With the exit from lockdown in full swing, many companies are recalling their staff to the workplace. This article answers 10 FAQs that employers, business managers and HR specialists must consider during employees' return to work. FAQs Must employers respect health and safety measures on their employees' return to work and, if so, which ones?Yes, to the extent possible, social distancing (ie, maintaining a distance between people of at least 1 ...
Key Points The cash value of employees’ donated leave time paid to a qualified charitable organization in 2020 under an employer-sponsored leave donation program is not taxable wages or compensation. Employers may take a tax deduction for such payments as a business expense or a charitable contribution ...
With the implementation of the Movement Control Order (MCO) since 18 March 2020, the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) as well as the Recovery Movement Control Order, the Government has issued a number of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic ...
During these unprecedented times, developers all over the world are actively looking for solutions to deal with underperforming real estate. For developers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), real estate investment funds (otherwise known as REITs) may offer a solution to the problem. A REIT is a public or private investment fund which is established to invest a certain percentage (as stipulated by law) of its assets in real estate ...
The German government launched an aid program to support start-ups and young growth companies in the corona crisis aimed at providing start-ups with liquidity quickly. One of the pillars of this program is the Corona Matching Facility (CMF), where KfW Capital and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are “matching” investments of private venture capital funds (VC funds). The aid is therefore linked to the investments of VC funds ...
The glacial pace at which the federal government has implemented cannabis policy–particularly in light of the rapid evolution of cannabis laws at the state level–is at the same time predictable and frustrating to those seeking a measure of certainty ...
In a decision contrary to current Patent and Trademark Office (“PTO”) rules, the United States Supreme Court has found the mark BOOKING.COM as a whole is not generic and that combining a generic term with “.com” does not necessarily result in a composite term that also is generic. Background Booking.com B.V. (“Booking.com”) sought to federally register the mark BOOKING.COM, and related variations, for travel services ...
What lies in the new frontier of investment regulation? On May 26, the New York Times reported that the US Justice Department had dropped investigations into three US senators’ stock trades conducted shortly after they had been privately briefed on the novel coronavirus in January. The politicians had dumped millions of dollars of shares in Exxon Mobil, tech giants and real estate companies, some of which later lost value when markets plunged ...
In this article, Aisyah Muhammad discusses whether a party to a contract can rely on the doctrine of frustration in the event of the non-performance of its contractual obligations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Introduction The emergence of the highly contagious Covid-19 virus has without a doubt caused major disruptions across various industries including transportation, retail, tourism and oil and gas ...
Government submits bill establishing tax measures linked to the Emergency Plan for Revenue Protection and Economic and Employment Reactivation July 6, 2020 With the purpose of promoting the country's economic recovery, the last June 25 a bill with the new tax measures announced a few weeks ago by the government was introduced in the Congress ...
On June 24, Law No. 21,242 was published, establishing a transitional benefit for certain independent professionals consisting in the possibility of obtaining cash benefits for 3 months, continuously or discontinued, within the next 6 months. This benefit must be subsequently returned to the Treasury in 3 annual installments of 20%, 40% and 40% of the amount received ...
A recent opinion, 731 Market Street Owner, LLC v. City and County of San Francisco (Cal. Ct. App., June 18, 2020, No. A154369) 2020 WL 3285962 (“731 Market Street Owner”), issued by a California Court of Appeal in San Francisco provides some relief to San Francisco building owners ...
This 14th edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, showcases new and evolving trends. Employers are facing claims for both doing too much and too little in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Shutdown litigation is increasingly focusing on alleged disparate treatment between businesses and protesters, as well as broadening to encompass challenges to mask requirements ...
On June 30th, the following Resolutions issued by the Corporation for the Promotion of Production (“CORFO”, for its Spanish acronym), were published in the Official Gazette: Resolution Nº36. By means of this Resolution certain coverage programs were temporarily modified within the State of Constitutional Exception of Catastrophe due to public calamity ...
The regulations of the legal framework for foreigners in Portugal and the procedure and rules to be followed by applicants for Investment Residence Permits (normally referred to as “Golden Visas” or “ARIs”), provide for a large number of investment models within the eight types of investment activity with the following specifics. Investment activities a) Transfer of capital of at least EUR 1,000,000 ...
The new prior authorization regime for economic concentrations in Uruguay passed by Congress in 2019 is in force since April 2020 and therefore premerger control is since mandatory for a large set of transactions involving Uruguay. The Uruguayan Antitrust Commission has recently published the form for market participants to request antitrust authorization ...
Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf has once again come away from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania with his shutdown orders intact. In April, the Commonwealth’s highest court exercised its King’s Bench jurisdiction to deny a constitutional challenge brought by a political committee and several Pennsylvania businesses ...
In an 8-1 decision delivered by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in the much-anticipated BOOKING.COM case, the U.S. Supreme Court has held that in some circumstances, a generic word combined with “.com” can be a protectable trademark. Generic marks are not eligible for trademark protection and are not actually marks at all. Instead, they are essentially the name for the product/service or type of product/service at issue ...
The COVID-19 pandemic has lasted for over four months, and there is no sign that the number of new cases will decrease soon, though many states, companies and service providers are proceeding with the re-opening of business. The unexpected downturn in the economy caused by the pandemic has adversely affected VC financing opportunities for startups ...
The owners of multistate businesses must consider a multitude of factors when deciding how to structure their business ventures, and state taxation cannot be overlooked. The accompanying charts can assist in that evaluation for limited liability companies (LLCs) and limited liability partnerships (LLPs). In recent years, LLCs and, to a lesser extent, limited partnerships and LLPs, have become the popular choice for structuring or re-structuring multistate business entities ...
Overview - The article lays forth the framework of laws concerning acquisition of real estate in India. The Constitution of India has empowered both Union Government (as known as the Central Government) as well as the State Governments to legislate laws dealing with various facets of immoveable property in India ...
Regulation Considering the Covid-19 pandemic and Chile's declaration of a State of Disaster, the National Customs Service (Servicio Nacional de Aduanas, "SNA") has issued certain regulations to facilitate foreign and domestic trade operations electronically and to protect the health of all people involved in its operations. Below you will find a description of the regulations currently in force and effect: A. Circular Letter No ...
Business in Bulgaria is experiencing a challenging legal environment in the context of rapidly changing emergency measures dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have prepared a summary of the key legal measures affecting business in the BULGARIA COVID-19 TRACKER. It will be updated daily, as necessary. Please check regularly for updates. If you have questions, please contact a member of our C19 Task Force ...
On 15 June 2020, a political agreement was reached between the Danish Government and a number of Danish political parties regarding gradual phase-out of certain existing COVID-19 aid packages which are to be replaced with a comprehensive economic recovery package designed to boost the Danish economy following the outbreak of COVID-19 ...
