In early April as the statewide vaccination rate began to rise and major population centers across California began to see significant decreases in positive COVID cases and hospitalization rates, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the State plans to reopen in full on June 15, 2021. As of the date of this Alert, California has one of the lowest number of COVID cases per 100,000 people and the fourth lowest number of COVID hospitalizations in the United States ...
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 ...
On July 17, San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced that due to a rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases in the last month, and because San Francisco was listed on the State’s County Monitoring List (the “Monitoring List”) for three consecutive days, San Francisco was halting all reopening procedures indefinitely beginning on Monday, July 20 ...
Cal/OSHA has promulgated emergency regulations for preventing COVID-19 transmission in the workplace (the “Emergency Standard,” or the “Standard”). The Emergency Standard became effective immediately upon approval by the Office of Administrative Law on November 30, 2020, and will remain in effect for six months. It may be extended or converted to permanent regulations by Cal/OSHA. The Emergency Standard, now codified in Title 8, sections 3205; 3205 ...
As California continues to move through Stage 2 of its Resilience Roadmap, “Lower-risk workplaces,” where retail (curbside and delivery only), related logistics and manufacturing, office workplaces, limited personal services, outdoor museums, childcare, and essential businesses can now open with modifications, California employers should continue to be vigilant in assessing and complying with up to date health and safety guidance from the Occupational Safety and Health Admini
On September 17, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsome signed AB 685 into law. Effective January 1, 2021, AB 685 makes several changes to the California Labor Code regarding occupational exposure to COVID-19. This includes authorizing Cal-OSHA to essentially shut down a workplace if it determines that the risk of COVID-19 exposure constitutes an imminent hazard to employees ...
On September 23, California Governor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order extending the ability of local jurisdictions to enact their own eviction moratoriums on commercial tenancies from September 30, 2020 to March 31, 2021. This extension follows weeks of pressure from mayors and county officials throughout California who argued that a wave of commercial evictions would be coming if no action was taken legislatively or executively by September 30 ...
On September 28, 2020 Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1561, which extends “by 18 months the period for the expiration, effectuation, or utilization of a housing entitlement” that was in effect on March 4, 2020 and will expire prior to December 31, 2021 ...
On March 19, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill No. 95 (SB95) and revived California’s COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave. By March 29, 2021, employers of more than 25 employees must provide Supplemental Paid Sick Leave for covered employees who are unable to work or telework due to concerns related to COVID-19 through at least September 30, 2021 ...
Overview of the Program California created the Employment Training Panel (“ETP”) cash grant program in 1982 to provide funds to California businesses for job-related vocational skills training for businesses creating new jobs or retraining current workers. The program is funded by the Employment Training Tax (a payroll tax) paid by California employers. Since its inception in 1982, the ETP has provided over $1 billion to California employers ...
Cal-OSHA’s COVID-19 regulation remains in effect after the trial court rejected a motion for a preliminary injunction filed by a coalition of employers. This included challenges to: (1) compensation for employees excluded from work; (2) mandated testing; and (3) health and safety requirements for employer-provided housing and transportation. Therefore, employers must continue to abide by the requirements of the emergency regulation ...
On June 4, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took steps to provide rules and guidance for the upcoming transition away from LIBOR for adjustable rate loans. The CFPB issued the following: A revised version of the CHARM booklet that is to be given to certain ARM loan mortgage loan applicants within three days of application ...
On June 28, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a new rule (Rule) setting forth loss mitigation/loan modification steps residential mortgage loan servicers must take in regard to mortgage loan borrowers due to possible COVID-19 related hardship, and when servicers may or may not commence foreclosure proceedings. The Rule will take effect on August 31, 2021 and remain in place until December 31, 2021 ...
In a small victory for landlords of bankrupt tenants, the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas has ruled that the Chuck E. Cheese parent company may not use its bankruptcy filing to avoid paying its rent. The COVID-19 pandemic and related stay-at-home orders have prompted numerous retailers and restaurants to seek bankruptcy protection. Many of those companies successfully used the bankruptcy process to obtain relief from their rental obligations ...
In the recently-passed Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”), Congress provided much-needed cover for landlords that enter into forbearance agreements with their tenants during the COVID-19 pandemic by protecting landlords from exposure to preference litigation arising out of the deferred rent payments if the tenant were to later file bankruptcy ...
A recent New York federal court decision has called into question whether businesses may safely rely on Department of Labor guidance regarding the recently passed Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). The FFCRA provides employees of businesses with fewer than 500 employees with two temporary forms of paid leave—Emergency Paid Sick Leave and Emergency Family and Medical Leave ...
September 16, 2021 By: John Epperson The COVID-19 pandemic will likely to be a concern and challenge for employers for longer than anyone had hoped or anticipated. As businesses adjust to what seems to be a “new normal” it is worth a reminder that COVID-19 infection can be a recordable illness on an employer’s Occupational Safety & Health Administration (“OSHA”) 300 Injury and Illness Log. OSHA’s recording criteria under 29 CFR 1904 ...
Acting under its new Debt Collection Licensing Act licensing administration and enforcement authority granted by SB 908, the DFPI Commissioner issued a public statement on April 9th reminding all future license applicants under the Debt Collection Licensing Act of California’s renter protections associated with COVID-19 rental debt ...
It is no secret that business bankruptcies are surging in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, chapter 11 filings increased 26% in the first half of 2020,[1] and some expect the number of cases to increase even more in the coming months.[2] From retailers to airlines to telecommunications companies, few sectors of the economy are immune. As a result, more and more businesses will face the prospect of one or more of their customers filing chapter 11 ...
By: Joshua M. Robbins, Michael C. Flynn, and Robert S. Gillison The past decade has taught lenders much about regulatory enforcement risk. In the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis and collapse of the housing and related markets, the Department of Justice and other agencies aggressively stepped up investigations of lenders seen as complicit in the misconduct of borrowers and others ...
U.S. Trademark laws are based on the premise that rights in a trademark exist so long as the mark is continuously used in interstate commerce. Once you cease use of the mark without an intention of resuming such use, the mark may be subject to cancellation or abandonment by a third party ...
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 ...
