If you have forgotten your password, go to the login screen on the Paylocity website and click on the “Help” link at the top right, and select “Forgot Password”. If you have forgotten your User ID or have been locked out of Paylocity for too many failed login attempts, you may request a password reset by giving us a call during regular business hours.

Payroll Online will give you secure access to your personal payroll data and allow you to make changes to your employee information.  If you have NOT setup a Paylocity account during your new hire process, in order to access Payroll Online you must first register. You will need to provide your Company ID, then just answer the questions as prompted to complete your registration.  (For more information please see the Self Service Employee Log In Document and the Self Service Portal Document.)

Payroll invoicing is done the Monday prior to the Friday employee payroll date.  Please note that draw dates may change subject to bank holidays. To see the invoicing/payroll dates and information for the current year, CLICK HERE

SB 7 Virginia Minimum wage

The Minimum wage increases to $12.00 per hour effective January 1, 2023; to $13.50 per hour effective January 1, 2025; and to $15.00 per hour effective January 1, 2026. For January 1, 2027, and thereafter, the annual minimum wage shall be adjusted to reflect increases in the consumer price index.

Read more…

Laws for overtime qualification change sometimes, and it may be confusing to keep up with.  Overtime sometimes has more to do with the job requirements than employee status.  If you need clarification about an employee, CHECK THIS GUIDE from the US Department of Labor.

Outstaffing will withdraw invoice amounts from a designated Client account.  It may be a savings or a checking account; you may also choose to set up a separate payroll account just for that purpose.  Outstaffing guarantees the integrity of Direct Debit.  Should you ever need to change the account information, simply fill  out the Direct Debit Authorization Form, sign and submit.

Many times, the owner of a business is not on the payroll. He draws money from a company account. But the owner may find that it is a benefit to be added to the payroll of his or her company. Once on the payroll, the owner can leverage all the benefits offered by Outstaffing: Medical, Vision, Dental, 401(k), etc. In addition, rather than having to pay estimated taxes on amounts drawn, taxes can be taken from payroll checks, along with premiums for other benefits. When needed, check stubs and reports are readily available! To add an owner to the payroll, simply fill out a new hire form, just as you would any other employee!

Sometimes contact information changes, and it’s easy to forget to let folks know. It’s important that, if any of your contact information changes (e.g., phone numbers, email addresses, business/home addresses), you notify Outstaffing by email or phone so that we can update our records. By following this important procedure, Outstaffing will be able to contact you when needed without delays.

It is fundamental to your business to notify Outstaffing immediately when there are changes to your work locations. This includes a change of office address or an additional business location, and if you have employers that work out of a home office, you need to clarify that as well. Why? Because insurance carriers need to maintain records of your locations for their purposes. Your Workers’ Comp plan may be nullified if, for instance, they are insuring workers at one location, and that location changes, or they are not notified of a business expansion.

Additionally, the Outstaffing contract states that you must notify us immediately upon addition or expansion of work locations. Email us or give us a call.

Some of the statutes and regulations enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) require that notices be provided to employees and/or posted in the workplace. It is your responsibility to acquire and display these posters, according to your business type. The Department of Labor provides free electronic copies of the required Federal posters and some of the posters are available in languages other than English. States also provide free printable versions of their compliance posters.

• Federal Labor Compliance Posters – printable
• Virginia Poster Information – printable
• All states – printable

One of the main benefits of working with Outstaffing as a business partner is that we bring our payroll/HR expertise to the table to support your business. Therefore, should you find yourself dealing with a difficult or uncomfortable situation, you can call us and we will work through it together. We understand that conflicts can arise in the workplace with employees, and we want to assist and advise you in coming to a resolution. Experience tells us that the earlier an issue is addressed, the more favorable the resolution is for all concerned. In many cases, the correct handling of what appears to be a problem is just restating expectations and improving communications.

A few common issues facing employers include:

• Excessive tardiness
• Not performing tasks
• Attitude
• Rudeness to clients and co-employees
• Lack of focus
• Time management
• Facebook, texting, etc., at work
• Theft and embezzlement

Please give us a call if you need to discuss these or any other employee issues.

