Ally Law – The Commonwealth Parliament of Australia recently passed the Commonwealth Registers Act 2020, which — upon commencement and with amendments to existing legislation — will require directors of Australian companies to apply for and be issued a unique Director Identification Number (DIN).
In recent years, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has launched several fast-track initiatives — including the electronic priority document exchange (PDX) program and the Global PPH and IP5 PPH pilot programs under the Patent Prosecution Highway (PPH) — to minimize fees and help accelerate the patent-examination process. Effective July 2, 2020, a new
For the first time in nearly 40 years, Hong Kong has increased maternity leave, which — together with other legislation passed recently — also provides additional protections for breastfeeding mothers. Under the Employment (Amendment) Bill 2019, passed by the Legislative Council in July 2020, statutory maternity leave under the Employment Ordinance in Hong Kong will
On July 8, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2020-54, which provides guidance to employers on reporting qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). Enacted this past March 2020, the FFCRA generally requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide paid leave due
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States issued a landmark civil rights decision, in three cases that had been consolidated together — Bostock v. Clayton County, Georgia, Altitude Express, Inc. v. Zarda, and R.G & G.R. Harris Funeral Homes, Inc. v. EEOC. The Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act’s mandate that employers cannot
The 25th of May 2020 marks two years since the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force. The GDPR imposes strict obligations on data controllers and processors which are entrusted with the personal data of individuals. Furthermore, it provides several rights to data subjects, through which they are able to hold data controllers accountable
On May 19, 2020, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) updated its enforcement guidance with respect to the recording of occupational illnesses, specifically cases of COVID-19. Generally, under OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements, employers are required to log a “recordable illness” on an OSHA Form 300. According to OSHA’s updated guidance, an employee’s positive COVID-19 diagnosis must be recorded
The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020 and entered a Brexit transition period, which runs until the end of December 2020. During this transition period, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) will continue to apply in the UK and UK businesses should continue to follow existing guidance on it. What happens at
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) conducts various surveys of U.S. multinational companies and U.S. affiliates of foreign enterprises to generate statistical information regarding the global business activities of U.S. based companies and the impact of foreign investment by non-U.S. based companies. Generally, individuals and entities are only required to complete and file a BEA
The execution of a search warrant is a powerful evidence gathering tool for law enforcement officers. The power to search is regarded by the courts as an exceptional power, to be exercised only under certain conditions. The legislative conditions that govern the issue of search warrants are observed by courts to be an important safeguard
