As an employer, you are probably preparing for the reopening of the workplace in a pandemic setting and actively planning for your employees’ return to work. To help you in your thought process and preparations, we have prepared a list of items that you should address or consider in order to make the return to work as safe and effective as possible ...
As businesses begin to reopen, many organizations will examine ways to protect their workers and attract returning customers. Various mechanisms to screen customers for COVID-19 risks will become more common. Examples include providing customers with questionnaires regarding their travel history, exposure to others, and symptoms, or temperature scanning before entry. Organizations will be permitted to screen individuals in a reasonable manner, depending on the circumstances ...
As corporate policyholders continue to submit claims to their insurers for business interruption and related losses sustained from the COVID-19 pandemic, insurers appear to be denying such claims routinely where the policies at issue contain exclusionary language specific to viruses — whether in stand-alone virus exclusions or other types of exclusions ...
Two new bills, the Insurance Amendment Bill and the Insurance Amendment (No. 2) Bill have recently been gazetted making significant changes to the regulatory regime for insurance companies. Insurance Amendment Bill Special purpose insurer An amendment is made to allow registration of an insurance company which engages in special purpose business only ...
On May 7, 2020, the amendment to Decree No. 466 was published in the Official Gazette, which approves the Regulation of Pharmacies, Drugstores and other pharmaceutical establishments, regarding the sale of medicines through electronic means. Particularly, article 8 of said Decree is modified, in order to allow the electronic sale of medicines in pharmacies, incorporating the following sentence: "Pharmacies may dispense medicines through electronic means ...
In the context of COVID-19 pandemic, the field (on-site) tax audits in Russia are currently postponed, but once all restrictions are lifted, the tax authorities can start auditing Russian companies and replenishing the National Budget by redoubling their efforts. The pharmaceutical industry could be in the focus of the tax authorities and, above all, they could start with auditing of the contractual structures used for organizing clinical trials and promotion of pharmaceutical products ...
The coronavirus creates a situation for the world, for the Netherlands and for the Dutch health care that most of us have never experienced before. As the healthcare & life sciences market group, we are confronted with this event in various ways. In our business and private lives, but also mainly because we see what the impact is for our clients. We are very looking for the best way to deal with this ...
Key Points ERISA retirement plan sponsors may email certain required disclosures to participants under a final Department of Labor rule. The final rule also keeps the “notice and access” safe harbor discussed in our prior alert. Employers should collect valid email addresses from plan participants, including terminating employees still covered by the plan. The U.S ...
This eighth edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, follows what we hope was a restful and meaningful Memorial Day weekend. For the third week in a row, shutdown challenges, workers' compensation claims, and wrongful death lawsuits have dominated the news cycle. But, we are also seeing a continuation in refund claims and an uptick in fraud claims involving everything from alleged misuse of sick days to corporate press releases ...
The Indonesian Ministry of Manpower (“MOM”) and some other Ministries have issued a number of regulations and policies or guidelines to manage and control the impact of the spread of COVID-19 in the Indonesian employment sector. Please find below a summary of the government measures: I. Employers are encouraged to prepare plans to take preventive measures against the further spread of COVID-19 and to maintain the continuity of their businesses ...
On May 22, Treasury issued a new Interim Final Rule (“IFR”) regarding Small Business Administration (“SBA”) Payroll Protection Program (”PPP”) loan forgiveness. Much of the IFR repeats information previously published by Treasury and SBA in the loan forgiveness form application and accompanying instructions. See March 19, 2020 Buchalter Client Alert COVID-19: Treasury Issues Application for SBA PPP Loan Forgiveness ...
As more workers begin to return to the workplace, it is expected that there will be an increase in the number of lawsuits related to employee contraction of the virus in the workplace. While the general rule in most states is that the workers’ compensation system provides the exclusive remedy for work-related injuries and illnesses, claimants and their attorneys are eyeing exceptions to the workers’ compensation system in order to maximize their potential recovery ...
As many states and municipalities begin lifting stay at home orders and implementing steps for a phased reopening of businesses, employers should be developing a written “game plan” to minimize the risks of transitioning from a COVID-19 complete or partial shutdown to resumption of business as usual, or business in the post-Pandemic workplace ...
The curve has flattened, and all fifty states are at least partially reopened. This raises a number of questions about how your facility should proceed with reopening while continuing to protect not only your residents' health, but also their rights. Both failing to meet recommended guidelines and exceeding the guidelines can leave your facility vulnerable for future governmental action and lawsuits ...
The landmark CARES Act, signed into law by the President on March 27, provides many employers with several options to increase liquidity and cash flow during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. And only 9 days before that legislation was enacted, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) also created two other payroll tax-related incentives for certain employers, and to self-employed individuals ...
On May 19, 2020, OSHA issued two revised enforcement policies with respect to in-person workplace inspections, and an employer’s obligation to record occupational injuries and illnesses, specifically cases of COVID-19. As phased re-openings of businesses are occurring throughout the United States, OSHA explained that it revised its policies to ensure that employers are protecting the health and safety of their workers ...
The government has rolled out a series of measures to relieve the economic impact brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. Introduced under the second round Anti-epidemic Fund, the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) has come under the spotlight as it aims to provide wage subsidies to employers against their undertaking to spend all subsidies on paying wages to their employees and not to implement redundancy during the subsidy period ...
On 18 May 2020, the UAE government announced the following timings with effect from today, 20 May 2020: the National Disinfection Programme will take place between 08:00pm (not 10:00pm) to 06:00am the following day. working hours of butchers, mills and cafes will be from 06:00am to 08:00pm. commercial centres and malls will be open from 09:00am to 07:00pm (with new opening hours to be announced after the upcoming Eid ...
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued guidelines on data protection in work from home (WFH) arrangements (NPC PHE Bulletin No. 12 on “Protecting Personal Data in a Work from Home Arrangement; issued May 15, 2020). The full text of the guidelines can be found here: https://www.privacy.gov.ph/2020/05/npc-phe-bulletin-no-12-protecting-personal-data-in-a-work-from-home-arrangement/ ...
Philippine government agencies continue to issue additional and more specific guidelines on dealing with business continuity concerns, in light of more enterprises being able to resume operations under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), and more areas now being under the less restrictive General Community Quarantine (GCQ). This briefing covers the following more recent advisories: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Labor Advisory No ...
Effective Tuesday, May 19, 2020, the Department of Labor issued a new rule to provide greater simplicity and flexibility to retail and service-industry employers. The rule relaxes the regulatory framework underpinning Section 7(i) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, also known as the “retail service exemption ...