Employer Credits Available for Leave Offered Through March 2021

An appropriations bill, signed into law by President Donald Trump on Dec. 27, 2020, does not extend the paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave mandates created by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These leave requirements expire on Dec. 31, 2020.
 
However, the bill does extend the time limit for employer tax credits for FFCRA employee leave. As a result, tax credits will be available to fund FFCRA leave offered by employers through March 31, 2021.
 
The FFCRA’s leave mandates require businesses with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for their own health needs or to care for others. The act also requires an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child whose school or place of care was closed, or child care provider was closed or unavailable due to COVID-19.

The FFCRA employer tax credits cover certain costs of the employee leave required by the law; specifically: employee wages, health plan expenses allocable to those wages, and the employer’s portion of the Medicare tax related to the wages.

Source: HR360

Click Here for the FFCRA Leave Request Form

For more details concerning the original FFCRA information on Outstaffing’s Client News page, click here.

For this and all your Client News, see our Client News Page.

On Oct. 13, 2020, the Small Business Administration (SBA) published a new set of answers to frequently asked questions about the forgiveness of loans issued under the federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). 

The PPP was created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) as a response to the current COVID-19 pandemic and was designed to provide a direct incentive for employers to keep their workers on the payroll. Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards.

By law, the PPP closed on Aug. 8, 2020. The PPP operated by issuing loans to small employers. These PPP loans may be forgiven if the employee retention and fund use criteria for these loans are met. 

The SBA, in consultation with the Department of the Treasury, is providing this guidance to address borrower and lender questions concerning forgiveness of PPP loans, as provided for under section 1106 of the CARES Act, as amended by the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (Flexibility Act).  

Employers that received loans through the PPP should review these FAQs carefully as they submit their applications for forgiveness of these loans. PPP loans will be fully forgiven if the funds were used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent and utilities.  

WASHINGTON — On August 8, 2020, The Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued the Memorandum on Deferring Payroll Tax Obligations in Light of the Ongoing COVID-19 Disaster.  Since that date, Outstaffing has been seeking clarification concerning the impact on our clients and employees of this Executive Order.  As of this date, guidance regarding the implementation is still unclear.

Outstaffing’s position, given the uncertain impact on both clients and employees, is that as a company WE WILL NOT BE ELECTING TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PROGRAM.  However, if you, as our client, feel differently and want to discuss this for your employees, please contact us immediately.

Outstaffing, in consultation with Paylocity, procured the sample letter below that more clearly explains our position.  It is in the form of a sample template that you may use to notify your employees if you so wish.

Valued Employees,

On August 8, 2020, President Trump issued a Presidential memorandum allowing deferment of the employee’s portion of Social Security Tax withheld from their paychecks.

Employers are obligated to pay social security tax at a rate of 12.4% which includes an employee and employee split of 6.2% each.  Employers withhold the Employee share whenever wages are paid.  Any amounts the Employer is unable to collect form the employee, must be paid by the Employer by the due date regardless of whether the amount was collected from the employee.

Due to the liability of the Employer, the option to offer the deferment lies first with us as your employer. The deferral is not a tax credit, but rather a delay or temporary “tax holiday” in imposing the tax on the employee’s paycheck withholding until 2021. The deferral is limited to wages paid under $4000 per bi-weekly pay period or equivalent for any employee who has not reached the Social Security wage base in 2020 of $137,700.00. Whatever taxes are not withheld for the remainder of 2020, will begin to be collected starting in January 2021.

At this time our organization has made the decision to not utilize this tax deferment.  We want to share with you, our employees the reasons for this decision.

Initially eligible employees would in the short-term see decrease in tax withholding and an increase in the amount of  wages in their net take home pay; however, employees would than experience an increase in their tax withholdings and decrease in their net take home pay January – April 2021, when the deferred taxes would have to begin to be withheld to repay the amount deferred.  From January 1 through April 30, 2021 you would have your normal social security tax amount withheld in addition to the amount you deferred between September 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 which would result in a smaller paychecks for the first four month of 2021.

