With the Corona crisis, countries such as Germany, France and the Czech Republic have already announced bans on exports of protective gear to avoid shortages at their countries. But is this in conformity with the principle of free movement of goods as provided for in articles 34-36 TFEU? This principle is one of the cornerstones of the European Union's internal market which implies that national barriers to the free movement of goods within the EU need to be removed ...
In this challenging period of the Coronavirus outbreak, your organisation might currently be taking strong internal measures to protect its employees while ensuring work continuity. Such measures could have data protection implications and therefore you might be wondering how to take them in accordance with the GDPR. We have answered the most important GDPR questions below ...
EUIPO On 16 March 2020, the Executive Director of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) has issued Decision No EX-20-3 extending all time limits expiring between 9 March 2020 and 30 April 2020, that affect all parties before the Office, to 1 May 2020. In principle, the new deadlines will not be communicated to the parties on a case-by-case basis ...
All shops, bars, restaurants and leisure centres will be closed at least until 6 April 2020. Only grocery stores, pet food stores, pharmacies, banks, post offices and book shops will remain open until that date insofar as the social distancing (at least 1 meter distance) can be guaranteed. Night shops can stay open until 10 pm insofar as social distancing is applied. Food stalls on markets are only allowed insofar as considered essential ...
Belgium is a complex country and many authorities have jurisdiction The Federal government is in charge of emergency planning. It can activate a federal stage emergency planning in which case the Federal Minister of the Interior has exceptional authority and can coordinate the emergency activities. As announced at a press conference on Thursday 12 March 2020, at about 10 pm, this federal stage has been activated ...
The new virus COVID-19, also known as coronavirus, is spreading exponentially all over the world, also in Brazil. The outbreak is affecting the way in which our clients and their clients conduct their businesses, and the behavior of each and every one of us drastically. The virus is not only tragic for those, whose health is being affected, but also for large parts of the economy, such as the tourism industry, airlines and general retail (other than nutrition-related) ...
The March 18, 2020 edition of the Official State Gazette has published Royal Decree-Law 8/2020 of March 17, 2020 on urgent and extraordinary measures to confront the economic and social impact of COVID-19. The decree-law comes into force on its publication date, for a one-month term, and allows this term to be extended. The adopted measures cover many different fields of business activity. Below is a summary of the main measures classified by area ...
The 30-day state of emergency was proclaimed by the President of Romania, in the context of the COVID – 19 outbreak in Romania. The Decree no. 195/2020 (the “Decree”) instituting such state of emergency is effective as of 16 March 2020 and substantially impacts not only the day-to-day life, but the businesses too ...
Congress appears to have reached an agreement on legislation to provide paid family and medical leave in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the bill still must be signed into law by the President. In the interim, Pittsburgh employers should take note that the City of Pittsburgh has passed legislation that already requires most employers operating in the City to provide for the accrual of minimum amounts of sick leave effective March 15, 2020 ...
As part of Spilman's and our COVID-19 Task Force's continuing effort to partner with you during this public health emergency, we’ve been monitoring Congress’ work on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act ("Act"). This now has passed both houses and all indications are that it will be effective within weeks. Even in its short history, the bill has seen some significant changes. This is the final form ...
So long as COVID-19 remains a pandemic, every employer must face the new reality that there is a good chance an employee will test positive for COVID-19. Employers should consider the following checklist when handling an employee testing positive for COVID-19: Treat positive test results and “suspected but unconfirmed” cases of COVID-19 the same. If the source of infection is known, identify if it was at the workplace or outside ...
As employers react to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), they must be aware of the potential for unlawful discrimination based on an employee’s race or national origin. The CDC has issued this guidanceto employers regarding COVID-19: “To prevent stigma and discrimination in the workplace, use only the guidance described below to determine risk of COVID-19 ...
As employers weigh their measure of response to COVID-19, the employers must recognize that The General Duty Clause of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA), 29 U.S.C. § 654(a)(1), requires employers to furnish each worker with “employment and a place of employment, which are free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm ...
In the early hours of Saturday, March 14, 2020, the United States House of Representatives passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), which is designed to expand relief in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, through access to free testing, enhancing food assistance, increasing Medicaid funding, and providing paid sick leave and unemployment benefits to workers ...
Our colleagues have discussed the application and interpretation of force majeure clauses in contracts related to COVID-19 disruptions. These clauses are included in a contract by the parties and spell out the circumstances under which performance will be excused during one of the specified circumstances, such as natural disaster, disease, epidemic, or pandemic ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued a public statement on its website on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, providing updated guidance on acceptable employment practices in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The statement highlights common questions employers may have regarding how to manage employee issues related to COVID-19 and provides guidance ...
The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) Authority has recently issued new company regulations (the Company Regulations 2020). The Company Regulations 2020 came into effect on 2 January 2020 and they repeal and replace the previous DMCC Company Regulations 2003 (DMCC Regulation No. 1 of 2003, as amended by DMCC Regulation No. 1 of 2007, DMCC Regulation No. 1 of 2009 and DMCC Regulation No. 1 of 2013) (the Previous Company Regulations) ...
A. SHORT-TIME WORK 1. WHAT IS THE LEGAL POSITION? According to the "Act on the temporary crisis-related improvement of the regulations for short-time work compensation" ("Gesetz zur vorüberristeten krisenbedingten Verbesserung der Regelungen für das Kurzarbeitgeld") (see preliminary version of BT publication 19/17893), a company can order short-time work due to the worldwide cases of illness caused by the coronavirus and thus reduce working hours ...
Assistance to maintain employment contracts in companies facing a proven business crisis. Ministerial Order 71-A/2020 of 15 March defines and regulates the terms and conditions to award immediate assistance for employers and employees affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 virus. The assistance is intended to maintain jobs and to mitigate the extreme difficulties that many businesses are now facing. Thishelp isextraordinary, temporary and transitional in nature ...
The state of alert was declared by the Minister of Internal Administration and the Minister of Health on 13 March. With this declaration and the set of measures adopted, we need to look at the possible impact of these circumstances on ongoing tender procedures and on the performance of existing public contracts. 1 ...
In the current situation, employees who come into contact with other employees may be diagnosed with COVID-19. What is an employer’s obligation to notify other potentially exposed employees? Employers have a general duty to provide a safe workplace under Cal/OSHA and federal OSHA ...
On March 16, seven Bay Area counties issued "shelter-in-place" restrictions, which create compliance issues for cannabis operations licensed as dispensaries or as delivery services ...
In order to limit the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its effects, on 12 March 2020, the Government of the Republic of Estonia declared an emergency situation until 1 May 2020 and the Health Board recommends avoiding human contact. In this situation, implementing effective safety measures at the workplace often requires asking additional personal data, including health data from the employees ...
A panel of Bradley labor and employment and cybersecurity attorneys discuss coronavirus-related issues facing employers, including: How should you talk with your employees about the rapidly changing situation with the coronavirus and what it means for them as employees? What are the wage and hour, benefits and data security issues implicated by employees working remotely? What are the options for maintaining or reducing your workforce when the coronavirus results in supply chain int
Various measures adopted by the MEF, the OSCE and PERÚCOMPRAS within the framework of the declaration of the State of Emergency established by Supreme Decree No. 044-2020-PCM. On March 17, 2020, the General Supply Directorate of the Ministry of Economy and Finance published Directorial Resolution No. 001-2020-EF-54 ...
