As the saying goes “when the wind blows, some people build walls, while others build windmills". We know that we’re facing a crisis unlike any other, but what’s been illustrated clearly is that a lot of our old assumptions on how we work can be challenged. We can be working smarter, faster, better. We want to emerge from lockdown with something positive to show for it: a new normal better than the old one. We need a new how ...
Preparation of financial statements and corporate income tax, recommencement of time periods, remote trials, gradual return to workplaces, insolvency proceedings and compliance with criminal law In a new edition of our COVID-19 Special Newsletter, we examine the key new legislation approved over the past two weeks in all areas of business law ...
It is astonishing that in the same week that we’ve read about astronauts going into space in a reusable rocket, we have also experienced the horrors of humanity reading about the killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery and Breonna Taylor ...
In our earlier two blog posts, Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation: Part 1, Part 2, we addressed the occupational health and safety issues surrounding returning the workplace to safe operation. This blog post addresses the employment issues related to managing the return of employees to the workplace from temporary layoff or working from home ...
On April 6, 2020, Law No. 21,227 entered into effect, authorizing access to the benefits of the unemployment insurance in the context of the sanitary crisis caused by Covid-19 (hereinafter, the “Law on Employment Protection” or “LEP”). In order to improve the practical application and implementation of the aforementioned act, on June 1, 2020, Law No ...
Even though OSHA has advised that no specific standard covers the novel coronavirus, human resource and safety personnel must be mindful of the generally-applicable standards that might apply. OSHA has issued several guidelines that, while not the rule of law, do offer guidance on addressing COVID-19 issues, including recordkeeping and 300 log reporting obligations. On April 10, OSHA issued guidance that appeared to limit what cases would be required to be reported on OSHA 300 logs ...
The Ministry of Public Health has published changes in the strategy to be followed for the eventual de-escalation of the confinement measures to be followed, repealing agreement 144-2020 ...
On May 23, 2020, the notice related to the Employment Protection Fund was jointly published by the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Economy, through which a new electronic procedure was implemented for the registration, control and authorization of total suspensions (individual or collective) of employment contracts ...
Earlier this month, the DFDL Employment & Labour Team organized a well-attended webinar on Workforce Restructuring in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand & Vietnam. Our experts shared their insights with the audience on ways to minimize COVID-19 related labour challenges in compliance with local law as well as practical steps and considerations when implementing options available to employers to cut down labor costs in each jurisdiction ...
The Commission for the Financial Market (“ CMF ”), on May 28, 2020, has issued the Official Letter No. 22,260 (the “ Official Letter ”) in response to the pronouncement request sent by the Treasury Minister of the Chilean Government, Mr Ignacio Briones Rojas, to clarify the scope of the enforcement and the effects of the new article 30 of Law No. 21,227, which empowers the access to the unemployment insurance benefits provided in Law No ...
Updated on June 1, 2020 National Immigration Authority: Residence Permitsare valid until June 7, 2020. This measure is in place since March 13. The suspension of administrative processesanduser service will belifted from June 8. In-person user service will be restored gradually and progressively: Between June 8 and June 12, only attorneys will be allowed to visit, between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m ...
On 7 April 2020, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, in agreement with the Federal Ministry of Health, adopted the Covid-19 Working Hours Regulation (hereinafter referred to as the Working Hours Regulation), which allows exceptions to the Working Hours Act for a limited period of time from 10 April 2020. 1 ...
In the context of the Corona crisis the German Federal Government has demonstrated that it is capable of acting quickly and pragmatically. The conditions for payment of short-time working benefit had already been adapted to the corona situation through past measures, and on May 14, 2020 the German parliament approved further changes through the Social Package II. The changes of relevance to employment law are set out briefly below ...
On 28 May 2020 the Federal High Court (Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”) handed down its judgment in the Planet49 case after a long legal dispute (we have already reported in detail on the previous instances including the judgment of the European Court of Justice). The Federal High Court’s judgement contains a large number of important statements which can only be fully assessed once the written grounds are published ...
As an update to our April 24 alert, the United States Health and Human Services Department (“HHS”) has continued to provide a string of updates over the past month regarding the funds allocated to provide financial relief for eligible health care providers by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act ...
On May 26, 2020, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the formation of new Congregate Care Unified Response Teams to test residents and staff members in Ohio's nursing homes. Ohio Department of Health (“ODH”) Director Amy Acton, M.D., MPH, subsequently issued a Director’s Order on May 27, 2020 requiring all nursing homes to cooperate with this testing ...
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on March 13, 2020 enhanced penalties for infection control survey non-compliance amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] On June 1, 2020, CMS announced significant changes related to nursing home surveys. The new changes require states to complete 100 percent of their Focused Infection Control nursing home surveys by July 31, 2020 ...
The Ohio House of Representatives has voted overwhelmingly in favor of House Bill 606, known as the “Good Samaritan Expansion Bill.” The bill grants temporary immunity from civil liability and professional disciplinary actions to a wide range of health care providers for injury, death, or damages arising from health care services rendered in response to the COVID-19 pandemic ...
Congress passed legislation amending the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) in hopes of making the program more useful to small businesses. Prior to the amendment, the PPP required loan proceeds to be spent during an eight-week covered period for a loan to be eligible for forgiveness. Additionally, 75 percent of the proceeds had to be used on payroll costs, so only 25 percent could be spent on certain eligible non-payroll expenses (e.g ...
On June 2, 2020, Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Amy Acton, M.D., MPH, issued a new comprehensive order permitting all surgeries to resume, effective immediately ( Surgery Resumption Order). The Surgery Resumption Order is available here. We have previously written about the March 17, 2020 ODH order that cancelled all non-essential or elective surgeries and procedures that use personal protective equipment (PPE) ...
The following are general considerations for health care employers who are strategizing their employees’ return to work. Note that each employer and health care environment is different and will need a specifically tailored plan. Further, there is a wealth of detailed guidance regarding various aspects of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic, including detailed guidance regarding proper PPE and patient treatment ...
The Substance Use Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act (“SUPPORT Act”)[1] was enacted on October 24, 2018. Among other things, the SUPPORT Act amended the Physician Payments Sunshine Act (“Sunshine Act”)[2] to expand the definition of “covered recipients”[3] for payment tracking and reporting purposes ...
Federal and state government enforcers have been turning their focus to nursing homes, skilled nursing facilities, and other long-term care facilities. While this enforcement priority is not tied specifically to the COVID-19 pandemic, facilities can expect additional scrutiny as they are considered “ground zero” for infections ...
As states are beginning to open back up amid the COVID-19 pandemic, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities are still at the highest risk of infection and should continue to be cautious. One-third of all COVID-19 deaths are attributed to long-term care residents and workers.[1] Facilities need to take steps to manage the spread of the disease and protect their residents and staff as states begin to allow more flexibility around long-term care quarantine practices ...