As your employer we would be responsible to begin collecting your deferred social security taxes beginning January 1, 2021 through April 30, 2021. Additionally, if we were unable to collect your deferred taxes through the regular payroll process, we would be liable to pay the deferred taxes and that uncollected amount of deferred taxes would result in being taxable income for you as the employee.

After much discussion and consideration, we feel setting up the deferral could pose a delayed financial burden on our employees and an administrative burden to our organization.

Should you have any concerns or questions about this decision please reach out to Phil Mauger at Outstaffing.  888-OUTSTAFF or 888-688-7823

Thank you,

As this is a developing situation, our position may change.  We will keep you advised.

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) Flexibility Act was signed into law on Friday, June 5, 2020. This act creates additional flexibility in the original PPP rules.

The extension provides additional time for employers to apply for a PPP loan under the program and to use the loan funds. Additionally, the Act reduces the 75% payroll costs rule to 60%, allowing borrowers to spend more loan proceeds on non-payroll costs and still be eligible for forgiveness. Lastly, the Act provides a safe harbor from the reduction in loan forgiveness amount due to a reduction in FTE employees if certain conditions are met.

Paylocity is revising PPP Loan Reports to ensure alignment with the PPP Flexibility Act changes. Outstaffing will continue to work with you to provide PPP support and loan forgiveness reports as needed.

How you use your PPP funds will determine the amount of loan forgiveness you can receive. The SBA guidance on PPP loan forgiveness continues to evolve and we encourage you to monitor this guidance and what it means for you and your business. For now, we’re sharing what we know in order to help you better understand loan forgiveness and how to use your PPP funds.

1. PPP loans will be forgiven if you meet the criteria for how your loan proceeds were applied in the period after you received your PPP loan funding:

• Payroll costs, including benefits
• Interest on mortgage obligations (for mortgage loans entered before February 15, 2020)
• Rent (under lease agreements in force before February 15, 2020)
• Utilities (service began before February 15, 2020)

The SBA’s PPP rules require that at least 75% of forgivable loan amounts be attributed to payroll costs. So, no more than 25% of forgivable loan amounts can be attributed to non-payroll costs. The SBA may issue more guidance adding additional requirements for borrowers, including demonstrating eligibility to receive PPP loan funding.

2. The loan forgiveness amount depends on your documented payroll costs and non-payroll costs over an eight-week period. The eight-week period begins on the date Truist made the first disbursement of the PPP loan to your business.

3. If use of all, or a portion of, PPP funding doesn’t meet the criteria for loan forgiveness, you’ll continue to owe principal and interest on your PPP loan. You’ll also be ineligible for loan forgiveness and continue to owe principal and interest if you don’t maintain staff and payroll during specified periods. Specifically:

• Number of staff – Loan forgiveness will be reduced if the full-time employee headcount is reduced compared to earlier, specified periods.
• Level of payroll – Loan forgiveness will also be reduced if salaries and wages are decreased compared to an earlier, specified period by more than 25% for any employee that made less than $100,000 annualized in 2019.
• Re-hiring – Borrowers have until June 30, 2020 to restore full-time employment and salary levels for any changes made between February 15, 2020 and April 26, 2020.

4. Once we have the guidance we need from the SBA regarding additional requirements to qualify you for loan forgiveness, we’ll contact you about how to request loan forgiveness. For now, we strongly encourage you to keep detailed records of how your business is using PPP funds. Clear documentation will help you through the loan forgiveness process.

For more information on loan forgiveness and the PPP, please continue to visit the SBA’s website as well as the CARES Act section of the Treasury’s website.

*Source: Truist Bank

THIS IS A SUMMARY OF “BEST PRACTICE” OPINIONS WE HAVE GATHERED TO DATE

Outstaffing understands that this is a very difficult time for you and your employees. Please remember that Outstaffing is here to work with you, and that together we can navigate this volatile situation we are all facing. If you have any questions about any aspect of your payroll and benefits, please call me (Phil Mauger).

NOTIFYING EMPLOYEES:  We think the key here is to be available to the employee, understanding that factors outside the workplace may be impacting their ability to work. Make it clear to them that you and Outstaffing are available to support them. We will work with you to review each case, and together we will determine the eligibility of each employee.

