The UK government has announced proposals to make flexible working requests a ‘day one’ right for employees, as part of reforms to the Flexible Working Regulations 2014. Over the past 18 months, the pandemic has been a catalyst for increased flexible working. Although this has meant ‘working from home’ for most, flexible work can include other arrangements such as flexitime, job-sharing, condensed hours and part-time work ...
“Another game changer!” — Your takeaway from reading this summary of Washington’s Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1795, commonly known as the “Silenced No More Act,” which becomes law June 9, 2022, and has some important retroactive effects ...
Category B has been extended until the end of August 2020 and the government has approved a new form of support – Category C! Are you considering how to maintain employment of your employees and minimize economic losses? Take a look at what financial instruments the state has prepared for entrepreneurs whose employees have been affected, directly or indirectly, by government measures taken to combat coronavirus ...
The conversation around Artificial intelligence (AI) regulation is set to go into a “supercharged” phase globally. At least, that’s the conclusion one can’t help drawing from the hype around the UK’s AI Safety Summit, which takes place in early November, and from comments this week by Senate Leader Chuck Schumer around upping the pace of AI regulation in the US ...
In the last few years, many multinationals are implementing in their organizations so-called “Bring Your Own Device” (BYOD) policies. What is “BYOD”? It is a new trend in the management of technological infrastructure within companies where employees bring their own devices to the workplace, thereby reducing the number of devices that companies have to provide to employees, with the consequent reduction in costs ...
When negotiating a settlement agreement in an employment dispute, “no rehire” language is often a standard term. This language typically bars the litigating employee from seeking re-employment with the former employer. However, in California, at least one “no rehire” provision was invalidated because it was not narrowly tailored to the employer at issue. In Golden v. California Emergency Physicians Medical Group (“CEP”), CEP terminated Dr ...
The curve has flattened, and all fifty states are at least partially reopened. This raises a number of questions about how your facility should proceed with reopening while continuing to protect not only your residents' health, but also their rights. Both failing to meet recommended guidelines and exceeding the guidelines can leave your facility vulnerable for future governmental action and lawsuits ...
With everything from alpacas, pigs and turkeys, to even a snake being claimed as service animals, it is not surprising that many business owners are asking what truly qualifies as a “service animal” under the law. Just last fall, a Wisconsin McDonald’s encountered a situation where a patron wanted to dine with her service kangaroo ...
You’ve probably heard about the dangers of second-hand smoke. But what about the employment-related danger of “second-hand” harassment? Consider this scenario: Mr. Jerk, a bank manager in the credit department, repeatedly harasses his administrative assistant, Gina. He invites Gina to have drinks with him, repeatedly touches her shoulders, and brushes up against her. Gina never complains to anyone in bank management about Jerk’s conduct ...
Under a new proposed rule, certain required disclosures could be provided electronically to all retirement plan participants, including former employees and beneficiaries. On October 23, 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a proposed rule intended to expand the use of internet technology to furnish ERISA-required disclosures to plan participants, and to reduce printing and mail expenses ...
Introduction The World Health Organization named “vaccine hesitancy” as one of the top global health threats in 2019. In the United States, widespread utilization of non-medical exemptions to mandatory vaccination laws has led to statistically significant outbreaks of measles and other vaccine-preventable illnesses, and many headlines forecast that if vaccination exemptions continue the trajectory they are on, this country may well face a public health emergency ...
An employer faces a difficult situation when a temporarily disabled employee who cannot perform his or her essential job functions requests an accommodation. This situation becomes significantly more complicated when the employee receives the “accommodation,” but never recovers enough to resume performing the essential job functions ...
As employees start to push the boundaries and consider travelling abroad to profit from a ‘working vacation’, it is essential that UK employers are aware of their obligations and the checks that must be carried out. Visa requirements should not prove an issue if the employee is remaining within the UK, but there are numerous visa considerations and contractual terms that should be reviewed before approval is given to work overseas ...
In the third instalment of our series, we consider the practical elements of the ‘workcation’ concept. As we have seen, working elsewhere may seem like an attractive proposition to employees. They will undoubtedly be keen to take advantage of the opportunity to save precious annual leave entitlement, but it is important an employer sets some ground rules ...
We are now several years post-pandemic, and it seems remote working, at least in part, is here to stay. Employees, however, are taking things one step further and last summer, we saw a growing trend of workers interested in working remotely from a holiday property, either in the UK or abroad. We started to see the increasing popularity of the ‘workcation’ where employees work remotely in their location of choice, combining work and leisure ...
The Bitcoin ‘halving’ event is rapidly approaching, anticipated to occur around the 19th or 20th of April. Currently, there’s an unprecedented level of attention on Bitcoin due to this event. So, what exactly does ‘halving’ entail, and why is there such a buzz surrounding it? The term itself evokes the intrigue of a suspenseful horror film, one that could be straight out of a Stephen King story ...
With the exit from the lockdown now in full force, more companies are bringing their staff back to their work premises. We have listed 10 quick-but-key questions that every business manager or HR specialist must deal with during this restart. To read the full Q&A, CLICK HERE ...
1. Pharmaceutical market players mostly deal with two regulators These are the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine (MOH) and the State Administration of Ukraine on Medicinal Products and Narcotic Drugs Control (SAUMP). The MOH is responsible for state registration of medicines, while the SAUMP deals with licensing, evaluation of good manufacturing practice (GMP) compliance, control over quality of medicines, and regulation of medical devices. 2 ...
On January 6, 2021, the Small Business Administration (the “SBA”) and the Department of Treasury released an Interim Final Rule called “Business Loan Program Temporary Changes; Paycheck Protection Second Draw Loans” (“Second Draw Rules”). These rules announced the implementation of section 311 of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits, and Venues Act (the “Economic Aid Act”) ...
Ukrainian telecom market has developed gradually from a state-controlled monopoly to a competitive sector. Over the recent years, Ukrainian telecom policy makers and regulator have been striving to establish pro-competitive regulations aimed at liberalizing the telecom market at large. For instance, in 2011, the Ukrainian Parliament abolished licensing of three out of eleven types of telecom services that required a telecom license ...
It is well-known that a solid framework for attracting investment is a key strategy for fostering investments in a sector as big and significant as telecommunications are. As consolidation and M&A activities continue to be looked for in the region, there is an idea that the use of new technology and smart solutions is the best way to gain a competitive advantage over other market participants ...
In this digest, we review key developments in the Russian migration legislation for the first quarter of 2019. 1. The Russian Government updated the list of documents required for the migration registration of foreign nationals Starting from March 20 of 2019,the Ministry of Internal Affairs extended the list of documents required for the migration registration of foreign nationals ...
The past year has seen substantial activity by the federal courts in guarding against government overreach in False Claims Act cases. One of the principal areas courts have focused on is the FCA's knowledge requirement — i.e., FCA liability can only be imposed where a person violates the act knowingly. Two recent decisions, from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the U.S ...
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has opened up another $20 billion in funds to help hospitals and healthcare providers deal with the financial impacts of treating COVID-19 patients. The new funding round was opened on April 25 and is intended to compensate providers without regard to payer mix and to provide assistance based on March and April 2020 lost revenues ...
