the Belgian State Gazette that includes new provisions regarding telework. For the time being, telework remains compulsory and employers remain obliged to register their non-teleworkable positions with the National Social Security Office (NSSO) and to provide workers whose presence at the workplace is needed with a certificate confirming this fact ...
With increasing numbers of Canadians being immunized each day against COVID-19, the question on many peoples’ minds is whether Canadians will be asked to prove they are vaccinated by way of a vaccine passport. Vaccine passports can take a range of forms, but the defining feature is a verified record of a person’s immunization status ...
Do you trust your employees about their vaccination status, or do you need to see proof? Since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) new mask guidance came out last week, many employers have been wrestling with the question of how best to determine the COVID-19 vaccination status of their employees ...
The rapid spread of Covid-19 has placed the healthcare system in Thailand under severe pressure. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, new startups focusing on telemedicine have sprung up to take on the challenge of innovating the way healthcare services can be provided to patients ...
By: Alexandra Shulman The Oregon Legislature recently passed a new bill (SB 169) that will have a major impact on the use of noncompetition agreements in Oregon. These amendments to Oregon’s existing noncompetition statute, ORS 653.295, will become effective on January 1, 2022, and will apply to all Oregon noncompetition agreements entered into on or after that date. The most significant changes to the statute are described below. Reduced Term ...
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) continuation coverage provisions ...
When the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) comes into effect fully from 1 July 2021, there are some areas of possible dispute that could arise between employers and employees, including the monitoring of employee emails. In a recent Constitutional Court judgment in Turkey, the personal data protection rights of an employee were considered, and could provide some guidance as to how a similar situation may be handled in a South African context ...
On June 2nd, 2021, Decree No.930 of the Ministry of Finance (hereinafter, the “Decree”) was published in the Official Gazette, which extends the enforcement of the benefits established in title I of Law No.21,227 (“Employment Protection Act”) and in Law No.21,263 (that temporarily amends the requirements to access and increases the amounts of the benefits of the unemployment insurance), granting new provisions with charge to the unemployment mutual aid fund ...
Last year, we published a blog about things an employer should do before they terminate the employment of an employee. In recent years, employers are facing increasing claims for aggravated damages arising out of the manner in which the employer has carried out the termination of an employee’s employment. In order to minimize the possibility that aggravated damages will be awarded, here are our Do’s and Don’ts for employment termination meetings ...
Our latest article in the series looking at the impact of the pandemic on different groups focuses on how COVID-19 has affected those within ethnic minorities, what this has meant for the BLM movement and what employers can do to better support employees. Impact of COVID-19 The latest statistics all point to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected those within ethnic minorities ...
Starting around October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administrations (the “SBA”) asked Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) lenders to provide certain questionnaires to PPP borrowers with loans of $2 million or greater. There are two questionnaire forms on the Treasury: Form 3509 for for-profit borrowers and Form 3510 for non-profit borrowers ...
The EEOC updated its very clearly titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” last week to provide some much needed guidance on COVID-19 vaccine issues. While the EEOC’s guidance is helpful, not surprisingly, it leaves open some questions. Section K of the guidance addresses vaccines, so the references below are to the specific questions and answers in that section. Employers can mandate vaccines ...
On March 18, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 (HR 1603) (FWMA).1 The proposed FWMA would streamline the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, providing a path to legal immigration status for undocumented farmworkers and their family members. The FWMA would also require all agricultural employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their workers ...