FFCRA WORKPLACE POSTER:  The FFCRA does impose a workplace posting requirement. Each covered employer must post a notice of the FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on its premises. An employer may satisfy this requirement by emailing or direct mailing this notice to employees, or posting this notice on an employee information internal or external website.  PLEASE MAKE THIS AVAILABLE TO YOUR EMPLOYEES. GET THE POSTER HERE

FFCRA SICK AND EFMLA CALCULATIONS:  Outstaffing has been working closely with Paylocity to calculate and populate the eligible sick pay balances for every employee. These calculations are based on a 6-month lookback. The employees can view sick pay balances by logging onto the Paylocity website, under the time-off tab. At the client level they can be reviewed on the Accrual Balance Report. Extended FMLA may also be applicable, if Sick Pay under FFCRA is exhausted. In that case, Outstaffing will calculate the EFMLA balance available and populate the payroll system accordingly.

NOTIFYING OUTSTAFFING:  You must notify Outstaffing immediately if you feel any of your staff (our employees) may be eligible to be paid under FFRCA. Each situation needs to be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, and if deemed eligible, all appropriate documentation must be provided and detailed records must be kept. Call us as soon as you feel that pay under FFCRA may be required.

DOCUMENTING EMPLOYEE REQUESTS:  Employees must provide documentation in support of each paid sick leave request. If the employee is taking expanded family and medical leave due to caring for a child whose school is closed or whose child care provider is unavailable, employers should ask the employee for a notice of closure or unavailability from their child’s school or child care provider. It’s important to retain these records if businesses intend to claim a tax credit for the leave. (READ MORE BELOW.) Please use the following forms when reporting FFCRA leave requests to Outstaffing.

Download and complete the fillable files as needed:
FFCRA: Emergency Sick Pay – Leave Request Form
FFCRA: Emergency FMLA – Leave Request Form  

 PAYROLL TAX CREDITS:  Under FFCRA, employers are entitled to a full or partial tax credit to cover the expense of paying an affected employee. These tax credits will be calculated as each payroll is processed and, like the unemployment costs, will be added to a subsequent payroll as an FFCRA credit.

WHEN DOES THIS START:   As you will see from reading the rest of this article below, the mandatory FFCRA went into effect on April 1, 2020. Unfortunately, Outstaffing and Paylocity had not fully implemented or formulated a working solution for this in time for the last payroll (4/17), which covered the pay period 3/29/20 to 4/11/20. If you feel any of your employees should have been covered by FFCRA during the prior period, we will work with you to review the individual situation and will make payroll adjustments accordingly. Please call Outstaffing immediately if you feel this delay in implementation affects you or any of your staff. 

FFCRA OVERVIEW – IMPACT ON SMALL BUSINESS

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”), signed by President Trump on March 18, 2020, provides small and midsize employers refundable tax credits that reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing paid sick and family leave wages to their employees for leave related to COVID-19.

The FFCRA gives businesses with fewer than 500 employees (referred to throughout these FAQs as “Eligible Employers”) funds to provide employees with paid sick and family and medical leave for reasons related to COVID-19, either for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. Workers may receive up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for their own health needs or to care for others and up to an additional ten weeks of paid family leave to care for a child whose school or place of care is closed or child care provider is closed or unavailable due to COVID-19 precautions. The FFCRA covers the costs of this paid leave by providing small businesses with refundable tax credits. Certain self-employed individuals in similar circumstances are entitled to similar credits.

READ MORE ABOUT RELATED TAX CREDITS FOR REQUIRED PAID LEAVE HERE. 

This IRS article provides a good overview as to what FFCRA is and how it works. Please read the following sections in the article:

• Overview of COVID-19-Related Tax Credits for Small and Midsize Businesses
• Overview of Paid Sick Leave Refundable Credit
• Overview of Paid Family Leave Refundable Credit
• Payment of the Sick and Family Leave Credit
• Basic FAQs

EMPLOYEE – REQUESTING PAY UNDER FFCRA

What documents do I need to give my employer to get paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave?

