In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) continuation coverage provisions ...
By: Alexandra Shulman The Oregon Legislature recently passed a new bill (SB 169) that will have a major impact on the use of noncompetition agreements in Oregon. These amendments to Oregon’s existing noncompetition statute, ORS 653.295, will become effective on January 1, 2022, and will apply to all Oregon noncompetition agreements entered into on or after that date. The most significant changes to the statute are described below. Reduced Term ...
When the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPIA”) comes into effect fully from 1 July 2021, there are some areas of possible dispute that could arise between employers and employees, including the monitoring of employee emails. In a recent Constitutional Court judgment in Turkey, the personal data protection rights of an employee were considered, and could provide some guidance as to how a similar situation may be handled in a South African context ...
Since the European Court of Justice declared the EU-US Privacy Shield as an invalid legal basis for the transfer of personal data to the US, stipulating increased requirements for the use of the EU standard contractual clauses in July 2020 (C-311/18, 'Schrems II'), uncertainty has been rife within many companies: a legally compliant data transfer to the USA on the basis of the Privacy Shield is no longer possible and the new EU standard contractual clauses announced in November 202
On June 2nd, 2021, Decree No.930 of the Ministry of Finance (hereinafter, the “Decree”) was published in the Official Gazette, which extends the enforcement of the benefits established in title I of Law No.21,227 (“Employment Protection Act”) and in Law No.21,263 (that temporarily amends the requirements to access and increases the amounts of the benefits of the unemployment insurance), granting new provisions with charge to the unemployment mutual aid fund ...
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Texas denied Factory Mutual’s Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding that the plaintiffs adequately alleged that the presence of COVID-19 on their property caused covered physical loss or damage in the case of Cinemark Holdings, Inc. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Co., No. 4:21-CV-00011 (E.D. Tex. May 5, 2021) ...
Last year, we published a blog about things an employer should do before they terminate the employment of an employee. In recent years, employers are facing increasing claims for aggravated damages arising out of the manner in which the employer has carried out the termination of an employee’s employment. In order to minimize the possibility that aggravated damages will be awarded, here are our Do’s and Don’ts for employment termination meetings ...
By: Matthew Seror and Aaron Levine On June 1, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari in a case that will likely determine once and for all whether courts are empowered to void copyright registrations based on immaterial registration errors, or whether a showing of bad faith or an intent-to-defraud is required. The underlying case, Unicolors v. H&M, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS U.S. App. LEXIS 17097 (9th Cir ...
Starting around October 26, 2020, the Small Business Administrations (the “SBA”) asked Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) lenders to provide certain questionnaires to PPP borrowers with loans of $2 million or greater. There are two questionnaire forms on the Treasury: Form 3509 for for-profit borrowers and Form 3510 for non-profit borrowers ...
This case concerns an adjudicator’s decision issued on 7 December 2020. The adjudicator found in favour of Faithdean plc, ordering Bedford House Ltd, the employer, to repay deductions of around £1.5 million. No payment was made to Faithdean and enforcement proceedings were issued in January 2021. Bedford did not put forward a defence. Instead, it argued it could not pay as it wished to know the exact amount in order to make a single payment to Faithdean ...
An adjudicator’s jurisdiction is central to their ability to determine a dispute between two parties; without it, their decision will be invalid and unenforceable by a court. Conversely, if an adjudicator has jurisdiction, then, as the Court of Appeal has repeatedly emphasised, that adjudicator’s decision must be enforced, even if it results from errors of procedure, fact or law ...
It is a well-established rule of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (the ‘Act’) that an adjudicator will only have jurisdiction to determine one dispute under a construction contract at any one time, unless their jurisdiction has been extended by consent of the parties ...
Our latest article in the series looking at the impact of the pandemic on different groups focuses on how COVID-19 has affected those within ethnic minorities, what this has meant for the BLM movement and what employers can do to better support employees. Impact of COVID-19 The latest statistics all point to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected those within ethnic minorities ...
According to the Court Service, around 80% of cases presently in the family courts of England and Wales involve at least one of the parties acting as an unrepresented litigant in person. Since 2013, when public funding for almost all family court cases was stopped, numbers have been steadily rising. The reasons are simple; many people decide to represent themselves in an attempt to avoid expensive legal bills ...
Whilst we all live in a much more progressive society than we ever have before, there is still a danger of misgendering someone’s identity. The use of gender pronouns in the workplace can therefore help and is an important part of LGBT+ inclusion. Background The Oxford Dictionary defines a pronoun as ‘a word that is used instead of a noun or noun phrase, for example ‘he, it, hers, me, them, etc.’ ...
On June 1st, 2021, the Law No. 21,342 (hereinafter, the “Law”) was published in the Official Gazette, establishing protocols for occupational health safety and a mandatory health insurance for safe, gradual return to presential work. The above, in the context of the health alert caused by the Covid-19 disease in Chile ...
The Ministry of Security, through theExecutive Decree No. 199 of May 7th, 2021(hereinafter the “Decree”), adjusts the requirements for obtaining atemporary residence permitand apermanent residence permitas a Forest Investor, as follows: The forest investor residence permit may be requested in the following modalities: (i) temporary residence permit, (ii) permanent residence permit in 2 stages, and (iii) permanent residence permit in 1 stage ...
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, Appeal Nos. 2020-1475, -1605 (Fed. Cir. May 28, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit considered an appeal from the International Trade Commission affirming an Administrative Law Judge’s finding that 10X’s products violated the Tariff Act by infringing multiple patents and that they did not infringe another ...
Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. v. International Trade Commission, Appeal Nos. 2020-1475, -1605 (Fed. Cir. May 28, 2021) In this week’s Case of the Week, the Federal Circuit considered an appeal from the International Trade Commission affirming an Administrative Law Judge’s finding that 10X’s products violated the Tariff Act by infringing multiple patents and that they did not infringe another ...
The EEOC updated its very clearly titled, “What You Should Know About COVID-19 and the ADA, the Rehabilitation Act, and Other EEO Laws,” last week to provide some much needed guidance on COVID-19 vaccine issues. While the EEOC’s guidance is helpful, not surprisingly, it leaves open some questions. Section K of the guidance addresses vaccines, so the references below are to the specific questions and answers in that section. Employers can mandate vaccines ...
On March 18, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Farm Workforce Modernization Act of 2021 (HR 1603) (FWMA).1 The proposed FWMA would streamline the H-2A temporary agricultural worker program, providing a path to legal immigration status for undocumented farmworkers and their family members. The FWMA would also require all agricultural employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of their workers ...
Key Points Employers have the right to mandate vaccines subject to religious and disability-related employee exemptions. Asking if an employee has been vaccinated is not a prohibited medical inquiry. Incentive programs to encourage vaccinations are permissible. Introduction Previously, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Guidance permitting employers to implement COVID-19 vaccine mandates, subject to certain exemptions ...
Introduction The Covid-19 vaccine is currently being rolled out, and according to the authorities’ vaccination-plan, a large part of the population will receive their first dose during the summer months. As a rule, one must take the vaccine in one’s own home municipality, and not in the municipality where one has a summer house etc. In addition, the authorities are working on a corona certificate ...
In April 2020, we reported on the first cases that were conducted remotely via video conferencing facilities (VCF) during the court closures due to the Covid-19 pandemic. More than a year has passed and, although Covid-19 is still posing challenges, the courts have reopened and continue to embrace technology to facilitate social distancing ...
