On 27 July 2020, the Centre for Health Protection reported a large-scale outbreak cluster on a construction site at the Peak with 13 workers of Kin Shing (Leung’s) General Contractors Limited being infected with COVID-19. Over 100 people work in the same construction site on a daily basis ...
By virtue of the Rules of the High Court (Amendment) Rules 2020 and Rules of the District Court (Amendment) Rules 2020, the Arrangement for Mutual Service of Judicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Cases between the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the Macao Special Administrative Region (Arrangement) came into force on 1 August 2020. Under the Arrangement the Hong Kong and Macao courts may entrust each other with the service of judicial documents ...
When the 2019-2020 legislative session began, no one could have predicted what challenges Pennsylvania and the General Assembly would encounter with the outbreak of COVID-19. The rules changed to permit remote voting, and the plan for the session shifted to a focus on the response to COVID-19. The 12-month budget was replaced with a five-month budget to allow additional time to assess the financial damage ...
Key Points Adoption of Water Rates not subject to challenge by referendum; challenges are limited to those provided for by Proposition 218. California Supreme Court overrules Court of Appeal decision that found that water rates are not a "tax" under Article II, Section 9. Supreme Court disagrees, finding municipal water rates fall within the broad understanding of the term "tax," and referendum cannot be used to disrupt essential government services ...
On July 31st the Federal Reserve posted amended versions of a number of Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) transaction documents, including the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) and Term Sheets for MSLP. Many of the changes reflect recent announcements, such as the expansion of the program to include the Nonprofit Organization New Loan Facility (NONLF) and the Nonprofit Organization Expanded Loan Facility (NOELF). Other changes, particularly to the FAQs, provide new guidance ...
This is a briefing on the issuances as of August 3, 2020 on the following matters in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. Metro Manila will be under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) again from August 4 to 18B. Intellectual Property Office (IPOPHL) Further Extends until August 10, 2020 the Deadline for Filings and Payments Due for the Period of July 20 to August 7, 2020A ...
The real estate sector is facing numerous economic challenges. The property and casualty markets are hardening, while tenants are looking for rent concessions. Meanwhile, moves by some businesses to allow more working from home could significantly reduce demand for office space. When insurance expenses are increasing, a captive may be used to stabilise premium costs by increasing deductibles and insuring the deductibles in the captive ...
This is a briefing on the issuances as of August 1, 2020 on the following matters in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic: A. General Community Quarantine (GCQ) over Metro Manila Again Extended until August 15, 2020 B. Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Allows More Business Establishments to Operate During GCQ from August 1, 2020 A ...
The Insurance Commission (“IC”) of the Philippines has issued a circular letter dated June 14, 2020 on the adoption of a regulatory sandbox framework for the experimentation and testing of insurance technology innovations (IC Circular Letter No. 2020-73 (“ICL 2020-73”): “Guidelines on the Adoption of a Regulatory Sandbox Framework for Insurance Technology (InsurTech) Innovations).” The full text of Circular Letter No ...
The High Court has left the door open for a negligence claim to be pursued against a UK company on behalf of a shipyard worker who fell to his death dismantling an oil tanker at a Bangladeshi yard.1 The vessel had been sold to a buyer on terms requiring it to be scrapped in an environmentally sound manner and in accordance with good health and safety practices ...
Key Points The California Supreme Court clarified the so-called California Rule on public employee’s "vested rights" to pension benefits, holding that detrimental financial changes to employee pension benefits do not invariably require that offsetting comparable new advantages be provided. And it set a legal framework for analyzing that issue ...
On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Public Health issued a new guidance document for all employers within California, entitled “COVID-19 Employer Playbook For a Safe Reopening ...
On July 29, 2020, Governor Whitmer issued Executive Order Nos. 2020-160 and 2020-161. Executive Order 2020-160 replaces the prior executive orders that address stay home, stay safe restrictions in Michigan. In general, this Order moves the State to a more uniform approach to business operations and restrictions ...
This is a briefing on the CIAC Memorandum Circular No. 01-2020 dated June 10, 2020,1 a COVID-19 related issuance. A. Authority to Hold Virtual Proceedings B. No Change in the Deadline for the Issuance of Final Awards C. In-Person Proceedings D. Conduct of Virtual Proceedings ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ CIAC’s Memorandum Circular No ...
Published in CEE Legal Matters “In terms of national politics, when it comes to Latvia, the word of the day is ‘stability,'“ says Raimonds Slaidins, Senior Partner at Ellex Klavins in Riga ...
Key Points Small employers (with fewer than 500 employees) and governmental employers who are required to provide employees with paid sick and expanded family leave related to COVID-19 are required to report the amounts paid on Form W-2. IRS guidance provides information about how to report paid leave on employees’ Forms W-2 ...
Key Points If finalized as proposed, a Department of Labor (DOL) proposed rule would require plan fiduciaries to select investments based solely on pecuniary factors. The proposed rule would also tighten conditions for treating environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) factors as pecuniary factors plan fiduciaries may consider in selecting investments ...
Key Points New proposal would allow investment advisors to provide advice to ERISA retirement plan participants for a fee, despite potential conflicts of interest. Reinstates five-part test from 1975 for determining when an investment advisor provides investment advice as a fiduciary to a plan participant. The U.S ...
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, local municipalities and state governments throughout the country have implemented stay-at-home orders and mandated closures of businesses and restaurants to lower the spread of the disease. California, after having permitted much of the state to reopen businesses, has seen a recent spike in COVID-19 cases and on July 13th implemented a new statewide order to curb the increase, reimposing certain business closures ...
On July 23, 2020, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, Superintendent of Public Instruction Kathy Hoffman and Arizona Department of Health Services Director, Dr. Cara Christ held a news conference to discuss certain executive orders of the Governor regarding re-opening of Arizona businesses and public district and charter schools in Arizona ...
California’s cannabis-related businesses will face a dual battle in complying with Proposition 65 requiring businesses to warn the public about cancer-causing chemicals present in products they purchase, writes Buchalter’s Anne Marie Ellis. Businesses are going to have to change their labeling and packaging to list marijuana smoke as a reproductive toxicant and cancer causing agent ...
The San Francisco Emergency Ordinance on cleaning commercial office buildings larger than 50,000 square feet and tourist hotels was signed by the Mayor on July 17th, becoming effective immediately upon her signature. As noted in a prior Buchalter Client Alert, there are many problems with this Ordinance and, unfortunately, none of those problems were corrected before it was signed into law ...
Companies subject to product liability lawsuits – and their counsel – know the importance of promptly examining whether the company is subject to general personal jurisdiction or specific personal jurisdiction of the forum court. A court with general personal jurisdiction over a defendant can hear any and all claims against that defendant. After the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Daimler AG v. Bauman, 134 S. Ct 746 (2014) and BSNF Railway Co. v ...
Key Points Participants in defined contribution retirement plans, such as 401(k), 401(a), 403(b), or governmental 457(b) plans, can skip their required minimum distribution (RMD) payments for 2020. If RMDs for 2020 have already been received, participants have until August 31, 2020 to rollover the RMD into an eligible retirement plan ...
