Section 1106 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or the “CARES Act” provides a framework whereby small businesses can obtain loans from the SBA that may be forgiven to the extent of certain business expenses, including rent. Generally, when a loan is forgiven, the debtor is taxed on the amount forgiven under Internal Revenue Code §108 (subject to statutory exceptions) ...
In the wake of COVID-19, cities, counties and states across the nation are issuing shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders to curb nonessential movement of residents. States and local authorities are invoking powers to evacuate residents through statutes that have historically been used for natural disaster evacuations. While the ability to order and enforce such evacuations is not in dispute, the orders in this context raise many questions ...
President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA” or “the Act”) into law on March 18. The Act requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded Family and Medical Leave Act rights, subject to exceptions for certain healthcare providers, emergency responders, and businesses with fewer than 50 employees if compliance would jeopardize the business as a going concern ...
Tourism and event industries are suffering and it is expected that manufacturing enterprises will soon be affected as well. Short-time work can provide a remedy and reduce the economic consequences of the coronavirus for employers and employees ...
Due to the increasing spread of the coronavirus, numerous companies in Switzerland have already ordered home office work for their employees. This article addresses, inter alia, the question of whether employers can unilaterally order home office work in the current situation and what consequences this might have. Read the entire article below ...
Based on the decision of the Federal Council to extend court holidays in civil and administrative proceedings, the Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property has announced to suspend most of the deadlines with an end date between 21 March 2020 and 19 April 2020 (statutory deadlines and deadlines set by the Institute, including payment deadlines). In particular, deadlines set by the Institute that would end in that period will end on 20 April 2020 ...
On 16 March 2020, the Swiss Federal Council prohibited public and private events. This newsletter deals with possible ways for Swiss companies to hold meetings, especially shareholders’ meetings. Read the entire article below ...
Unique challenges confront those businesses impacted by COVID-19 that are also in the process of implementing operational changes to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The California Attorney General begins enforcement on July 1, 2020, and recently declined to extend that date due to COVID-19. We take a look at those challenges here and propose some best practices to avoid legal liability under the CCPA ...
On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”). This historic $2 trillion relief package received bipartisan support and is part of the third wave of federal government support as the nation copes with the acute economic fallout from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The CARES Act, among other things, aims to provide significant aid to businesses and employees ...
Employee Benefits Newsletter March 31, 2020 Authored by: Alexis Blair, Cathy Currie, Kirsten Garcia, Jesse Gelsomini, Brian Giovannini, Tyler Hubert, Chris Kang, Charles Plenge, Scott Thompson, Tiffany Walker, and Susan Wetzel EMPLOYEE BENEFIT/EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION CHANGES MADE BY THE CARES ACT On March 27, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) ...
Even such unusual circumstances as apandemic donot overthrow the general principle that contracts should be performed (pacta sunt servanda). But this does not mean that the current situation has no impact on the substance or performance of contractual obligations. Two main situations should be considered here: As aresult of the circumstances, performance of acontractual obligation has become impossible ...
The Ministry of Labour and Social Protection of the Russian Federation published, on its website, Recommendations (and Additions to them) for employees and employers, in connection with the decree of the President of the Russian Federation of 25.03.2020 No. 206 “On declaring non-working days in the Russian Federation” ...
M&A deals are one of the tools for pursuing business. For some they are amethod for expanding their scale of operations or generating synergies, and for others allow them to exit investments or raise capital. Thus the turbulence now felt by businesses is impacting their activity in the M&A market. While refraining from evaluating the economic impacts of the current situation, we focus on analysing selected legal aspects ...
In the evening edition of the Federation’s Official Gazette of March 30, 2020, the General Health Council issued a resolution by which declared the epidemic caused by CoV2 (COVID-19) as a sanitary emergency due to force majeure ...
President Donald Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”), which will become effective on April 1, 2020 and expire on December 31, 2020. It includes guidance on which employees of private companies qualify for paid sick leave and Emergency FMLA Expansion to care for themselves and/or loved ones during the COVID-19 Pandemic. To discern if your employees qualify, please consult the flow chart below ...
In recent weeks, the corona-related effects on the economy have led to hectic activities by the EU Commission, the federal government, and the German states to make State support services available at short notice and in a manner that is as unbureaucratic as possible. This article provides an overview of the measures taken at federal and state level and their legal framework ...
In view of the current and imminent economic challenges, many companies are asking to what extent cooperation and concerted practices with competitors are able to ensure the supply of goods, thus cushioning the threat of an economic downturn. While the antitrust authorities have been keeping quiet on this issue for some time, several official statements have now been issued which we would like to comment on briefly below ...
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) is designed to help employees and employers by providing paid sick and family leave reimbursed through a refundable tax credit for private employers, in addition to other relief. The FFCRA provides two types of paid leave to covered employees: paid sick leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act (EPSLA) and expanded family and medical leave under the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act (EFMLA) ...
On March 27, 2020, the Federal Economic Competition Commission, Mexico’s antitrust regulatory agency, (“COFECE”, for its Spanish initials) issued a press release in relation to its stance in relation to the health emergency in Mexico ...
On March 27, 2020 the Mexican Health Ministry published in the Federal Official Gazette a Presidential Decree by means of which extraordinary measures are released to face COVID-19 in those regions that are being affected ...
As the pandemic situation caused by the COVID-19 virus advances in the world, the search for a vaccine will be a primary activity in which pharmaceutical scientists and laboratories will focus their efforts. This priority objective will not only have humanitarian and material effects, but also legal situations that shall be analyzed, since that invention could obtain legal protection under the figure of a patent ...
In recent days, COVID-19 has been the greatest destabilizer worldwide. The World Health Organization defines coronavirus as an extensive family of viruses that cause respiratory infections that can range from common cold to serious health complications such as Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) ...