When requesting paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave, you must provide your employer either orally or in writing the following information:

• Your name;
• The date(s) for which you request leave;
• The reason for leave; and
• A statement that you are unable to work because of the above reason.

If you request leave because you are subject to a quarantine or isolation order or to care for an individual subject to such an order, you should additionally provide the name of the government entity that issued the order. If you request leave to self-quarantine based on the advice of a health care provider or to care for an individual who is self-quarantining based on such advice, you should additionally provide the name of the health care provider who gave advice.

If you request leave to care for your child whose school or place of care is closed, or whose child care provider is unavailable, you must also provide:

• The name of your child;
• The name of the school, place of care, or child care provider that has closed or become unavailable; and
• A statement that no other suitable person is available to care for your child.

In addition to the above information, you must also provide to your employer written documentation in support of your paid sick leave as specified in applicable IRS forms, instructions, and information.

What records do I need to keep when my employee takes paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave?

Regardless of whether you grant or deny a request for paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave, you must document the request.

READ MORE HERE

The paid leave provisions of the recently enacted Families First Coronavirus Response Act will go into effect April 1, 2020, according to Q&As released by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Specifically, the guidance states these provisions apply to leave taken between April 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020.

The Act includes two types of paid employee leave for reasons related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic:

• Expanded federal Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave to provide workers with partially paid leave for child care purposes.
• Up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for specific reasons caused by COVID-19, including the employee’s own COVID-19 illness.

Effective Date

The language of the Act states that the leave provisions take effect “not later than 15 days after the date of enactment.” The Act was passed on March 18, 2020. Sources had interpreted this language to mean the Act would take effect on April 2, 2020. The new guidance from the DOL clarifies that the leave requirements take effect April 1.

SOURCE:  © 2019 HR 360, Inc.

THIS IS A SUMMARY OF “BEST PRACTICE” OPINIONS WE HAVE GATHERED TO DATE.

Due to the uncertainty regarding potential congressional action dictating whether and how furloughed workers will be able to access federal paid sick, family and medical leave resources, employers are strongly urged to place employees on temporary leave and advise them that they expect to have work available within 120 days, as opposed to terminating them. There is no additional cost to employers; employees remain eligible for UI benefits through the state; and employees may remain eligible for potential federal assistance.

Steps for employers placing employees on temporary unpaid leave:

• Rather than terminating the employee, specify a temporary / indefinite leave with return to work expected within 120 days.
• Do not create a contractual obligation to bring the employee back to work – let the employee know that the situation is fluid and subject to change.
• Notify Outstaffing immediately of any employees who you place on leave, or who are unable to work because they are sick, quarantined, immunocompromised, or have an unanticipated family care responsibility. You should inform them that they are eligible for unemployment insurance benefits.
• Ensure employees are aware that when they file for unemployment they should state that this is a temporary layoff. As Outstaffing is your PEO, they must complete the application specifying that their employer is Outstaffing, Inc., P.O. Box 1099, Chatham, VA 24531 (EIN#: 54-1858052). 
• Get each employee’s up-to-date contact information (mailing address, personal email and home/cell telephone numbers). Please send immediately to Outstaffing.
• Appoint a single or limited number of individuals at your business who will field questions, and communicate that information to employees. Keep a tally of all questions and answers. Suggest they call Outstaffing if they have any unemployment or benefits continuation questions.
• Please keep your employees, and Outstaffing, informed of all decisions you make concerning closing/opening business operations or payroll and benefits changes that may affect them and their families.

Outstaffing will be available to you as we navigate our way through these difficult times together. Things will undoubtedly change, but we have been supporting our clients for over 25 years, and we will stay strong with you during these trying times. Please call if you have any questions.

SOURCE:  © 2019 HR 360, Inc.

