Following our previous ENSight on the assistance scheme announced by the Mauritian Prime Minister, the government has decided to extend its scheme to the informal sector and take general measures aiming to facilitate the life of everyone during this crisis. Self-employed individuals Government has offered, to self-employed individuals, financial support amounting to half of the guaranteed income for the period between 16 March 2020 to 15 April 2020 ...
On 31 March 2020, the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries (“DEFF”) published directions (the “Directions”) under the National Disaster Management Act, 2002, to reduce the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19). The purpose of the Directions is to ensure fair processes with respect to certain environmental laws, as a result of the restrictions placed on the movement of people during the lockdown period ...
On 27 March 2020, the South African Revenue (“SARS”) announced much needed value-added tax (“VAT”) relief on the importation of “essential goods” as part of the coronavirus (COVID-19) tax relief measures. Section 7(1)(b) of the Value-Added Tax Act, 1991 (“VAT Act”) imposes VAT on the importation of any goods into South Africa by any person. In terms of section 7(1), VAT is imposed at the standard rate of 15% ...
On March 12, 2020, in view that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Covid-19 as a Pandemic, we published a Guide for employer including different scenarios that may occur in the labor aspect. After its publication, the governmental authorities have adopted various measures related to labor matters aimed to prevent the spread of the virus and to secure employment ...
On Friday, March 27, 2020, the CARES ACT was signed into law. The Cares Act includes provisions for changing deadlines for patents, trademarks, and copyrights. For patents and trademarks, the Act permits the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office to change the deadlines imposed by Title 35 of the United States Code, the Trademark Act, Section 18 of the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act ...
As private and governmental employers cope with reduced revenues and other significant effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are considering whether to lay off or furlough employees, or reduce employees’ hours ...
On March 31, 2020, the IRS issued Form 7200 Advance Payment of Employer Tax Credits Due to COVID-19 and instructions for eligible employers to claim advance payments of refundable payroll tax credits related to COVID-19 ...
On March 20, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) jointly issued guidance regarding the tax credits available to certain small employers who are required to provide new types of paid leave to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (Act), enacted on March 18, 2020 ...
As a growing number of the workforce is being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, employers are raising several benefits related questions, particularly with respect to the new paid sick and family and medical leave requirements. The Employee Benefits Group at Hanson Bridgett will be providing updated information on possible issues arising in the benefits area through Benefits Alerts and postings on Hanson Bridgett's Online COVID-19 Resource Center ...
According to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development ("DCED"), Pennsylvania businesses have until 5 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020 to seek an exemption to Governor Wolf's order requiring "non-life sustaining businesses" to close physical locations. Businesses that do not file their exemption by the deadline may lose the opportunity entirely. The application can be found on the DCED’s website ...
On 1 April the Prime Minister adopted a new decree (the “1 April Decree”) to extend the lockdown measures previously introduced through the decrees issues on 8 March, 9 March, 11 March and 22 March 2020 ...
The Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on March 31, 2020 signed a notice waiving certain deadlines for patent-related filings, if the missed deadline resulted from situations relating to COVID-19 ...
Although some industries have halted all non-essential work as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many patent and trademark offices around the world have remained open and operational, largely due to electronic filing capabilities ...
In a recent article, we discussed government efforts to combat fraud in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen a number of government enforcement actions, including the marketing of coronavirus treatments;selling toothpaste, dietary supplements, creams and other products as treatments to prevent and cure the coronavirus; andprice-gouging on health and safety products. On March 31, 2020, the U.S ...
In an expedited process, a Federal Law amending several legislative acts was passed by the State Duma and Federal Council of the Russian Federation. In particular, the law envisages use of the power of the Government of the Russian Federation to impose, in extraordinary cases, a moratorium on insolvency proceedings and provides a legal regime of such moratorium ...
The Government of the Slovak Republic approved on 31 March 2020 further draft bills in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic. One of these is also an act amending the Labour Code[1]and other particular laws in the field of employment and social security. You can find a brief summary on this amendment below ...
The Indian Government has announced a full nationwide lockdown for three weeks (until April 14, 2020) in order to contain the spread of Covid-19. Accordingly, the Indian Trade Marks Registry, Patents and Design Office have been closed till April 15, 2020. Nevertheless, the online filing portal of Indian IP offices is operational. All deadlines falling till April 15, 2020 will become due on the day when the IP offices re-open ...
The legislator acts - Special regulations on, among other things, deferral of claims, insolvency law, tenancy law and loan agreements in Germany to come. At the end of March, the German legislator adopted special regulations in response to the COVID 19 pandemic in fast-track proceedings. The law was passed by the German parliament (Bundestag) on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and, in a special session, also by the German Federal Council (Bundesrat) on Friday, 27 March, 2020 ...
On 27th March 2020, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has posted for public consultation a draft emergency government ordinance envisaged to amend the Emergency Government Ordinance no. 1/1999 relating to the emergency state (“EGO 1/1999”). EGO 1/1999 is the basis on which the presidential decree approving the emergency state was issued on 16thMarch 2020 ...
Many employers are facing diminishing revenues during the current Covid-19 epidemic. Many of those employers also face the need to reduce overhead. To provide some relief for employers, the Minister of Human Resources and Emiratisation promulgated Ministerial Resolution No. 279 of 2020 (the “Resolution”) on Employment Stability in Private Sector during the Period of Application of Precautionary Measures to Curb the Spread of Novel Coronavirus ...
With respect to the situation caused by the pandemic and its possible data protection impacts, please find below a summary of the statement of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak, issued on 19 March 2020. The EDPB starts by emphasizing that “[d]ata protection rules (such as the GDPR) do not hinder measures taken in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic ...
Due to the reforms and additions to the General Health Act in matters of obesity and labeling of food and non-alcoholic beverages setting a frontal warning system, published in the Federal Official Gazette (Spanish Acronym - DOF) on November 8, 2019 ...
Building on previously announced waivers and emergency rulemaking, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional waivers on March 30, 2020, to provide hospitals, health systems, and many other providers with “maximum flexibility to respond to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic ...
Even though OSHA has advised that no specific standard covers the novel coronavirus, human resource and safety personnel must be mindful of the generally-applicable standards that might apply. In addition to recording requirements on OSHA 300 logs, there are five standards that merit particular attention in the COVID-19 context ...
The USCIS has announced it will extend its suspension of in-person services at its field offices, asylum offices, and application support centers (ASCs) until May 4, 2020. It has also indicated it may extend these closures beyond that date if needed. USCIS will continue to provide limited emergency services during these closures ...
