On January 22, 2021, the Federal Official Gazette published Resolution No. 55, by means of which the National Mining Agency (“ANM”) amends Resolutions No. 28/2020 and 46/2020, which deal with the suspension of deadlines of certain procedural and material acts under its competence, and the extension of the terms of mineral titles, due to the current COVID-19 pandemic ...
Following the bioeconomy trend, the National Policy of Payment for Environmental Services was published, establishing the payment for services that benefit the maintenance, recovery and improvement of ecosystemic services, such as provision services (e.g. water supply), and regulation services (e.g. climatic change programs). On January 14, 2021, the Federal Law No. 14,119 ("Law") establishing the National Policy of Payment for Environmental Services ("PNPSA") was published ...
Imagine you instruct an employee to get tested for the Covid-19 virus infection. The employee refuses the test, claiming that the employer is not authorized to instruct him to take such a test. Moreover, the employee claims he had been vaccinated against Covid-19. What is the legal situation? 1 ...
Labor Court Siegburg 11/11/2020 - 4 Ca 1240/20 Short-time work continues to be omnipresent in many sectors of the economy due to the Covid 19 pandemic. A recent decision by the Labor Court Siegburg once again emphasizes that the ordering and implementation of short-time work requires careful preparation on the part of the company in terms of labor law in order to avoid unpleasant surprises ...
Changes to the off-payroll working rules for private sector organisations originally planned for April 2020 will now come into force from 6 April 2021. As a result, large and medium sized organisations engaging contractors through an intermediary will have various responsibilities and potential liabilities ...
i. To extend until December 31st, 2021, the occupational emergency declared by the Necessity and Urgency Decree No. 34/2019. ii. To extend the prohibition of dismissals without just cause and for the causes of lack or reduction of work and force majeure for a period of 90 days as of the expiration of the term established by Decree No ...
Following the Christmas Eve agreement between the UK and EU signing the Trade and Co-Operation Agreement (“Trade Deal”), we consider what impact the Trade Deal may have on employment law. The UK is free to modify or diverge from any future EU employment laws, however, if such changes have a material impact on trade or investment, the EU (subject to certain constraints and an arbitration process) may apply “rebalancing measures ...
This year it may be easier to predict developments in environmental law and policy than in 2020. The main reason for that is that there are several key developments that should have happened in 2020 but didn’t because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Here are our top five predictions. 1. The Environment Bill The Environment Bill is a key piece of legislation that establishes a post-Brexit environmental governance framework for England ...
Under the Trade Deal, the UK has agreed and committed that it will not reduce the level of protection for workers and that it will not reduce employment law rights below the standards that exist as at 31 December 2020 in a manner that affects trade or investment ...
With certain protections now being likely to protect pregnant employees, those on maternity leave and those returning from leave for longer in certain redundancy situations, how can employers mitigate their risks? Employees who are pregnant, who are on (and who are returning from) maternity leave have the legal right not to be treated less favourably or discriminated against by their employer under both the Maternity and Parental Leave etc. Regulations 1999 and the Equality Act 2010 ...
Northern Ireland Mark Blair Partnerships between the public and private sectors have had a big impact in Northern Ireland, and could potentially achieve more. Shoosmiths collaborated with Insider on a series of virtual roundtables across our regions to discuss how processes could be improved, where funding could come from and what successful collaboration could achieve. To read the report from the Northern Ireland debate, please click below ...
A new Angolan Public Procurement Law (“PPL”) has been approved recently. Law 41/20 of 23 December revokes Law 9/16 of 16 June and will enter into force on 22 January 2021. The new law will apply to all public procurement procedures beginning after that date and to the performance of subsequent contracts ...
On January 25, 2021, President Biden signed the Ensuring the Future Is Made in All of America by All of America’s Workers (Made in America) Executive Order, which not only directs that federal government purchases and procurement go to American businesses and workers, but also calls out the Jones Act for specifically endorsing the nation’s vessels, ports, and merchant crews ...
Hong Kong’s Legislative Council’s Panel on Financial Affairs discussed tax concessions for carried interest in its meeting on 4 January 2021, following the publication of a discussion paper by the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau (FSTB). The FSTB’s paper sets out proposals to offer a zero percent concessionary tax rate for eligible carried interest distributed by eligible private equity funds operating in Hong Kong ...
On 18 December 2020, the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) issued a public consultation paper (Consultation) on proposed amendments to the Code on Pooled Retirement Funds (PRF Code). The proposals are part of the SFC’s holistic review of the PRF Code following the revision of the Code on Unit Trusts and Mutual Funds (UT Code) which was implemented in 2019 ...
To boost the economy post-Brexit the government is committed to establishing up to 10 freeports across the UK. In our latest freeport bitesize article, we look at some of the planning implications of which bidders and bid participants should be aware. Back in August 2019 the UK Government announced plans to create ten new freeports that would be free of “unnecessary checks and paperwork, and include customs and tax benefits” ...
This article forms part of our ‘New How: Perspectives’ report: ‘Can real estate help solve the productivity puzzle?. To access this free report, please click on the download link to the right of this page. You’d think we had it all: beautiful open plan office spaces, meeting rooms with floor to ceiling glass walls, digital collaboration platforms, virtual meetings… ...
On February 1, 2021, amendments to B.C.’s Environmental Management Act will come into effect that will introduce new reporting requirements in relation to lands that have been used for specified commercial or industrial uses (the Stage 13 Amendments) ...
On February 1, 2021, new reporting requirements in British Columbia will apply to owners and operators of lands that have been used for specified commercial and industrial uses. These reporting requirements will also trigger environmental investigation requirements to determine whether or not the lands are contaminated. While the B.C ...
On February 1, 2021, amendments to B.C.’s Environmental Management Act and the Contaminated Sites Regulation (the Stage 13 Amendments) will come into effect which will affect the application process for redevelopment of lands formerly used for specified industrial or commercial uses ...
On January 1, 2020, Congress overrode President Trump’s veto to pass the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 6395 – 116th Congress (2019-20)), which includes the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020 (the “AML Act”). The AML Act revises the Bank Secrecy Act to bolster the government’s power to identify and regulate suspicious banking activity ...
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued to Congress its annual bid protest report. As discussed below, this year's report is noteworthy for multiple reasons, including that it shows that protesters received some form of relief from the procuring agency in more than half of the protests filed with the GAO in FY 2020, and the GAO's use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) increased by 210% in FY 2020 ...
In response to ongoing pleas for guidance, the Department of Labor (DOL) has published an informal outline expressing its views on how retirement plan administrators should be addressing missing or unresponsive participants. Through contrasting lists of "red flags" and "best practices," the publication reveals the DOL's expectations of plan administrators and provides helpful guideposts for them to follow ...
The Biden administration implemented a regulatory rule freeze affecting all federal agency rules that had not gone into effect as of Jan. 20, 2021. At its core, the regulatory rule freeze requires all pending final rules to be delayed at least 60 days in order for the Biden administration to review and opine on the necessity and scope of affected rules. During this delay period, the administration may review, revise, and possibly rescind federal administrative rules ...
