Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance for Businesses

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Perkins Coie
Perkins Coie LLP
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Latest from Coronavirus (COVID-19): Guidance for Businesses

By Heather Sager, Jill Ripke, and Jessica Millar On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) published its 33-page COVID-19 Employer Playbook for a Safe Reopening. The Playbook “provides guidance for employers to help them plan and prepare for reopening their business and to support a safe, clean environment for workers and customers.” The Playbook does not supplant existing employer obligations or employee rights. In preparing and continuing any…
By Jill Ripke and Katelyn Sullivan On July 24, 2020, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) updated its DFEH Employment Information on COVID-19 FAQ in accordance with the ever-changing nature of the pandemic. The DFEH guidance is aimed at answering “frequently asked questions about how to keep workplaces safe during the COVID-19 pandemic while also upholding civil rights.” The FAQ addresses a number of issues for employers arising out of the pandemic,…
By Jill Ripke, Lauren Kulpa, Brittany Sachs and Katelyn Sullivan On July 23, 2020, the CDC issued guidance for K-12 school administrators to safely return to school in the fall of 2020. The CDC update is expressly intended as an aid for these administrators “as they consider how to protect the health, safety, and wellbeing of students, teachers, other school staff, their families and communities.” But the guidance may also highlight important issues…
By KoKo Huang, Gregory McCall and Asasia Pierce The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced a further 30-day extension of flexible Form I-9 inspection procedures, through August 19, 2020. As previously detailed, on March 19, 2020, DHS began allowing certain employers to defer the physical presence requirement of I-9 documentation inspection and temporarily allowed electronic or remote I-9 documentation review. These provisions were originally set to expire on May 19 but were…
By Lauren Kulpa, Jill Ripke, and Brittany Sachs   On July 17, the CDC updated its guidance on when persons with COVID-19, or those who have symptoms of COVID-19, may discontinue home isolation. The updated three-part standard is less restrictive than its previous iteration. A summary of the evidence and rationale for these changes is described here. Old Standard New Standard At least 10 days have passed since symptoms first appeared At…
By KoKo Huang, Gregory McCall and Asasia Pierce Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has reversed its July 6, 2020 announcement that nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not remain in the United States if they are taking a full online course load. As noted in our prior blog post, several universities—including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)—challenged this directive in court. Other lawsuits soon followed. During…
By KoKo Huang, Gregory McCall and Asasia Pierce The Trump administration has implemented numerous immigration proposals via executive order in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, President Trump has signed the following immigration-related executive orders, all which are currently in effect: On January 31, 2020, a proclamation barring individuals from China from entering the United States. On February 29, 2020, a proclamation suspending entry of individuals from Iran into the United States. On March…
By KoKo Huang, Gregory McCall and Asasia Pierce On July 6, 2020, the Student Exchange Visitor Program of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that nonimmigrant F-1 and M-1 students attending schools operating entirely online may not remain in the United States if taking a full online course load. Subject to certain restrictions, F-1 students who are attending schools adopting a hybrid model with a mixture of online and in-person classes may remain in the…
By KoKo Huang, Gregory McCall, and Asasia Pierce On June 29, 2020, President Trump issued an amendment to his June 22, 2020, proclamation which temporarily suspended entry of certain nonimmigrant groups into the United States as a result of the COVID-19-related economic crisis. The proclamation originally exempted foreign nationals who, as of June 24, had a valid visa in any category. The amendment narrows the scope of individuals exempt from the ban to…
Economic development in Great Britain
British flag with exchange rate tables and graphs on economic development
By Jim Davis, Norton Cutler, and Bradley Dlatt The insurance industry in the United States continues to thwart legislative solutions for disputed COVID-19-related losses under property/business interruption policies and resists efforts to group lawsuits together into multi-district federal litigation or class actions. Meanwhile, the independent regulator of insurers in the United Kingdom, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is trying to take a more organized and direct approach. Although the FCA indicated that it…