Key Points As of January 1, 2022, skilled nursing facilities are not limited to hiring licensed nurses to fill the role of infection preventionist. California still requires the total time dedicated to the infection preventionist role be full-time. In January 2021, Assembly Bill (AB) 2644, codified as Health & Safety Code Section 1255 ...
The phrase ‘national security’ is at the heart of but not defined in the National Security and Investment (NSI) Act 2021. There are some insights from related legislation and other sources, but the absence of definition means there is legal and consequently business uncertainty. From 4 January 2022 when the NSI Act 2021 came into full effect, the meaning of national security became crucial to M&A activity concerning the UK ...
Regulation (EU) 536/2014 of the Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 on clinical trials on medicinal products for human use (“Regulation”) came into force on 31 January 2022. The Regulation was adopted by the European Parliament in 2014 and released in May of the same year. It was subsequently officially published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 31 July 2021 and came into force six months after that date ...
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (“USCIS”) announced on January 28, 2022, that this year’s annual application period for the FY 2022 H-1B program will run from March 1, 2022, through March 18, 2022. Continuing the new electronic registration process that USCIS implemented for the first time two years ago, employers seeking new H-1B visas must register electronically with USCIS during the 16-day window. USCIS will then review all registrations submitted ...
Someone at IRS’s Chief Counsel Office realized the Service may have a qualified small business stock (“QSBS”) interpretation problem. After the IRS released multiple private letter rulings (“PLRs”) with favorable guidance on what constitutes a qualified trade or business under IRC section 1202(e)(3), IRS Chief Counsel appears to have had enough. Chief Counsel Memo (“CCA”) 202204007 (Nov ...
In this article we look at the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the social and health care sector in the build up to the upcoming Public Inquiry, due to commence in Spring 2022. Upsetting scenes arising from the COVID-19 pandemic included photographs of bereaved families with only six people in attendance at family funerals ...
Is the unitary business principle the sole test for determining whether a state can tax an apportioned share of a non-domiciliary’s capital gains under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Due Process Clause and Commerce Clause jurisprudence? Jaye A. Calhoun, Bruce P. Ely, and Kelvin M. Lawrence believe so, and discuss its relevance in the last of a two-part series focusing on a closely watched case currently on appeal before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ...
Introduction Non-liability clauses are often included in many types of contracts. In principle, they are valid and used to limit (limitation of liability clause) or eliminate (exoneration clause) the liability of a party with respect to its obligations contained in a contract. The recent unanimous decision of the Supreme Court of Canada confirms that under Quebec law, parties may limit or exclude their liability in a contract by mutual agreement ...
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) are seeking to improve the operational resilience of the UK financial sector. This applies to many organisations, including: banks building societies, PRA-designated investment firms and insurers. The new rules and guidance will come into force on 31 March 2022. By then, firms must have identified any vulnerabilities in their operational resilience ...
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act assigned the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General (OIG) responsibility for compliance monitoring and oversight of the receipt, disbursement, and use of payments from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF Payments). OIG has also been given the authority to recoup CRF Payments in the event OIG determines that a recipient did not comply with Treasury regulations governing the use of CRF Payments ...
In a statement to Parliament on 14 December 2021, John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, confirmed the appointment of Court of Session judge Lady Poole as the chair of the Scottish inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scottish Government also announced the terms of reference for the public inquiry on the same date, with the inquiry investigating the period between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022. You can read the full ministerial statement here ...
Due to emergence of the Omicrom variant, the new year brought with it some now familiar guidance: the government asked workers to avoid the office and to work from home where possible. In anticipation of returning to the office in early 2022, the Health and Safety Executive (the HSE) and the Scottish Government have issued guidance emphasising the importance of good ventilation and the role that plays,alongside other measures, in helping to reduce the spread of COVID-19 ...
The living sector will continue to provide opportunities and challenges for investors, developers and residents, alike. The government is set to turn the page on pandemic restrictions, with most set to stop in England on 26 January. Time will tell if this will be the year when we can get back to a more normal way of life, but one thing we can be sure of is that the living sector will continue to provide opportunities and challenges for investors, developers and residents, alike ...
The importance of being truthful on immigration forms has been thrust into the international spotlight this week, thanks to tennis star Novak Djokovic who has been deported from Australia. Whilst the ins and out of the refusal are up for discussion, one thing is clear is that the information on his application about where he has been during the fourteen days prior to his arrival in Australia was not correct ...
‘The right to disconnect’ was a popular topic during 2021 and provides for an interesting discussion - should there be a legal right in the UK for employees to disconnect from their workplace? The phrase which may bring joy to an employee’s ears but potentially not so much to those of an employer is the ‘right to disconnect’ ...
Key Points U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finalized a rule renewing nationwide permits under the Clean Water Act for projects involving discharges of dredge or fill material to jurisdictional waters. The Army Corps also issued new nationwide permits, such as for water reclamation and reuse facilities and for activities involving water, stormwater, and wastewater utility lines. These new nationwide permits create opportunities to expedite permitting for certain infrastructure projects ...
In the beginning of the new year 2022, it is a good time to take look back to the previous year 2021 and to have a look at reforms and amendments coming up during 2022 within the field of employment law. In addition to legislative changes, collective bargaining negotiations have lately been a hot topic as many collective bargaining agreements are up for renewal and some generally applicable collective bargaining agreements will not be renewed ...
On Thursday, January 13, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay pausing implementation of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS), finding that the challengers to the ETS are likely to prevail. Justices John Roberts, Amy Coney Barrett, and Brett Kavanaugh issued the decision to stay the OSHA ETS. Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, and Clarence Thomas concurred with their own separate opinion ...
Evolusion Concepts, Inc. v. HOC Events Inc., Appeal No. 2021-1963 (Fed. Cir. Jan. 14, 2022) In its only precedential patent case this week, the Federal Circuit disposed of an appeal, holding that the district court’s claim construction was wrong. In the appeal from the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the Federal Circuit addressed the meaning of the term “magazine catch bar” in the asserted claims ...
The General Department of Taxation (“GDT”) issued Notification no. 776 GDT on the 17th of January 2022 (“Notification 776”) which delays the implementation of Prakas 542 MEF.P on the Rules and Procedure for the Implementation of VAT on E-Commerce (“Prakas 542”) to 31 March 2022 ...
As we go into 2022, the future direction of the planning system in England remains uncertain. Planning Bill The planning white paper proposals for a hybrid mix of discretionary decision making and codified zonal planning have proved particularly controversial with concerns about what could be seen as a ‘top down’ approach contributing to the outcome of the Chesham and Amersham by election ...
Following on from the Migration Advisory Committee's annual report, the government have announced welcome changes to the Health and Care visa route. The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) published their annual report in December. The report considered a variety of subjects and took a detailed look at the health and care sector ...
