On Nov. 4, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) released a new Interim Final Rule (IFR) regarding staff vaccination at facilities that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The IFR requires covered employers to ensure that staff receive their first dose no later than Dec. 5, 2021 and achieve full vaccination no later than Jan. 4, 2022. The vaccine rule that was also released on Nov ...
OSHA’s long-anticipated (as we have previously discussed) COVID-19 Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") is out and, as promised, it will require companies with at least 100 employees – across all facilities – to either institute a vaccine mandate or compel unvaccinated employees to submit to weekly testing and workplace masking for at least the next six months ...
Some West Virginia businesses have implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for employees. While the West Virginia COVID-19 Jobs Protection Act (W. Va. Code § 55-19-1 through § 55-19-9) protects people, businesses, and entities from some COVID-19 related claims, the Act does not address whether employees who suffer an injury from a COVID-19 vaccine mandated by their employers may bring a workers' compensation claim ...
There is no doubt that the pandemic catapulted society and businesses into a new and different world, which saw old working practices replaced by new and which advanced the adoption of new technology at a rapid pace. However, one thing didn’t change at law firm Shoosmiths, and that was how Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) considerations still firmly lay at the heart of the business strategy ...
The lack of detail in the Budget speech on investment in renewable energy (nothing on hydrogen for example) was disappointing, and surprising to many given the timing of the Autumn Budget with COP26. However, the Comprehensive Spending Review did give a bit more detail. Whether it goes far enough or fast enough to meet ambitious targets is still up for debate ...
On October 29, 2021, the following resolutions were published in the Official Gazette: Exempt Resolution No. 1,080 of the Undersecretary of Public Health amending Exempt Resolution No. 994, of 2021, of the Ministry of Health, which establishes the fourth Step-by-Step Plan; and Exempt Resolution No. 1,079 of the Undersecretary of Public Health, which amends Exempt Resolution No. 672, of 2021, of the Ministry of Health, which establishes the Protected Borders Plan ...
On Monday, November 1, 2021, CNBC reported the Office of Management and Budget ("OMB") completed its review of OSHA's Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") that will require larger employers to either adopt a policy for mandatory employee vaccinations or an alternative allowing weekly testing and masking for all unvaccinated employees. OMB approval of the ETS is the last step prior to finalizing the rule and its publication in the Federal Register ...
OSHA is considering rules to address heat injury and stress in the workplace. On October 27, 2021, OSHA filed an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ("ANPRM") for Heat Injury and Illness Prevention in Outdoor and Indoor Work Settings. The ANPRM includes 114 questions and seeks public input on heat-related issues that should be addressed in any standard, including possible controls or measures that might be considered to address heat-related injury and stress ...
With COP26 now upon us, all eyes are on Glasgow! As we continue to explore the various routes to net zero, there is no doubt that the Scottish Government's recently published "Heat in Buildings Strategy" will have a key play to role to play. Never in recent history has there been so much focus on how we use space that was once the reserve of our personal and family lives for working…but also on how our homes work for us ...
About a year ago, on Nov. 20, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued two final rules implementing sweeping changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law (Stark Law) and the Anti-Kickback Statute regulations. For the most part, those new rules went into effect on Jan. 19, 2021 ...
Over the past couple decades, building codes have responded to disasters, rather than averting them. Resilience is now an essential design element needed to withstand our changing climate. In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, “the times, they are a-changin’.” Intensified and more frequent hurricanes on the East and Gulf Coasts, more devastating wildfires on the West Coast and more frequent, powerful tornados in the heartland ...
Two recent articles in The Times and The Sunday Times highlighted the attractiveness of the affordable housing sector to investors keen to promote their ESG credentials. During the pandemic, ESG has gone from being a niche term used mainly by private equity funds and their investors to being a mainstream term used across a range of sectors and industries ...
The home of Robin Hood, Lord Byron and Boots, Nottingham is a city with a rich history and cultural heritage. It is also ambitious, forward looking and has a bright future. With a plan to become the UK's first carbon neutral city, it also has a unique opportunity to reimagine large swathes of the city with the following developments ...
Kudun and Partners represented Thammasat University with the preparation of the licensing agreement with Antitoxin GmbH, a German company founded in 1966 and specializes in the development of certified blood typing reagents for automated and manual applications ...
October 19, 2021 By: John Epperson EPA released its plan for actions to address PFAS contamination on October 18, 2021. This is an aggressive and wide-sweeping plan that reaches across multiple statutory authorities. Much of the Roadmap will require regulatory rulemaking to implement, providing the regulated community an opportunity to get involved and shape the final rules ...
Ryen Godwin, Environmental and Natural Resources Lawyer for Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, kicked things off and provided closing commentary on the discussion at the end of the event ...
Background: Article 10 of the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage (“CSC”) (which India ratified in 2016) allows ratifying states, through domestic legislation, to provide that in the even of a nuclear incident, the operator shall have a right of recourse against the supplier only if: (a) it is expressly provided for by a written contract; or (b) if the nuclear incident results from an act or omission done with intent to cause damage, against the indiv
Two articles (Newsweek and Fierce Biotech) describe the new lawsuit by the Henrietta Lacks Estate surrounding the HeLa cell line. The claim is "unjust enrichment," a difficult claim to win, but one that seems to fit this case, if any does. If you don't know this story, I recommend The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. It is the true story of an apparently wonderful woman, Ms ...
The only thing crystal clear about health care price transparency requirements at the moment is that the government will continue implementing new price transparency laws, regulations, and rules ...
Key Points Skilled nursing facilities must ensure their medical directors are certified within five years of the date of hire or by January 1, 2027, for medical directors already working in a SNF SNFs must report medical director certification status to CDPH by June 30, 2022 SNFs must report medical director changes to CDPH within 10 days of the change Effective January 1, 2022, a skilled nursing facility (SNF) will be prohibited from contracting with a medical director unless
The Fit for 55-package To achieve EU’s Paris climate goals, the EU Commission presented in December 2019 the European Green Deal, including a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 (compared to 1990 levels) and become carbon neutral by 2050 ...
Twenty months in, Covid-19 continues to demand that we exercise flexibility and adaptation as it identifies winners and losers. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the practice of law and businesses that are involved in, or contemplating, litigation. Those who have been involved in litigation know that it can be expensive in “normal” times. Here are three ways the pandemic has impacted the costs associated with litigation. Time to trial ...
In our fourth article on whistleblowing claims we focus on the need, in sensitive situations where concerns of serious (and perhaps even criminal) wrongdoing are raised, for the complaint to be dealt with confidentially and/or anonymously where possible ...
Key Points Governor Newsom vetoed AB 339. AB 361 will continue to operate as currently construed. On October 7, 2021, Governor Newsom vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 339 (Lee), a bill aimed at addressing Brown Act teleconferencing requirements for large public entities. AB 339 sought to add special rules for meetings of city councils or county board of supervisors that govern jurisdictions containing at least 250,000 people ...
The Department of Defense (DoD) and the Civilian Agency Acquisition Council (CAAC) have both issued new Class Deviations from the FARs that implement Executive Order 14042, Ensuring Adequate COVID Safety Protocols for Federal Contractors (i.e., the federal contractor vaccine mandate) ...
