The COVID-19 pandemic hit employers hard and fast, causing employers to deal with loss of revenue, tough decisions in regard to workforce and pay issues, and new laws and other guidelines that had to be analyzed and implemented quickly, with little time for planning or preparation ...
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, many states now are requiring mandatory testing of residents and employees of skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, including West Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida. Other states, such as Pennsylvania, are proposing legislation requiring mandatory testing. President Trump also has indicated that the federal government may require mandatory testing of all nursing home residents and employees nationwide ...
This is the first in a two part series on 'Returning the Workplace to Safe Operation. Part two will be posted on Tuesday, May 19. Part 1: New occupational health and safety requirements to ensure your workplace is safe from the spread or introduction of COVID-19 Canadian provinces and territories are now beginning the gradual process of reopening the economy in the wake of COVID-19. In B.C., on May 6, 2020, the Provincial Government announced its four phase Restart Plan ...
In the morning edition of the Federation’s Official Gazette of May 14, 2020, the Ministry of Health issued a resolution to establish the strategy for the reopening of social, educational and economic activities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as a regional process to assess the epidemiological risk in each state based on a colored “traffic light” system, which will be in effect until the day the sanitary emergency is declared terminated ...
On 8 April 2020, the Government announced a HK$137 billion package of anti-epidemic measures to be rolled out, including the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) with a proposed budget of HK$81 billion. The ESS aims to provide financial subsidies to employers in two tranches against their undertaking to spend all the wage subsidies on paying wages to their employees and keep them in employment during the COVID-19 epidemic ...
This summary draws together Beccar Varela’s reports on the coronavirus (COVID-19) legal news which may affect corporate law in Argentina. This edition brings together the reports sent between 05.02.2020 and 05.08.2020. Our COVID-19 Resource Center provides shortcuts to our circulars and links to relevant external websites. We have established a work team to coordinate attention to specific queries about how COVID-19 can affect business continuity ...
Key Points Cafeteria plans may permit mid-year election changes prospectively, including health and dependent care FSA contributions, to address effects of COVID-19 pandemic. Grace period for health and dependent care FSAs may be extended through 2020, even for plans that allow carryovers. Employers must notify eligible employees of temporary plan changes, and adopt plan amendments by the end of 2021 ...
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a "Relief Notice," providing ERISA plan fiduciaries additional time to furnish required notices and disclosures to participants and beneficiaries. For governmental plans that are not subject to ERISA, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will extend similar timeframes otherwise applicable under the Public Health Service Act ...
On May 5, 2020, two (2) relatively rare notices of violation involving marijuana smoke were filed with the California Department of Justice. I refer to them as rare, because in the one year period prior to these notices (May 1, 2019-May 8, 2020), there have only been four (4) notices of violation filed involving marijuana smoke. That is a miniscule number considering there were two thousand four hundred and ten (2,410) 60- day notices of violation filed in 2019 ...
As the White House and state and local governments begin to assess business re-opening measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are evaluating how to transition employees back to the physical workplace. As a threshold matter, employers must assess applicable state and local governmental orders for restrictions, timing, and guidelines regarding business re-opening, as the lifting of shelter-in-place orders and re-opening measures will vary by region and industry ...
Key Points: Several key deadlines for employee benefit plan participants are being extended due to the COVID-19 pandemic under guidance issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and IRS. The deadline extensions could impose significant administrative burdens on plans and plan sponsors. The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued new guidance extending key deadlines for participants in private sector plans subject to ERISA. For governmental health plans, the U.S ...
Effective March 27, 2020, the Ohio Legislature passed House Bill 197 as a direct response to Governor Mike DeWine’s executive order earlier that month. How has HB 197 changed Ohio workers’ compensation? Two main ways: permitting public meetings and “tolling” deadlines. PUBLIC MEETINGS Section 12 of HB 197 permits government agencies to convene via video conference through Dec. 1, 2020 (unless the COVID-19 emergency ends prior to that date) ...
This is a briefing on the following issuances as of May 10, 2020 in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. Suspension of Periods to File Applications and Other Documents with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) B. Issuances Supplementing the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF) Omnibus Guidelines on Community Quarantine (Omnibus Guidelines) C ...
Phase 1 of the ‘scaling-down’ process, third tranche of guarantees, extension of ERTE temporary layoffs, potential delay in the application of VAT directives and of DAC6, and measures to support the cultural sector For another week running, Garrigues summarizes the key issues that companies need to be aware of over the coming days ...
This is a brief summary of the most important issues employers should consider before deciding on the restart of the office work, taking the current pandemic into account. When deciding on getting back to office work, a gradual and proportionate approach is highly recommended, and employers should be prepared for a possible second wave of the pandemic as much as possible. Organization of work 1 ...
On May 4, 2020, the B.C. government passed an Order in Council to add a new provision to the BC Employment Standards Regulation (the “Regulation”) during the current provincial state of emergency. Temporary layoffs related to COVID-19 can now last up to 16 weeks in a 20 consecutive week period without triggering termination of employment. This is the second change to B.C. employment standards legislation since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic ...
As more employers re-open or are in the process of re-opening for business, they are following the current guidance for preventing the spread of coronavirus infection in the workplace by, among others, ensuring good hygiene practices, requiring social distancing, and screening employees for the COVID-19 illness ...
The Ministry of Production (Produce), through the National Fisheries Health Agency (Sanipes), issued a guide with preventive measures to be implemented by operators of fishing and aquaculture infrastructures during the exercise of their activities against the expansion of COVID -19 ...
As Michigan employers begin to think about how many employees to bring back to work, one option to consider is Michigan’s Work Share program, whereby total work hours are spread across a large group of employees as opposed to having fewer employees return to work on a full-time basis ...
COVID-19 has brought about new economic uncertainty that is disrupting supply chains, from farmers and ranchers to cooperatives, from processors to grocery stores, and all of the way down to consumers. Even solvent purchasers of agricultural products may begin to request extensions of payment terms from agricultural producers, impacting growers’ cash flow and balance sheets ...
On April 28, 2020, the Employee Benefits Security Administration, the Department of Labor, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of the Treasury (the “Agencies”) signed a joint notification of relief, which was published in the Federal Register on May 4, 2020 (the “Notice”) ...
The sudden onset of the Covid-19 emergency has caused significant disruption across swathes of the Japanese economy and raised novel and urgent questions for employers as they seek to handle the challenges they face, whilst balancing the protection of their business and their obligations to their workers. This memorandum briefly addresses a number of key employment law issues and questions ...
On 30 April 2020, the European Commission adopted three implementing regulations allowing temporary derogations from the strict cartel prohibition provided for by EU competition law in three specific agricultural sectors: dairy, potato and live plants and flowers. The latter sector is said to broadly cover “live trees and other plants, bulbs, roots and the like, cut flowers and ornamental foliage” ...
The landmark CARES Act provides many Alabama employers with several options to increase liquidity and cash flow during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. And only nine days before that legislation was enacted, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) also created two other payroll tax-related incentives for certain employers, and self-employed individuals ...
As borrowers use their loan proceeds from the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to continue or restore payroll and call back laid-off employees, they may encounter reluctance or refusal by employees to return to work, which could impede borrower’s ability to obtain full forgiveness on their PPP loan ...
