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") ...
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 ...
In light of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa’s speech on the country’s response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) last night, there are a number of new questions that we anticipate will be plaguing employers. Given all the restrictions on travel and gatherings, should employers close their doors and send employees home? No. An employer has the obligation to provide, as far as is reasonably practicable, a safe and healthy working environment ...
Privileged information and financial reporting The rapid spread of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) throughout the world and the impact of administrative measures to contain it represent a growing challenge for the management of companies. On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the existence of a pandemic. The main focus now is to guarantee the safety of workers and employees ...
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
As each day that passes while COVID-19 spreads throughout the country, more businesses are closing their doors to protect their employees, customers, vendors, and other people with whom they come into contact. And many of them are wondering whether there is coverage for their business losses during this time. Business interruption or business income coverage is sometimes included in commercial property coverage ...
On March 11, 2020, the City of San Francisco announced measures to support small businesses in light of the COVID-19 outbreak. The City’s support efforts include the deferral of business taxes and licensing fees, as well as the launch of an economic relief fund ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
At Spilman, we are often asked to review the "colder" legal aspects of human events of all types. The COVID-19 pandemic will be no different. To get a jump start on some of the questions we have faced or will face, we offer some thoughts on the contractual implications of COVID-19. Over the past week, Americans have witnessed countless unprecedented responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA postponed its season. The NHL soon followed ...
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 ...
Dear Clients, Friends and Partners, Since day one, our firm has been responding to the challenges of the Coronavirus emergency with proactive and socially responsible strategies. In these difficult times, our first thoughts are with all those impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak as well as with the health professionals working to help them ...
The Coronavirus pandemic is presenting companies and their directors with many challenges. Simply planning for “business as usual” requires change to usual practices, involving a balance between compliance obligations and official public health advice. Holding general meetings, particularly as we enter AGM season for listed companies with a 31 December year-end, is one such challenge ...
It seems that business disruption due to coronavirus is pretty inevitable. What should you as a company director be doing if the disruption means your business starts to suffer? What changes for me as a director? As a director, you know that you owe duties to the company ...
How do you protect the privacy of people who have been infected by Covid-19, while still usefully informing those who have been put at risk? At a time of public health emergency, shouldn't GDPR take a back seat? As companies struggle to get new processes in place to cope with the potential ramifications of Covid-19, the aim of this note is to highlight how EU data protection law applies to this unusual set of circumstances ...
Force majeure clauses in business-critical contracts are coming into sharp focus at the moment as coronavirus continues to sweep the globe and the extent of the impact on global supply chains is becoming increasingly apparent. Many businesses concerned about potential disruption as a result of the coronavirus outbreak are reviewing their key contractual arrangements to understand potential contractual implications ...
On top of the multiple challenges hitting retail and leisure landlords and occupiers arising from COVID-19, the news that Intu has had to write down the value of its shopping centre portfolio by nearly £2 billion came as further bad news. Intu owns multiple high-profile retail and leisure locations across the UK (including The Trafford Centre in Manchester and the Lakeside complex in Essex) and on 12 March was widely reported as being at risk of insolvency ...
Due to the corona outbreak and the disease covid-19, various legal issues have arisen. The spread of the coronavirus has, inter alia, lead to several companies deciding to take measures before upcoming shareholders’ meetings, which for many public companies involve the gathering of a large number of shareholders ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
