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The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces federal laws regarding discrimination against a job applicant or employee, including the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the EEOC has released guidance for employers on applying these laws to job applicants or employees who may be affected directly by the virus. Some key points from the guidance:
For more information, visit the EEOC’s FAQs regarding COVID-19 at: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/wysk/wysk_ada_rehabilitaion_act_coronavirus.cfm, or download their pandemic preparedness guide at https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/upload/pandemic_flu.pdf.
If you have questions or would like to discuss COVID-19’s effect on you or your business, contact a member of the HBK CPAs & Consultants team.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), has released guidance associated with the COVID-19 outbreak. According to OSHA, the Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 is designed to help employers provide a safe and healthy work environment. Some key points from the guidance:
To download OSHA’s Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19, visit https://www.osha.gov/Publications/OSHA3990.pdf#page=9&zoom=100,65,61
Also, on March 14, OSHA released temporary guidance on healthcare respiratory protection annual fit-testing for N95 filtering facepieces. Due to the supply shortage of N95 filtering facepiece respirators, OSHA is recommending that all healthcare providers take measures to conserve supplies of respirators while safeguarding themselves. OSHA will use discretion enforcing the annual fit testing requirement, as long as employers take proper precautions. To read the full OSHA memo, visit https://www.osha.gov/memos/2020-03-14/temporary-enforcement-guidance-healthcare-respiratory-protection-annual-fit
To read more about OSHA’s standards in relation to COVID-19, visit https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/covid-19/standards.html.
If you have questions or would like to discuss COVID-19’s effect on you or your business, contact a member of the HBK CPAs & Consultants team.
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Sadly the COVID-19 crisis has forced many companies to evaluate workforce capacities and cutback their workforces in terms of reduced hours, furloughs and/or lay-offs. Among the related issues are the affected employees’ benefits. We found the following article from the Alera Group helpful for employers addressing employee benefits during a temporary separation from employment and supposed many of our clients who are owner-operators might benefit from this timely information.
This article is being shared with permission from Marathas Barrow Weatherhead Lent LLP and Alera Group.
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Employers and employees of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York who are affected by the COVID-19 virus have the following resources available:
Pennsylvania –
If you are employed in Pennsylvania and are unable to work because of COVID-19, you may be eligible for Unemployment or Workers’ Compensation benefits. Previously, claimants were not eligible for benefits during their first week of unemployment (the “waiting week.”) This has been suspended; eligible claimants may receive benefits for the first week that they are unemployed.
Click the link below for additional information:
https://www.uc.pa.gov/Pages/covid19.aspx
If you believe you may have been exposed to COVID-19 in your workplace, you may be eligible for workers’ compensation (WC).
https://www.uc.pa.gov/COVID-19/Pages/WC-COVID-FAQs.aspx
New York –
The 7-Day waiting period is being waived for Unemployment Insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to COVID-19 closures or quarantines.
Click the link below for additional information:
https://labor.ny.gov/unemploymentassistance.shtm
New York offers both workers compensation and disability insurance. Currently, the website does not offer much guidance regarding the COVID-19.
Click the link below for additional information:
http://www.wcb.ny.gov/content/main/Workers/Workers.jsp
The state of New York will allow some homeowners to skip their mortgage payments for three months in response to the spread of COVID-19.On Thursday, the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) sent a letter to mortgage servicers directing them to provide several relief options in response to the outbreak, including suspending mortgage payments for up to 90 days.
Click the link below for additional information:
https://www.dfs.ny.gov/industry_guidance/industry_letters/il20200319_coronavirus_mortgage_relief
New Jersey –
A person who is out of work because their employer voluntarily closed because of the COVID-19 could be eligible for unemployment insurance.
Click the link below for additional information:
https://myunemployment.nj.gov/
New Jersey has among the most comprehensive Earned Sick Leave, Temporary Disability and Family Leave Insurance laws in the country, which cover all employees – full-time, part-time, temporary and seasonal.
Click the link below for additional information:
https://www.nj.gov/labor/worker-protections/earnedsick/covid.shtml
Small Business Association (SBA) – SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance for small businesses and non-profits. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help pay for fixed debts, payroll and other bills that cannot be paid because of the COVID-19 impact. Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York are among the states that have been approved.
Click the links below for additional information:
https://www.sba.gov/about-sba/sba-newsroom/press-releases-media-advisories/sba-provide-disaster-assistance-loans-small-businesses-impacted-coronavirus-covid-19
https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance
Conclusion:
We will continue to follow developments and provide guidance and clarity surrounding COVID-19 business issues. We are only beginning to understand how to navigate these unprecedented times. For business questions related to or to discuss COVID-19’s effect on your business, contact your HBK advisor.
