Spread of coronavirus infection made companies to change their daily practices in order to ensure continuous business operation without compromising individuals’ safety. In this newsletter, we elaborate on the most sensitive legal issues in terms of data protection, privacy and cybersecurity ...
"The Package” The day begins like any other. Your client opens for business at 9:00 a.m. All employees are at their desks as customers begin calling, emailing, and walking in with various questions and needs. Except this time, when the employees attempt to access customer records from your client’s computer network, they immediately notice something is wrong. None of the customer files will open. The data is a garbled mess ...
Background On 15 February 2019, a petition for a judicial review was submitted by two individuals (“Petitioners”), claiming that their constitutional rights had been violated by Article 15 (2) and Article 15 (3) of Law No. 42 of 1999 on Fiduciary Security (“Fiduciary Security Law”) ...
OSHA requires that covered employers record certain work-related injuries and illnesses on their OSHA 300 log. Under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, COVID-19 is a recordable illness, and employers are responsible for recording cases of COVID-19, if all of the following are met: The case is a confirmed case of COVID-19; The case is work-related, as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5; and The case involves one or more of the general recording criteria set forth in 29 CFR 1904 ...
With the UAE in virtual lockdown and the majority of businesses required to operate remotely, an increasing number of documents are required to be signed electronically. Although electronic signatures were not commonly used prior to the onset of COVID-19 in the UAE, the legal framework for the use of electronic signatures has been in place for quite some time ...
Does the Covid-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of Covid-19) constitute a Force Majeure in a refit/ repair contract? Is there any implied right of relief for the contractor or the owner? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, a force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
Does the COVID-19 pandemic (or actions taken to counter the spread of COVID-19) constitute Force Majeure and is there any implied remedy (e.g. implied force majeure relief) arising as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic? Under English law, unlike civil law systems, force majeure is neither defined nor automatically applicable to commercial contracts ...
In the face of governmental orders shutting down businesses, redirecting business efforts and assets, and even seizing business property to redistribute to others, we see more and more questions about the limits of governmental authority and the remedies for affected people and businesses. Lawsuits already are being filed, and the courts undoubtedly will have to provide the answers. Click here for a more detailed discussion of COVID-19 and governmental takings ...
Many states now have Executive Orders in place either requesting or requiring employers to allow employees to work from home to the maximum extent possible. Allowing employees to work from home is new ground for many employers, so here are a few tips an employer should keep in mind and traps to avoid in order to make the adjustment easier for all involved: 1 ...
In the face of governmental orders shutting down businesses, redirecting business efforts and assets, and even seizing business property to redistribute to others, we see more and more questions about the limits of governmental authority and the remedies for affected people and businesses. Lawsuits already are being filed, and the courts undoubtedly will have to provide the answers. Click here for a more detailed discussion of COVID-19 and governmental takings ...
For over 240 years, Congress has allowed citizens of different states to litigate in federal court and, for equally as long, has permitted defendants to remove such cases from state court to federal court in cases exceeding the jurisdictional minimum. Judiciary Act of 1789, 1 Stat. 79 Section 12 ...
As a result of the COVID-19, employers are being forced to reduce the size of their workforces in order to keep costs down for the duration of the pandemic and perhaps beyond. Employers can choose to either furlough employees or lay them off; however, deciding which route is best requires an analysis of the employer’s situation, as well as the needs of the employees ...
Many commercial contracts limit claims between parties, particularly for consequential losses, to instances of gross negligence. Many statutes circumscribe claims against government authorities to the same circumstances. The Police Act, for example, prohibits claims against the police except where the police have been “guilty of dishonesty, gross negligence or malicious or wilful misconduct” ...
On 30 March 2020, the Ukrainian Parliament adopted the Law "On Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts Aimed to Ensure Additional Social and Economic Guarantees Due to the Coronavirus Disease (COVID-2019) Spread" (the Law), which introduces to the Ukrainian legislative environment new complex rules aimed at minimizing the negative impact of the spread of the COVID-19 in Ukraine. The below summary focuses on key changes introduced by the Law ...
On April 6, 2020, the National Consumer Service (SERNAC) published the "Interpretative Circular on distance contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic", which seeks to set general guidelines regarding distance contracting with consumers during the constitutional state of catastrophe due to public calamity. To safeguard the basic rights embodied in Law No ...
The pandemic of COVID-19 has severely affected functioning of various business activities across the globe and has posed a threat to legal services. The risks to legal services posed by the spread of COVID-19 were highlighted a few weeks back when international law firm Baker McKenzie closed its London office after a staff member was suspected to have been at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus ...
As misinformation on COVID-19 continues to spread, there is another more serious threat being dispersed through back trade channels and that is of counterfeit goods either for sale at exorbitant prices or fake goods proclaiming to cure or treat the virus. In 2018, Forbes announced that counterfeiting was the largest criminal enterprise in the world[1] and the sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totals $1.7 trillion per year, which is more than drugs and human trafficking ...
Associate Partner Sarmis Spilbergs and Associate Mikijs Zimecs have prepared a sample of a Privacy Policy that may help employees to process data related to COVID-19 in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation ...
On Monday, April 6, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Call to Action Portal, which allows businesses to help their bottom line while also helping Pennsylvania fight back against COVID-19 ...
On 6 April 2020, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (“ICASA”) published the Information and Communications Technology (“ICT”) COVID-19 National Disaster Regulations (the "Regulations"). The stated purpose of the Regulations is to prescribe the minimum standards to which all licensee (electronic communication services and broadcasting services) must adhere for the duration of the National State of Disaster ...
In order to allow telecommunications´ users connectivity in case that, due to force majeure, they cannot pay their monthly bills, the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications has agreed with some operators of mobile and fixed telecommunication services in the country, the establishment of a " Solidarity Connectivity Plan "that will be effective from April 1, 2020 ...
On April 6, 2020, Law No. 21,227 came into force, allowing access to unemployment insurance benefits under Law No. 19,728, in exceptional circumstances. This law, in its Article 14, Title III "Final Provisions", provides for a new criminal offense consisting of fraudulently obtaining supplements, benefits and / or profits due to the pandemic caused by Covid-19 ...
The protection of personal data has been one of the topics of analysis at the global level during the pandemic due to the expansion of SARS-CoV-2 that causes the disease COVID-19. As an example, it is enough to observe the measures taken by the governments of Germany and South Korea in excessive population monitoring, or the development of applications for the location of people before the isolation measures to prevent the spread of the virus ...
