Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1361377
11 February, 2021 Strategic Update on EMEA Eastern Europe • In Russia the Covid-19 pandemic brought to the surface certain unresolved regulation problems, and several draft laws are currently being considered by the Russian Parliament to introduce the relevant changes. The issue of remote work is considered as the most pressing at the present time. In contrast to many other jurisdictions, Russian employment law does not explicitly allow a mixed type of work where on some days the employee works in the office and on another days remotely. From a Russian legal perspective, an employee in Russia may be either an ordinary employee (e.g., work at a production site, in an office) or a remote employee (permanently working remotely from home or another place). The draft law proposes allowing two types of remote working: the currently existing permanent remote work and the new temporary remote work (where the employee combines working remotely and working in the office). Western Europe • Germany's vaccination campaign has been one of the slowest in Europe, with only 7% of the population having received at least one vaccine dose in nearly three months. A full year after the start of the outbreak, Germany's government has yet to digitize healthcare data gathering, with regional authorities still struggling to determine who is entitled to receive the shot. The German Economic Institute has reported that the lockdowns have cost the country's economy $299 billion. • France is not under lockdown, but there is a national curfew (18:00-06:00) as its vaccination program has been hampered by logistical bottlenecks and problems with deliveries from vaccine manufacturers. Meanwhile stubbornly high infection rates are hampering French efforts to ease coronavirus restrictions. • Italy is once again struggling with the rapid spread of Covid- 19, this time fueled by new, more contagious variants. A majority of regions including those containing Rome and Milan were classified as high-risk red zones with all residents told to stay home except for work, health or other essential reasons. The extra restrictions will last until Easter. During the Easter weekend all of Italy will become a red zone.