Following the Chancellor’s announcement on 29 May 2020 regarding further changes to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, we now have more detailed guidance about how the new flexibility under the scheme will work from 1 July. Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) Flexibility As we know, from 1 July 2020, employers will be able to bring furloughed workers back to work on a part time basis if appropriate while still being able to claim under the CJRS for hours not worked ...
Up until now, there has been no suspension of a notice period served upon an employee who has been made temporarily unemployed under the ‘corona’ regime. Such a notice period started during the corona temporary unemployment and continued to run during this period. Given, as a consequence, employers would be able to dismiss employees 'cheaply', a draft bill was submitted in Parliament to have the notice period suspended in the event of corona temporary unemployment ...
In a landmark decision issued today, the Supreme Court of the Unites States ruled that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits workplace discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender people. The case involved consolidated lawsuits filed by two gay persons fired due to their sexual orientation and a transgender woman fired after revealing plans to transition from male to female ...
The General Data Protection Regulation (the "GDPR") came into force a little over two years ago, on 25 May 2018 and the first administrative fines were imposed in Finland in late May 2020. What is noteworthy is that in two out of the four decisions, the fines concerned violations of processing of personal data of employees and job applicants ...
Congress recently passed the economic stimulus package referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (“PPPHCE Act”), and the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (“PPP Flexibility Act”). Ttogether, the CARES Act1, PPPHCE Act, and PPP Flexibility Act are called the “CARES Act” ...
The Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) established the COVID-19 Telehealth Program (the “Telehealth Program”) on April 2, 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Telehealth Program provides $200 million in funding, appropriated by Congress as part of the CARES Act,[1] to assist certain non-profit and public healthcare providers in making telehealth services available to patients who cannot be seen in person ...
On 27 May 2020 the Federal Council adopted the Ordinance on Protecting against Cyber Risks (OPCy, available in French and German), which is set to enter into force on 1 July 2020. This move is the next step in a series of measures taken by the Federal Council to adopt a new organisational structure and implement a national strategy to protect Switzerland against cyber risks (NCS, available in German, French, Italian and English) ...
With COVID-19 taking its toll on some businesses, employees may find themselves placed at risk of redundancy. This article looks at the practical steps an employer should take when carrying out an individual redundancy consultation. Individual consultation is fundamental to the fairness of any dismissal for redundancy ...
This time we address solutions from the front lines: devices for remote diagnostics which can improve effective detection of the coronavirus and also unburden the health service in other areas. These solutions can also serve as aproving ground for the regulatory approach to oversight of algorithms. The immediate inspiration for writing this text was asolution from the company StethoMe presented at the DemoDay organised by the MIT Enterprise Forum CEE ...
Congress recently passed the economic stimulus package referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act1”), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (“PPPHCE Act”), and the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (“PPP Flexibility Act”). Together, the CARES Act1, PPPHCE Act, and PPP Flexibility Act are called the “CARES Act” ...
On June 10, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released new guidance, in the form of frequently asked questions and answers, regarding the use of masks in the workplace.[1] The new guidance serves to help employers ensure employees know how to properly wear masks and which type of mask is appropriate. OSHA explains the difference between cloth face coverings, surgical masks, and respirators ...
Key Points New legislation allows longer 24-week period for payroll costs that will be forgiven under Paycheck Protection Program loans Maximum forgiveness of loan can be achieved if 60% of the proceeds are used on payroll costs New broader safe harbor to avoid FTE-based reduction in forgiveness amount New legislation signed into effect on June 5, 2020, received bi-partisan support to address complaints about the current Paycheck Protection Program ("PPP") loans for small busines
ALRUD’s Labor experts have prepared the material that is useful for each employer in the current situation: Checklist: Reopening of business after lifting restrictions. The checklist includes the main steps that must be taken to return the company and employees usual work activities after lifting the restrictions. Most interesting for company managers, HR directors, Compliance officers, heads of legal departments ...
Special Report "COVID-19 in Central America" on special measures taken in each country of our region prepared by the multidisciplinary team of Consortium Legal. The information contained in this publication is for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. The information is constantly updated and is subject to change ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
