By resolution adopted on October 7, 2020, the state of emergency has been extended until January 31, 2021 ...
On November 18, 2020, the IRS released Revenue Ruling 2020-27 stating that a taxpayer who received a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan cannot deduct eligible business expenses (i.e., payroll costs, mortgage loan interest, rent payments and utility payments) paid or incurred in 2020 during the covered period (as defined below) if the taxpayer reasonably expects that the PPP loan will be forgiven in the future ...
The retail sector has been one of the sectors most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and as a result employers therein might be considering dismissing employees for economic or technical reasons. Employers must be aware that most joint committees in the retail sector have entered into collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) obliging employers to first take measures to avoid dismissals and, if dismissals cannot be avoided, to comply with a specific procedure ...
Trademark owners with registrations in EU where the UK is designated should soon receive notification for treatment of registrations and applications following the Brexit transition period. The Brexit transitional period, during which EU laws and rights have continued in force in the UK, will end on December 31, 2020. Thereafter, EU Trade Mark and Design applications and registrations (and designations of the EU) will only cover the remaining 27 EU member states ...
When much of the country locked down in March 2020, very few expected us to still be dealing with this pandemic in December 2020. And yet, here we are. In fact, coronavirus cases are rising sharply throughout much of the country, and the prospect of additional shutdowns is growing more probable by the day. Not all news is bad. Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca have produced what appear to be viable vaccines that could be available as early as this month ...
Whether employers like it or not, there is no question that the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the modern work environment for many businesses. As employers across the country continue to allow, and even encourage, their employees to work remotely, we continue to see the questions and challenges that accompany the work-from-home model. Fortunately, not all of those challenges need be navigated blindly. The U.S ...
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy (Board) recently issued updated guidance detailing certain conduct pharmacists and other regulated personnel (Licensees) must report to the Board ...
The legal status of CBD, a naturally occurring compound found in the cannabis plant, is murky. Certain Member States are more restrictive about it than others. The Court of Justice of the EU has very recently provided clarification in the context of a preliminary ruling (case C-663/18 of 19 November 2020). This case revolves around CBD’s ban in France, after it had been imported from the Czech Republic where it was lawfully produced ...
Assembly Bill (AB) 5, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in September 2019, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, codified the California Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Dynamex Operations West, Inc. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles ...
Following a decision of the Hamburg Regional Labour Court, the works council has an enforceable right of co-determination with the definition of staffing ratios – in accordance with § 87 exp. 1 No. 7 BetrVG. The co-determination right aims at avoiding an otherwise health-endangering overloading of the personnel ...
LAG Baden-Württemberg, judgement of 17.09.2020, 17 Sa 8/20 The unauthorized, deliberate deletion of operational data on the employer's IT systems represents a significant breach of duty and is generally suitable to justify a termination of the employment relationship without notice period. Facts The parties are in dispute about the validity of the extraordinary, alternatively ordinary, notice of termination pronounced by the employer ...
Regional Labor Court Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, ruling of July 30, 2019, 5 Sa 233/18 It is up to the employer to decide how to react to a conflict situation in the company, regardless of the causes and responsibilities of the disputants. FACTS The parties dispute over the validity of transferring the plaintiff to another workplace to resolve an interpersonal conflict ...
On 25 November 2020, the Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR Carrie Lam presented her fourth Policy Address, which includes various proposals to create more jobs in both the public and private sectors through the Job Creation Scheme established under the anti-epidemic fund measures, enhance support to employees through the Love Upgrading Special Scheme for Retraining, and create employment opportunities for young people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has expanded the definition of close contact to now evaluate exposure cumulatively over a 24-hour period such that “15 cumulative minutes of exposure at a distance of 6 feet or less can be used as an operational definition for contact investigation,”[1] Because the newly expanded definition is not limited, it impacts many different industries (inclu
Three pharmaceutical companies, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Pfeizer, have announced COVID-19 vaccines, which the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, has announced could be available as early as late December 2020.[1] Governor Mike DeWine announced some Ohio health care professionals could receive the COVID vaccine as early as Dec. 15, 2020 ...
With the Universal Community Testing Programme for COVID-19 detection by the Hong Kong Government and temperature screening in the workplace, the collection and use of biometric data (such as DNA samples, fingerprints and facial images) have raised concerns among the public. In August 2020, the Privacy Commissioner (PC) has updated its guidance note on how data users should collect and use biometric data in compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Guidance Note) ...
The German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) sees the decision as a success: On November 11, 2020, the District Court of Bonn reduced the fine imposed on 1&1 Telekom GmbH for a data protection breach from an original EUR 9.55 million to EUR 990,000.00, thereby fundamentally calling into question the fine practices of the German supervisory authorities ...
On November 16, 2020, the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a Special Fraud Alert addressing the fraud and abuse risks of speaker programs that are commonplace in the pharmaceutical and medical device industries ...
Key Points The new regulation covers all employees and places of employment with limited exceptions and is expected to take effect within the next two weeks. Employers must develop a written COVID-19 Prevention Program. Employers must also investigate and “respond effectively” to COVID-19 cases and notify employees and others who might have been exposed within one day ...
As the retail sector is one of the sectors most affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, employers within it might be considering dismissing employees for economic or technical reasons ...
The debt collection restrictions and requirements in the FDCPA, which was enacted in 1977, have failed to keep up with or even contemplate modern technologies. In particular, as methods and forms of communication have evolved, the industry has had little guidance on how it can utilize newer communication channels such as emails, text messages, or social media. In many cases, the industry has had to grapple with different and often conflicting court interpretations ...
On November 12, 2020, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) sued to block the acquisition of two Memphis-area hospitals by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare. Eleven months earlier, on December 12, 2019, Methodist entered into an agreement with Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare Corporation to purchase Saint Francis-Memphis and St. Francis-Bartlett (along with their associated physician practices, urgent care centers, and other ancillary care providers) for $350 million ...
Terminating the employment of an employee is never easy. There are many things to consider from both a practical and legal perspective. The more prepared you can be the better. While not exhaustive, set out below are some questions every employer should be asking themselves before they terminate the employment of any non-union employee on a “without cause” basis ...
The new Work Place Harassment and Violence Prevention Regulations, SOR/2020-130 (the “Regulation”) and corresponding changes to the Canada Labour Code (the “Code”) come into force on January 1, 2021. The amendments introduce significant changes to how federally regulated organizations are required to prevent and address workplace harassment and violence, and set out specific requirements for workplace harassment and violence policies ...
With the steady emergence of new technologies and disruption of traditional industries, the technology M&A sector is poised to continue to grow and the demand for technology-savvy legal advisers is set to rise. The purpose of this edition of the Getting the Deal Through - Technology M&A 2021 guide is to provide an overview of the various factors affecting technology M&A transactions across various jurisdictions ...