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On March 18, 2020 the President signed into law the Emergency Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Bill”), H.R. 6201, which provides relief related to the coronavirus. The Bill amends the Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) to provide for two separate paid leave requirements, which will only apply to employers with fewer than 500 employees, and payroll tax credits to help offset the cost. Here is what you need to know:
Brief Overview of the FMLA
Currently, the FMLA provides eligible employees with up to 12 work weeks of unpaid leave per year, and requires group health benefits to be maintained during the leave. An eligible employee is required to have been employed by their employer for a year, worked for 1,250 hours, and worked in a location where there are 50 other employees within a 75-mile radius. Employers subject to the FMLA are those who employ 50 or more employees or at least 20 work weeks in the current or preceding calendar year.
Emergency Paid Sick Leave
The Bill creates a new emergency paid sick leave section within the FMLA that requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide a portion of an employee’s 12 work week FMLA leave as paid leave time. The Department of Labor has the ability to issue regulations that would exempt small businesses with fewer than 50 employees from this requirement. This new section only applies through December 31, 2020. To qualify for the paid leave time, an employee must have been employed for 30 calendar days, which is different from the normal FMLA eligibility requirement.
The employer must provide up to 80 hours (10 business days) of emergency paid sick leave for full-time workers (pro-rated for part-time employees or employees with varying work schedules), subject to the following limitations.
For the following situations, the employee must be paid at their regular rate of pay, with a daily limit of $511, and an aggregate limit (total amount paid) of $5,110:
For the following situations, the employee must be paid 2/3 of their regular rate of pay, with a daily limit of $200 and an aggregate limit of $2,000:
The federal government will be providing a model notice which employers will be required to post at their workplace, informing employees of their right to emergency paid sick leave. Additional guidance will be provided by the Department of Labor detailing how the emergency paid sick leave will be calculated.
It should be noted that eligible employees can use the emergency paid sick leave before using the new public health emergency paid family and medical leave time discussed below.
Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act – Amendment to FMLA
The Bill amends the FMLA to allow employees who have been employed for at least 30 days by employers with fewer than 500 employees with the right to take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave, through December 31, 2020, if the employee is unable to work due to having to care for a son or daughter under age 18 if the child’s school or place of child care has been closed due to the COVID-19 public health emergency. Employers have the ability to elect to exclude health care workers and first responders from taking the public health emergency FMLA.
The first 10 days of the public health emergency leave may be unpaid, though employees may choose to use accrued paid leave. An employer cannot require employees to use this accrued paid leave time before using the public health emergency 12 weeks of leave time. After this 10 day period, employers are required to pay employees 2/3 of their regular rate of pay, capped at $200 per day ($10,000 in the aggregate per employee). Adjustments may be made for employees with varying schedules.
During this 12 week leave time, the covered employers are required to hold an employee’s job open. An exception to this general rule applies for employers with fewer than 25 employees, if the employee’s position no longer exists due to economic conditions or other changes in the employer’s operations that are caused by the COVID-19 crisis, so long as the employer makes reasonable efforts to restore the employee’s job. If those reasonable efforts fail, the employer must agree to reinstate the employee if an equivalent position becomes available within one year.
Payroll Tax Credits
The Bill creates a refundable tax credit against the employer’s portion of Social Security or Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA) tax for amounts paid under the these amendments and additions to the FMLA. The credit is equal to 100% of the compensation paid to employees under these provisions in each calendar quarter, subject to the following:
The payroll tax credit is increased by amounts paid or incurred by the employer in order to maintain a group health plan, to the extent that the amounts paid are excluded from the employee’s gross income under the internal revenue code, and are properly allocable to the respective emergency paid sick leave time, or expanded FMLA wages required to be paid under the Bill. Regulations will provide additional guidance on how this allocation may be made, though the Bill indicates that a pro rata allocation among covered employees and periods of coverage would be treated as properly made.
In addition, the payroll tax credit is increased by the amount of the employer’s liability for Medicare tax on wages that are required to be paid under the Bill.
In order to avoid a double benefit, any amount received as a credit will not be deductible. In addition, to the extent a credit in connection with the wages is allowed under another provision (e.g. the credit for paid family and medical leave under IRC § 45S), the new payroll tax credit will not be available.
Payroll Tax Exemption
Wages that are paid in connection with the above provisions will not be considered wages for the purposes of calculating the employer’s portion of the Social Security or RRTA tax. They are still considered wages for other taxes, including the employee’s portion of Social Security, RRTA, and Medicare taxes.
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