The world continues to come to grips with the daily changes brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Schools contemplate opening. Some do, while others do not. Some professional and college sports teams play games to empty stadiums. Some businesses are open, with restrictions, while others are not. Lawsuits are being filed by businesses that think they should be permitted to reopen like their neighbors who already have ...
On Thursday, August 13, the California Judicial Council elected to rescind Emergency Rules 1 and 2 related to eviction and foreclosure actions in California applicable to both residential and commercial properties, effective September 1, 2020. Emergency Rules 1 and 2, previously put in place on April 6, prevented all unlawful detainer and foreclosure actions statewide, except in cases of public health or safety ...
Whistleblower complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have continued to rise during the COVID-19 pandemic. Between February 18, 2020, and May 31, 2020, a total of 4,101 whistleblower complaints were filed,[1] which represented a 30% increase in complaints over the same period last year ...
As COVID-19 continues to alter our daily lives, many of us have found comfort in barn time spent with our four-legged friends. With so many spring and summer events cancelled, we are eager to get back in the saddle and into the show ring. However, the legal implications facing horse show boards and competition venues are complex and ever-evolving ...
Key Points On Aug. 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published an interim final rule with a comment period (IFC) establishing new Long-Term Care Facility COVID-19 Testing Requirements for Staff and Residents. CMS has added 42 CFR §483.80(h), which requires that the facility test all residents and staff for COVID-19. Noncompliance related to this new requirement will be cited at new tag F886 ...
Law No.21,260 (the “Law”) which modifies the Labor Code to permit the remote work or teleworking to pregnant women in case of state of catastrophe, for a public calamity, due to an epidemic or pandemic arising from a contagious illness (the “State of Catastrophe”), and also establishes other exceptional rules, has been published in the Official Gazette on September 4th, 2020 ...
Coronavirus Digest no. 4 Patents and other intellectual property rights 1. Patents Moderna reveals that it may not hold the patent rights for the vaccine against Covid-19, because it was not the first to file the patents. This came after the US National Institute of Health claimed co-ownership of the rights to this vaccine. Read more here ...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 established the popular Opportunity Zone (OZ) program to encourage investment in economically distressed communities while allowing taxpayers to defer and potentially exclude some of their capital gains from federal income taxes. The proceeds of the sale must be timely reinvested in qualifying businesses or property located in census tracts that have been designated as OZs within the approved state ...
INTRODUCTION Information Communication Technology (ICT) has, without a doubt, greatly impacted virtually every industry, and the communications industry is no exception. Services such as bulk short message service (SMS), online games, data services, telemarketing, text messages and media messages, all of which are often referred to as Value Added Services (“VAS”), now constitute a part of our daily lives ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued an order titled “Temporary Halt in Residential Evictions To Prevent the Further Spread of COVID-19” (“Order”) forbidding evictions of residential tenants who do not exceed certain income levels (generally $99,000 for an individual), are unable to make full rental payments due to substantial loss of income, loss of job, or extraordinary medical expense, and have exhausted all available governmental sources o
It is no secret that the world has rapidly changed over the last several months. Many companies are reevaluating their business models to adjust to the challenges caused by the world-wide pandemic and to hopefully identify new business opportunities that may arise as a result of a new business environment ...
On August 8, 2020, the President of the United States issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to use his authority pursuant to section 7508A of the Internal Revenue Code to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of certain payroll tax obligations for the remainder of 2020. In Notice 2020-65, the IRS provides guidance implementing the payroll tax deferral. What wages are eligible? Eligibility is subject to income limits ...
Key Points HHS Provider Relief Fund payments are being extended to private pay assisted living facilities under Phase II. Relief will be equal to 2 percent of annual gross revenue from resident care. Interested providers must act swiftly: the deadline to submit basic information to HHS is Sept. 13 Provider relief funds need not be repaid if recipients comply with the program criteria. HHS Announcement: On Sept.1, the U.S ...
Key Points New California law prohibits residential evictions based on the non-payment of rent and other fees due between Mar. 1, 2020, and Jan. 31, 2021, if failure to pay is due to COVID-19 related distress. California courts may not issue summonses in any residential unlawful detainer actions based on non-payment until Oct. 5, 2020. New Order from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention halts evictions for tenants who meet specific requirements through Dec. 31, 2020 ...
Following President Trump’s Aug. 8 presidential memorandum directing the Treasury Secretary to defer the withholding and payment of certain employee payroll taxes, the Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-65 on Aug. 28 The two-page notice gives necessary but sparse guidance on implementing the Presidential Memorandum ...
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the Shepherd and Wedderburn private client team has been hard at work helping clients update their Wills and Powers of Attorney. While we all hope that the worst of this global pandemic is now behind us, recent weeks have brought various localised lockdowns and the expectation of a potential second wave, which may well coincide with the annual flu season ...
In our 22nd edition of Unprecedented, our weekly update on COVID-19-related litigation, we see cases against employers continue to rise, and offer insight for employers to keep employees safe and simultaneously avoid lawsuits. In another notable update -- again for employers and business owners -- the Supreme Court of Virginia dismissed a case challenging the Governor's restrictions on businesses amid the pandemic ...
All Virginia employers subject to the jurisdiction of the Virginia Occupational Safety and Health ("VOSH") Program (i.e., practically all employers in Virginia) must comply with new workplace safety standards related to COVID-19. Known as the Emergency Temporary Standard ("Standard"), the new regulation requires employers to: 1 ...
The Department of Labor has updated its list of FAQs about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) to address when employees would be eligible for Emergency FMLA leave when the employee’s child’s school is operating on a remote or hybrid learning schedule ...
Banks have played a crucial role these last few months as the COVID-19 pandemic has swept across the world. Through Paycheck Protection Program loans, payment deferments, and other initiatives, banks have provided significant assistance to people and businesses of all types. The banking industry has worked incredibly hard, and bankers across the country should be proud ...
Note on Circular Letter No. 002/DCC/2020 With the approval of Notice No. 2/2020, of January 2020 (“Notice 2/2020”), the National Bank of Angola (“BNA”) introduced greater flexibility in the foreign exchange sector, as it eliminated prior licensing and delegated the validation of the operations to the commercial banks. With the publication of the Circular Letter No ...
On 25 August 2020, “The Temporary Measures For Reducing The Impact of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Bill 2020” (“Covid-19 Bill 2020”) was passed by the Dewan Rakyat. When will the Covid-19 Bill 2020 come into operation? The Covid-19 2020 Bill comes into operation on the date published in the Gazette. However, it will have a retrospective effect and will be deemed to have come into operation on the first day of the Movement Control Order i.e ...
On August 27, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer released Executive Order 2020-172, entitled “Protecting workers who stay home, stay safe when they or their close contacts are sick,” which replaces Executive Order 2020-166. The new executive order is nearly identical to the one it replaces, with two important differences ...
On August 27, HUD announced that it is extending its Covid-related foreclosure and eviction moratoriums for FHA insured loans set to expire on August 31, until December 31, 2020, and issued a Mortgagee Letter implementing the extensions. On the same day, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that the single-family foreclosure and eviction moratoriums for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, also set to expire on August 31, will be extended until December 31, 2020 ...
