Below please find our latest alerts surrounding COVID-19 and its effect on various policies and laws, ranging from labor law (i.e., FFCRA) to the world of corporate governance and securities (i.e., SEC). As always, feel free to read and share these alerts, and contact us if there is anything we can do to help you or your business maintain compliance in this ever-evolving situation. Continue reading “COVID-19 Client Communication, Vol. 5”
NLRB’s General Counsel Issues Advice Concerning COVID-19
Written by Jonathan Turner
As federal, state and local measures are being enacted to help curb the spread of the Coronavirus, the General Counsel for the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) recently issued a memo intended to assist the public, employers and unions in analyzing the impact that emergency decision-making by unionized employers have on collective bargaining obligations. The memo issued on March 27, 2020, and is directed to the Regional Directors, Officers-in-Charge and Resident Officers of the several NLRB field offices throughout the country. The General Counsel has the sole statutory authority to determine whether to issue an unfair labor practice complaint for alleged violations of the National Labor Relations Act, including violations based on an employer’s alleged failure to bargain with a union over changes in business operations affecting employees represented by the union. Continue reading “NLRB Advice on COVID-19”
The New York COVID-19 Quarantine Leave Law
Written by Jeremy Mittman and Timothy Carter
On March 18, 2020, the New York State Assembly passed and Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York COVID-19 Quarantine Leave Law (the “Law” or the “New York Law”), providing emergency paid and/or unpaid sick leave to all eligible employees unable to work because of a mandatory or precautionary quarantine order issued by the state of New York, the department of health, local board of health, or any governmental entity authorized to issue such an order due to COVID-19. The Law, which became effective immediately, also expands New York’s Paid Family Leave Law (the “NYPFL”) and Disability Benefit Law to provide eligible employees with salary continuation during periods of otherwise unpaid leave. The Law also expands the right to benefits under the NYPFL where an employee needs leave to care for a minor child of the employee who is subject to a mandatory or precautionary quarantine or isolation order due to COVID-19. Continue reading “Employee Relief in the Empire State”
Written by Ignacio Celis-Aguirre
On March 26, 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”) announced that it would be providing additional temporary regulatory relief to market participants in response to the effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”). This relief addresses: (1) temporary relief from the notarization requirement for Form ID for certain filers who cannot secure a notarization because of COVID-19; (2) extending the filing deadline for specified Regulation A and Regulation Crowdfunding reports and forms from certain companies unable to file timely reports and forms because of COVID-19; and (3) extending the filing deadline for submitting annual update filings (“Form MA-A”) to Form MA for certain municipal advisors affected by COVID-19. Continue reading “Additional SEC Relief is Revealed”
Working Remotely Triggers Immigration Compliance Regulations
Written By Howard D. Shapiro and Frida P. Glucoft
In the wake of a range of “safer at home” federal, state and local orders and guidelines stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, employers throughout the United States have temporarily closed their offices to varying degrees and instructed their employees to work remotely, usually from home. Companies with employees working in the US pursuant to the temporary visa categories H-1B, E-3 (Australian citizens) and H-1B1 (citizens of Singapore and Chile) are required to take extra steps to ensure compliance with immigration laws and regulations when those employees are working from locations outside of their normal worksites. Continue reading “Remote Work Blurs Boundaries”
DOL Releases Additional Q&A for Families First Coronavirus Response Act, Effective April 1, 2020
Written by Jeremy Mittman
On March 27, 2020 the U.S. Department of Labor (”DOL”) published a second series of “Questions and Answers” related to the FFCRA, supplementing the DOL’s initial March 24, 2020 set of Questions and Answers issued on March 24, 2020. Here are the top six takeaways in the latest Questions and Answers: Continue reading “More FFCRA Questions Answered”
US Department of Labor Will Not Enforce The FFCRA Until April 18, 2020
Written by Jeremy Mittman and Stephen Franz
The US Department of Labor (“DOL”) Wage & Hour Division (“WHD”) just issued a Field Assistance Bulletin titled “Temporary Non-Enforcement Period Applicable to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act” (“FFCRA” or the “Act”). The Bulletin, which is addressed to the WHD’s Regional Administrators, Deputy Regional Administrators, Directors of Enforcement, and District Directors, provides guidance to WHD field staff regarding the temporary non-enforcement period applicable to the FFCRA.
According to the Bulletin, the DOL will not bring enforcement actions against any public or private employer for violations of the FFCRA occurring within 30 days of the enactment of the FFCRA, i.e. March 18 through April 17, 2020, provided that the employer has made reasonable, good faith efforts to comply with the Act. In short, this means that, although the FFCRA goes into effect on April 1, 2020, the DOL will not enforce it until April 18, 2020, as long as the following apply. Continue reading “Enforcement Extension”
Written by Sofia Castillo
On March 26, 2020, the district court for the Southern District of New York issued a landmark ruling in a case closely followed by the film, video game, sports and tattoo industries. Where for several years the only direct precedent on the issue of expressive tattoos in expressive works was limited to early rulings in cases like that involving The Hangover or relegated to settlements, Solid Oak Sketches, LLC v. 2K Games, Inc. firmly resolved all doubt. In the ruling, the court granted the defendant video game publishers’ motion for summary judgment on three separate grounds, finding that the defendants’ depiction of basketball superstars’ tattoos in a “NBA2K” video game was: (1) a “de minimis” use, (2) allowed under the players’ implied license given by the tattoo artists, and (3) a fair use. This decision comes almost exactly two years after Judge Swain denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the claims.
On the first ground, the court looked to precedent regarding “de minimis” use principles in other contexts. Ultimately, the defendants’ video evidence convinced the court that NBA2K’s depiction of tattoos on basketball superstars LeBron James, Kenyon Martin and Eric Bledsoe (and none of the other over 400 available players in the game) was “de minimis” and therefore “no reasonable trier of fact could find the Tattoos as they appear in NBA 2K were substantially similar to the Tattoo designs licensed to Solid Oak.” The court found that the small size and distorted angles of the tattoos’ display as part of the game play was “indiscernible to the average game user,” making the plaintiff’s copyright expression insufficiently observable to rise to the level of an actionable taking. Continue reading “Court Sides With Video Game Producer Over The Use Of Athlete’s Tattoos”
As a part of our ongoing series in keeping our clients and friends abreast of various changes to policies and laws resulting from COVID-19, please find the latest updates below. Continue reading “COVID-19 Client Communication, Vol. 4”
SEC Grants Additional Time For Filings Impacted By COVID-19
Written by Blake Baron
Earlier this month, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) provided conditional regulatory relief to those public companies impacted by COVID-19 (novel coronavirus) with a 45-day extension to file certain SEC filings that would have been otherwise due between March 1, 2020 and April 30, 2020. The SEC announced today that it was modifying that prior relief to cover certain filings due on or before July 1, 2020. The SEC acknowledged that many companies’ operations continue to be significantly impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which may result in difficulties for those companies to meet their applicable SEC filing deadlines. Continue reading “COVID-19 Causes Coverage”
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