Following President Trump’s Aug. 8 presidential memorandum directing the Treasury Secretary to defer the withholding and payment of certain employee payroll taxes, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-65 on Aug. 28 The two-page notice gives necessary but sparse guidance on implementing the Presidential Memorandum ...
Key Points On Aug. 31, 2020, the California Assembly passed Assembly Bill 1281 (AB 1281). AB 1281, if signed, will guarantee that certain California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) exemptions will be extended beyond their initial deadline, December 2020. Importantly, AB 1281 will give covered businesses at least another year before they need to comply with CCPA’s provisions when collecting and using employee data or business-to-business related personal information ...
All Virginia employers subject to the jurisdiction of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health ("VOSH") Program (i.e., practically all employers in Virginia) must comply with new workplace safety standards related to COVID-19. Known as the Emergency Temporary Standard ("Standard"), the new regulation requires employers to: 1 ...
The Department of Labor has updated its list of FAQs about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) to address when employees would be eligible for Emergency FMLA leave when the employee’s child’s school is operating on a remote or hybrid learning schedule ...
BAG dated February 13, 2020 - 6 AZR 146/19 ("Air Berlin") In the context of collective redundancies, the term "company" is a legal term under European Union (EU) law and, with regard to the responsible employment agency, it focus particularly on the local effects of the intended dismissals. In the EU legal system, the term "company" is to be interpreted autonomously, uniformly and detached from the national understanding of the term ...
Regional Court of Nuremberg, decision of June 18, 2020 - 1 TaBV 33/19 The Regional Labor Court (Landesarbeitsgericht - LAG) of Nuremberg had to rule on a motion by a works council, in which the latter demanded that the discussions held with it be conducted only in German. At the same time, it demanded that all communication between the branch management and the employees be conducted in German. The Regional Court rejected both motions of the works council ...
Key Points Employers can, but are not required to, delay withholding and paying the employee portion of Social Security taxes for certain employees until Jan. 1, 2021. The deferral only applies to Social Security taxes due from Sept. 1, 2020, to Dec. 31, 2020, by employees who earn less than $4,000 in a bi-weekly pay period. From Jan. 1, 2021 through Apr ...
On Aug. 28, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-65 (the Notice). The Notice implements President Donald Trump’s Aug. 8, 2020 directive (the Directive) to defer withholding, deposit, and payment of the 6.2 percent employee share of Social Security tax and railroad retirement equivalent tax on certain wages and compensation paid to employees ...
Following the August 8, 2020 Presidential Memorandum directing the Treasury Secretary to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of certain payroll taxes, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-65 late Friday, August 28. The brief notice gives necessary but sparse guidance on implementing the Presidential Memorandum. We expect (and hope for) further guidance soon ...
On August 27, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released Executive Order 2020-172, entitled “Protecting workers who stay home, stay safe when they or their close contacts are sick,” which replaces Executive Order 2020-166. The new executive order is nearly identical to the one it replaces, with two important differences ...
The Department of Justice is stepping up its scrutiny of health-care fraud, especially in testing laboratories, during the Covid-19 pandemic. Former federal prosecutor Jason Mehta, a partner with Bradley, says now is not the time to tout profits over patient care and offers insights on compliance. In the midst of a global pandemic, much attention and praise is rightfully being showered on health-care providers ...
The Temporary Measures for Reducing the Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020 (“the Covid-19 Bill”) was tabled for its first reading in the Dewan Rakyat of Malaysia on Wednesday, 12 August 2020 ...
On 8 April 2020, the Government rolled out the first tranche of the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) for subsidising wages of employees (see our client alerts dated 14 and 20 May 2020 for details of the ESS and its implementation). The Government has just announced details of the second tranche of the ESS covering September to November 2020, which are summarised below ...
You’ve been to the webinars about COVID-19. You’ve read the trade publication tips. You’ve implemented measures to protect your workers. You’re ahead of the game, right? Well, you’re certainly ahead of the sheriff who reportedly instructed his employees not to wear masks in the office. If a visitor enters Sheriff Billy Wood’s office with a mask, she or he will be instructed to remove it ...
When the corona pandemic broke out, many employers allowed their employees to work in home office or even forced them to do so. In the meantime, many uncertainties have been clarified and the desire for normality is increasing among both employers and employees. Therefore, in the following, we will describe what employers must take into account when employees return from home office. 1 ...
From 1 September 2020, new rules on temporary unemployment will enter into force. Companies and sectors that are substantially affected by the COVID-19 crisis can continue to apply the current and simplified COVID-19 force majeure temporary unemployment regime until 31 December 2020. The list of in-scope sectors has yet to be determined by the minister of work ...
Skilled nursing facilities have faced unprecedented challenges since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic. Individuals with many high-risk characteristics are the typical patients of these facilities. Add to this, necessarily close proximity of these patients, scarcity of personal protective equipment and shortage of testing common across the healthcare industry, and you have a perfect storm of increased risk with limited options for mitigation ...
On August 6, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit affirmed the conviction of Massachusetts gynecologist Rita Luthra for criminal HIPAA violations and obstructing a health care investigation. Although such HIPAA prosecutions are uncommon, the case underscores the risks health care providers and others run when handling protected patient information and when speaking with government investigators ...
In an August 14, 2020 response to a letter written on behalf of the American Seniors Housing Association and Argentum, the General Counsel’s office of the Department of Health and Human Services has determined that senior living communities are a “covered person” under the Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness (PREP) Act, which creates immunity from liability for the administration or use of “Covered Countermeasures” in response to COVID-19 ...
COVID-19 has undoubtedly had a significant impact on workplaces across the UK. However, what is becoming increasingly clear is the impact which it has had and continues to have on women in work. We consider the statistics and how employers should respond. What do the statistics show? 1. Sectors During lockdown, women were more likely to work in the sectors that had to completely shut-down such as hospitality (23% of women vs 16% men in these industries) ...
Did you know? The new Trade Marks (Amendment) Ordinance 2020 which came into effect on 19 June 2020 empowers the Registrar of Trade Marks to make the rules for implementing the long-awaited Protocol Relating to the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (the “Madrid Protocol”) in Hong Kong ...
Key Points New York federal district court vacates the DOL’s “health care provider” definition in the DOL’s Final Rule implementing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The court also vacates the DOL’s employer consent requirement for intermittent leave and the “unable to work” requirement for receipt of leave benefits. The national impact of the decision is currently unknown as the DOL contemplates next steps ...
On 13th August, Federal Law dated 13.07.2020, No. 210-FZ specifying the procedure and establishing new rules of severance payments, in case of dismissal due to liquidation of the organization, or redundancy, comes into force.In case of the dismissal due to the organization’s liquidation, all payments shall be made to employees prior to its completion ...
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has recently published frequently asked questions addressing leave-sharing plans related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following IRS Notice 2006-59, the IRS has confirmed that employers may set up leave-sharing plans to permit their employees to deposit leave in an employer-sponsored leave bank for use by other employees who have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic ...