Employers are entitled to a refundable tax credit equal to 100 percent of qualified paid sick leave wages paid by an employer for each calendar quarter, applied against the employer’s portion of Social Security and Medicare taxes. This credit only applies to Emergency Paid Sick Leave wages. The credit amount varies depending on whether the sick leave is taken for the employee’s own illness, or to care for a family member:

• For the employee’s own illness, the amount of qualified sick leave wages taken into account for each employee is capped at $511 per day and $5,110 annually.
• For amounts paid to employees caring for a family member, the amount of qualified sick leave wages taken into account for each employee is capped at $200 per day, and $2,000 annually.
• For both the emergency paid sick and paid family leave, the credit shall be increased by the employer’s share of medical premiums associated with leave payments

SOURCE: Paylocity Article ID: PCTY-84561

Employers with fewer than 500 employees must provide employees who’ve been with the organization for 30 days or more the right take up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. The first two weeks may be unpaid, or paid with Emergency Paid Sick Leave as detailed above, and the remaining 10 weeks are paid through Emergency FMLA, at a rate of two-thirds the employee’s regular rate of pay. This time may only be used if an employee can’t work, or telework, because they need to care for a child whose school or place of care is closed due to COVID-19. This benefit is limited to $200 per day, which a cap of $10,000 dollars total.

SOURCE: Paylocity Article ID: PCTY-84561

This section requires employers with fewer than 500 employees to provide employees two weeks of paid sick leave, paid at the employee’s regular rate for their own sickness or care; or paid at two-thirds the employee’s regular rate to care for a family member or to care for a child whose school or place of care has closed due to the coronavirus. All employees, regardless of their tenure with the company, are entitled to this time.

Full-time employees are entitled to 2 weeks (80 hours) and part-time employees are entitled to the typical number of hours that they work in a typical two-week period. If the employee is using this time for their own illness, the benefit is limited to $511 per day, and $5,110 annually. If the employee is using this time to care for a family member, the benefit is limited to $200 per day, and $2,000 annually.

SOURCE: Paylocity Article ID: PCTY-84561

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) includes mandatory employer-provided emergency sick pay and emergency paid family leave, as well as other provisions not related to the employment relationship such as free COVID-19 testing

• A credit will be provided to employers to reimburse 100% of the qualified sick and leave wages as a credit against Employer Social Security Tax
• The President signed the Act on March 19th, and the Act will be effective within 15 days, on a date determined by the Secretary of Treasury, and does not currently contain any retroactive applicability
• The emergency sick pay and family leave requirements expire on 12/31/2020
• Paylocity is developing tools to support these requirements, and will be prepared to handle these changes by the effective date. As of yet, the effective date is unknown, but will be April 2nd at the latest.
• Congress is developing additional measures this week, which may include payments sent directly to taxpayers and bailouts for heavily-impacted industries.

SOURCE: Paylocity Article ID: PCTY-84561

In most cases, you do not need to shut down your facility. If it has been less than 7 days since the sick employee has been in the facility, close off any areas used for prolonged periods of time by the sick person:

• Wait 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting to minimize potential for other employees being exposed to respiratory droplets. If waiting 24 hours is not feasible, wait as long as possible. 
• During this waiting period, open outside doors and windows to increase air circulation in these areas.  If it has been 7 days or more since the sick employee used the facility, additional cleaning and disinfection is not necessary. Continue routinely cleaning and disinfecting all high-touch surfaces in the facility.

Follow the CDC cleaning and disinfection recommendations:

• Clean dirty surfaces with soap and water before disinfecting them.
• To disinfect surfaces, use products that meet EPA criteria for use against SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and are appropriate for the surface.
• Always wear gloves and gowns appropriate for the chemicals being used when you are cleaning and disinfecting.
• You may need to wear additional PPE depending on the setting and disinfectant product you are using. For each product you use, consult and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for use.

Determine which employees may have been exposed to the virus and may need to take additional precautions:

• Inform employees of their possible exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace but maintain confidentiality as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
• Most workplaces should follow the Public Health Recommendations for Community-Related Exposure and instruct potentially exposed employees to stay home for 14 days, telework if possible, and self-monitor for symptoms.
• Critical infrastructure workplaces should follow the guidance on Implementing Safety Practices for Critical Infrastructure Workers Who May Have Had Exposure to a Person with Suspected or Confirmed COVID-19. Employers in critical infrastructure also have an obligation to manage potentially exposed workers’ return to work in ways that best protect the health of those workers, their co-workers, and the general public.

