In the early hours of Saturday, March 14, 2020, the House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which is designed to expand relief in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, through access to free testing, enhancing food assistance, increasing Medicaid funding, and providing paid sick leave and unemployment benefits to workers ...
Governor Newsom’s March 4th Executive Order N-25-20, mandates that the “California Health and Human Services Agency [“CHHS”] and the Office of Emergency Services shall identify, and shall otherwise be prepared to make available—including through the execution of any necessary contracts or other agreements and, if necessary, through the exercise of the State’s power to commandeer property—hotels and other places of temporary residence, medical fac
A more recent examination of H.R. 6201, Family Medical Leave Act Expansion, is available here. In the early morning hours of March 14, the House passed H.R. 6201, which now moves to the Senate, where changes are likely to be made before enactment ...
On 15 March 2020, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, declared a national state of disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002. This declaration will enable government to have an integrated and coordinated disaster management mechanism that will focus on preventing and reducing the outbreak of Covid-19, otherwise known as the Coronavirus. The president announced measures that South Africa will take to prevent and control of the Coronavirus ...
Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the Bank of Mauritius has been closely monitoring its economic impact on the banking sector and the Mauritian economy.On 10 March 2020, the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Mauritius reduced the key repo rate by 50 basis points to 2.85% per annum and on 13 March 2020, the Bank of Mauritius introduced a Support Programme to further assist Mauritian Businesses across all economic sectors ...
Following the South African President’s speech on 15 March 2020 that a national state of disaster has been declared in terms of the coronavirus (COVID-19), a number of measures were implemented to counteract the impact of the virus by the South African Government. We cover below the legal implications of some of these measures, particularly the repayment of bookings and data protection ...
This article is an updated version of the article published on 16 March 2020. On 15 March 2020, South African President Ramaphosa announced the declaration of a national state of disaster, as a result of the recent events surrounding the rise in coronavirus (COVID-19) infections in South Africa. The declaration of a national disaster was made in terms of the Disaster Management Act, 2002 (the "DMA") ...
The consequences of the coronavirus are omnipresent and felt by everyone. Management Board members and Directors of issuers of securities listed on the open or regulated market are faced with the question whether ad hoc publicity obligations are arising for their companies in connection with the corona crisis. The abstract circumstance of the occurrence of a recession as a result of the spread of the coronavirus does not trigger an ad hoc disclosure obligation ...
Delphi has established local task forces at all our offices responsible for gathering knowledge, analyzing and continuously cover legal issues arising as a result of the corona virus and Covid-19. We advise on a number of different issues and also offer backup resources to facilitate businesses continuity planning if key persons who are lawyers are directly affected by the virus ...
At today’s press conference, the Swedish Government announced a series of support measures for companies and employees to relieve the effects of the new corona virus. Introduction of short-term work as per today The proposal means that the employer’s salary costs can be reduced by half as the Swedish Government will bear a significantly greater responsibility for costs, compared to when the law was introduced in 2013 ...
On March 15, 2020, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office announced its offices will be closed to the public until further notice, "out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of the public and USPTO employees." The closure began Monday, March 16, 2020 until further notice. Offices remain open for employees, contractors, and those with access badges. Unless otherwise notified, USPTO operations will continue without interruption ...
COVID-19: health and safety protocol - Last night the Italian Government and National representatives of employers’ associations and unions have reached an agreement over a COVID-19 health & safety protocol that employers need to implement to ensure the maximum possible protection of their employees against the COVID-19 virus. This protocol is a crucial step to allow business continuity for manufacturing companies and professional service providers ...
Many organizations may be parties to contracts where the counterparty is seeking to cancel its obligations because of COVID-19. This situation is arising in relation to various commercial relationships, including supply agreements, events planning contracts, and numerous other types of agreements ...
With the recent and rapid spread of COVID-19 in the United States, it is only a matter of time before government contractors experience contract-performance delays — whether ordered by the government or not — that inevitably will have a significant financial impact. Accordingly, federal contractors should prepare now for COVID-19-related contract delays and be prepared to establish that such delays are compensable as well as excusable. I ...
During the press conference of 13 March 2020, Executive Vice-President Margrethe Vestager made a statement regarding the enforcement of EU State aid in connection with measures adopted by Member States to combat the negative repercussions of COVID-19 on the economy ...
As the number of novel coronavirus infections (“Covid-19” or “Coronavirus”) and fatalities continue to rise, on 11 March 2020 the Italian Prime Minister issued a decree to impose new emergency measures to contain and manage the spread of the virus (the “11 March Decree”). Always on 11 March, the World Health Organisation has declared that Covid ...
At a press conference held on March 11, 2020, the Minister of Health introduced the new measures ordered by the president of the Republic with a view to preventing the spread of the Coronavirus. This new measure implies preventive self-isolation for 14 days to travelers arriving from China, Italy, France and Spain. Self-isolation is mandatory and must be carried out at the traveler's hotel or home ...
The corona virus (Covid-19) is spreading across the world like a wildfire. We already know that the virus does not only affect human health – it affects the global economy as well. Travel is restricted, major events are canceled and restaurants and shops are closing in parts of Europe. One question that has arisen is what possibilities the state and the municipalities have to provide economic support to companies or sectors that are suffering as a consequence of the pandemic ...
Plaintiffs’ counsel in pharmaceutical product liability cases continue to pursue depositions of company sales representatives and seek to elicit testimony supporting their common theme that pharmaceutical companies disregard the health and safety of their consumers in the dogged, single-minded pursuit of sales and profits ...
Federal and state occupational safety and health regulations require employers to record and report certain work-related injuries and serious illnesses, including work-related fatalities and in-patient hospitalizations. While Cal/OSHA has stated that the common cold or flu are exempt from reporting and recording requirements, even if the employee became ill at work, this exemption does not apply to COVID-19 ...
In response to the outbreak of COVID-19, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the California Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA) have issued guidance for employers. The guidelines provide guidance on how to determine if COVID-19 is a hazard in the workplace and employer obligations. Is COVID-19 a Workplace Hazard? Employers should determine if COVID-19 infection is a hazard in their workplace ...
Ranging from toilet paper for public institutions to medical consumables for (public) hospitals to the absence of staff in public transport, corona already exhibits a massive impact on companies’ business activities. Supply chains are interrupted, employees are being quarantined. Even public contracts can either not be fulfilled at all, or not on time, or not in their entirety ...
This is a question being asked by many companies. Is the severity of this event such that it enables companies to temporarily (or permanently) be excused from performance of their contractual obligations? As is often the case with legal questions, it depends. The term “force majeure” does not have a recognised meaning under English law ...
Introduction The supply chain effects from the global spread of the novel coronavirus have been building for nearly two months, and are expected to reach a peak in the near future (if not necessarily then to recede).[1] The effects have centered on China to date, but the epidemic has spread to other centers of production and the duration of its threat to public health and of the governmental and social measures taken to address its spread remains unknown ...
The outbreak of COVID-19 comes on the back of an already tumultuous two years for the global economy, markets and trade where the US-China "trade war" and other trade tensions and macroeconomic factors have created uncertainty, commercial losses and subdued growth prospects ...