In light of President Ramaphosa’s announcement of a phased approach to the end of lockdown, many businesses will still be required to remain closed (or partially closed) after 30 April 2020. With this in mind, many employers will still require assistance from the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Temporary Relief Scheme (“C19TERS”) ...
Another week brings another round of COVID-19-related lawsuits. We are identifying some early trends and provide a synopsis of the more relevant lawsuits below. Will nursing homes be overwhelmed by wrongful death lawsuits? The daughter of a woman suspected to have died from COVID-19 has filed a wrongful death suit against the company who owns the Life Care Center of Kirkland where her mother was a resident ...
General Provisions When must an Employer’s First Report of Injury be filed? The employer must submit information about the injury to the insurance carrier within five (5) days of the employee's notice of injury. What is the statute of limitations for the filing of an employee’s claim? An employee has six (6) months after suffering a work-related injury to file a workers’ compensation claim ...
On April 21, 2020, the Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General of British Columbia issued a Ministerial Order (the “Order”) permitting electronic attendance at meetings (collectively referred to as “Corporate Meetings”) held pursuant to the Business Corporations Act, the Cooperative Association Act and the Societies Act (collectively, the “Statutes”) ...
The B.C. and federal government have announced new benefits for workers impacted by COVID-19. B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers The B.C. Emergency Benefit for Workers will provide a one-time $1,000 payment to people who lost income because of COVID-19. B.C. residents who receive Employment Insurance (“EI”) or the new Canada Emergency Response Benefit (“CERB”, described below) will be eligible ...
On April 18th 2020, the Russian President signed a Decree establishing a temporary procedure for hiring foreign nationals in Russia and suspension of migration terms. Temporary rules apply from March 15th until June 15th, 2020 ...
In accordance with Decrees of the Moscow Mayor No. 42-UM dated April 10th, 2020 and No. 43-UM dated April 11th, 2020, visiting of most organizations is temporarily suspended and pass control is introduced, within the territory of Moscow. Resolutions of the Moscow Region Governor No. 176-PG dated April 10th, 2020 and No. 177-PG dated April 11th, 2020 introduced similar measures within Moscow Region ...
Earlier this week, the US Department of Labor (DOL) added to their long list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act or FFCRA. These latest additions raises the total of FAQs from an already robust 79 to a staggering 88. Combined with the DOL’s first FFCRA enforcement action in Arizona, this is the latest warning for employers to get fully prepared ...
Guidance Focuses on Concurrent Leave Issues, Hours to be Paid During Leaves, and Regular Rates of Pay Applicable Now that covered employers are providing paid leaves under the Families First Coronavirus Act (the “FFCRA”), more questions about the FFCRA’s nuances are surfacing ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many employees working from home, and brought about a need for a more collaborate meeting culture in place of physical meeting and travelling. Online meetings using video conferencing systems empower businesses to stay connected with their clients, and interact and collaborate with their employees working remotely via the Internet ...
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia upheld the constitutionality of the Workplace Freedom Act in a 5-0 decision, with one justice dissenting in part. The decision removes the cloud over the state’s right-to-work law, which was passed in 2016 but was enjoined by a trial court for a substantial period of time, determined to be unconstitutional, in part, by the same trial court and now takes full effect ...
The so called “break-even point” is a relevant concept in business economy. Simply speaking, a company is in break-even point when the number of product units sold equals its Total Fixed Cost, divided by the respective Contribution Margin per Unit (i.e ...
On the 10thof April, 2020, the Government of Hungary as part of its long-awaited Economic Protection Action Plan (the “Plan”) introduced by Government Decree 104/2020 the possibility for employers to introduce a 24-month working time frame. According to Government Decree 104/2020, during the state of emergency the Labor Code shall apply with the exception that the employer may order a working time frame for a maximum of twenty-four months ...
In an earlier post, we started discussing the IRS’ “John Doe” summons to Coinbase, a virtual currency exchange, to obtain information about every Coinbase user, who, at any time during the period of January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2015, conducted transactions in a convertible virtual currency as defined in IRS Notice 2014-21. One such user filed a motion to intervene in the proceeding and to quash the IRS’ summons ...
Florida legislature passes bill to add virtual currencies to money laundering statute in response to last year’s court ruling that bitcoin can’t be the basis for money laundering charges Last year, a Miami judge dismissed criminal charges against a Florida-based bitcoin seller who had been caught in a sting in which undercover law enforcement officers engaged him to convert cash into bitcoin. They told him they intended to use the bitcoin to buy stolen credit card numbers ...
Late this afternoon, the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia issued its decision in State v. AFL-CIO and upheld the constitutionality of West Virginia's “Right-Work-Act” (the Workplace Freedom Act). Justice Jenkins delivered the opinion in which our high court reversed the Circuit Court of Kanawha County and remanded the matter back to that lower court with instructions to enter Summary Judgment in favor of the State ...
If you spend any time reading about the virtual currency space, you’ve picked up that blockchain technology is creeping into hundreds of industries and countries worldwide as more and more people create ways to use the public electronic ledger to better our lives in the not-too-distant future. Money transfers, trade settlements, property and health records, and just about any other part of the human endeavor are being tweaked, changed, and disrupted by this new technology ...
Who is an Eligible Employer? “Eligible entities” include employers that are taxable corporations, individuals (such as sole proprietors), non-profit organizations, registered charities, and partnerships (all of the members of which are partnerships or one of the aforementioned entities) who had an existing business number and payroll program account with the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) on March 15, 2020. Public institutions are not eligible (e.g ...
In light of the declaration of a national state of disaster as a result of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, it is now likely that schools and further learning institutions in South Africa will remain closed for the foreseeable future (even after the national lockdown period) and online teaching will be inevitable. However, privacy, data protection and security are critical when teachers and learners are working remotely due to the higher risk of personal data breaches ...
The Crypto Assets Regulatory Working Group (“CAR WG”) of the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (“IFWG”) has released its long-anticipated position paper on crypto assets. The position paper proposes that a clear regulatory policy for crypto assets be adopted in South Africa. However, it is still recommend that crypto assets not be regarded as legal tender or public money ...
April 21, 2020 Cities in California have been implementing local ordinances providing for emergency supplemental paid sick leave for local workers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which adds complexity for employers navigating the rapidly changing obligations resulting from the pandemic ...