More Information from the CDC.

Source:  HR360

As you navigate the PPP loan process, this letter may provide your lender with help in addressing the various forms they need from you.  Print as many copies as you feel necessary.

PPP Outstaffing – Client Relationship Letter (1)

Funds are provided in the form of loans that will be fully forgiven when used for payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities (due to likely high subscription, at least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll). Loan payments will also be deferred for six months. No collateral or personal guarantees are required. Neither the government nor lenders will charge small businesses any fees.

Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels. Forgiveness will be reduced if full-time headcount declines, or if salaries and wages decrease.

Small businesses with 500 or fewer employees—including nonprofits, veterans organizations, tribal concerns, self-employed individuals, sole proprietorships, and independent contractors— are eligible. Businesses with more than 500 employees are eligible in certain industries.

Starting April 3, 2020, small businesses and sole proprietorships can apply. Starting April 10, 2020, independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply. We encourage you to apply as quickly as you can because there is a funding cap.

You can apply through any existing SBA 7(a) lender or through any federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, and Farm Credit System institution that is participating. Other regulated lenders will be available to make these loans once they are approved and enrolled in the program. You should consult with your local lender as to whether it is participating. All loans will have the same terms regardless of lender or borrower. A list of participating lenders as well as additional information and full terms can be found at www.sba.gov.

The Paycheck Protection Program is implemented by the Small Business Administration with support from the Department of the Treasury. Lenders should also visit www.sba.gov or www.coronavirus.gov for more information.

The above overview of the Payroll Protection Program can also be found here.

More Information

The following are links to other information you may find helpful in navigating these difficult times.

BORROWER FACT SHEET FOR PPP LOANS

ENTREPRENEUR WEBSITE ARTICLE

In response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, small business owners in all U.S. states, Washington D.C., and territories are eligible to apply for an Economic Injury Disaster Loan advance of up to $10,000.

The SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan program provides small businesses with working capital loans of up to $2 million that can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. The loan advance will provide economic relief to businesses that are currently experiencing a temporary loss of revenue. Funds will be made available within three days of a successful application, and this loan advance will not have to be repaid.

To apply for a COVID-19 Economic Injury Disaster Loan, click here.

SOURCE:  sba.gov

The Paycheck Protection Program prioritizes millions of Americans employed by small businesses by authorizing up to $349 billion toward job retention and certain other expenses.

Small businesses and eligible nonprofit organizations, Veterans organizations, and Tribal businesses described in the Small Business Act, as well as individuals who are self-employed or are independent contractors, are eligible if they also meet program size standards.

Under this program:

• Eligible recipients may qualify for a loan up to $10 million determined by 8 weeks of prior average payroll plus an additional 25% of that amount.
• Loan payments will be deferred for six months.
• If you maintain your workforce, SBA will forgive the portion of the loan proceeds that are used to cover the first 8 weeks of payroll and certain other expenses following loan origination.

Click here to learn more.

SOURCE:  sba.gov

PLEASE SHARE WITH YOUR EMPLOYEES!

UNITED HEALTHCARE

Member cost-sharing waived for COVID-19 through May 31

ANTHEM

COVID-19 SEP extended thorugh April 15

SOURCE: GUARDIAN Email “Guardian to cover your employees with reduced work hours”

Anthem opened a Special Enrollment Period (SEP) from now until April 3, 2020 to make benefits available to employees in Fully Insured Small and Large Groups who previously waived participation in employer-sponsored plans. Anthem Balanced Funding plans are included in the SEP. State eligibility guidelines will apply.

This SEP is in response to COVID-19. It’s another way Anthem is helping people get the care they need.

Who’s eligible?
Employees who were eligible for benefits during your Open Enrollment are eligible for this SEP if they had previously waived coverage.

How it works
You’ll follow the standard process of sending updated enrollments to Anthem, just as you would for any qualifying event or enrollment period, through your elected format of 834s, the EmployerAccess portal, or other approved methods.

SOURCE: ANTHEM Email “Special Enrollment open…” – 3/25/20