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Your
Monthly Newsletter from Integrated Benefit Solutions
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April 2020
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New Coronavirus Relief Laws Require Paid Employee
Leave
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 As part of sweeping legislation
signed into law by President Trump on March 18, 2020, two laws
were enacted that provide workers with paid leave for reasons
related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
One of the new leave provisions, the “Emergency Family and
Medical Leave Expansion Act,” allows 12 weeks of partially
compensated FMLA leave to care for a child whose school or child
care facility has been closed due to COVID-19. The leave applies
only to workers who have been employed by their current employer
for 30 days.
The other new law providing employee leave, the “Emergency Paid
Sick Leave Act,” requires employers to provide 80 hours of paid
sick time to employees in specified circumstances, including:
- A quarantine or isolation
order for the employee or someone the employee is caring
for, or medical advice to self-quarantine;
- When the employee has
symptoms of COVID-19; or
- When the employee’s child’s
school or child care facility is
closed.
Employers with 500 employees or more are exempt from
the laws, and employers may exclude employees who are health care
providers and emergency responders. The legislation also allows
for future regulations exempting businesses with fewer than 50
employees from providing leave for child care
reasons if the leave would jeopardize the viability of the
business.
The laws take effect within 15 days of passage;
the leave benefits will expire on Dec. 31, 2020.
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Tax Day Moved to July 15
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 The Treasury Department and the IRS issued new
guidance related to federal tax payments and coronavirus disease
2019 (COVID-19).
According to the guidance, “all individual and other
non-corporate tax filers” can defer federal tax payments of up to
$1 million until July 15, 2020, (normally April 15) without
interest or penalties. Corporations have a similar deferment
option of up to $10 million.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the tax filing deadline
would also move to July 15, giving Americans three more months
than the original deadline. He stressed that individuals should
file sooner rather than later if they wished to see a tax return
in a timely fashion. The administration says this guidance will
result in nearly $300 billion of additional liquidity in the economy.
What’s next?
Employers don’t need to make any changes
at the moment. This guidance is intended to help reduce the
economic burden of COVID-19, so employers may take advantage of
this new deferment option as they see fit. The IRS and Treasury
Department said they will continue to update policies and issue
additional guidance as needed during this time of crisis.
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Easing Employee Stress Surrounding the Coronavirus
Pandemic
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 The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic,
which was first detected in Wuhan, China in late December 2019,
has now spread to over 150 countries, including the United
States.
As the number of confirmed cases increases daily, employers,
employees and their families are experiencing immense
uncertainty. In uncertain times such as these, employees are
looking for guidance wherever they can find it. Employers can
help calm some of their employees’ fears by taking the following
actions:
- Acknowledge employee fears
surrounding their jobs and the company, but also reassure
them of their value to the company and the company’s desire
to keep them as members of the team.
- Be open with employees about
management decisions and ask for suggestions to rectify
problems.
- Provide as much information
as possible about the pandemic.
- Highlight employee benefits
that employees might not know about to relieve any financial
stress.
- Encourage employees to take
advantage of any telemental health
services to preserve their mental well-being.
- Communicate the future of
the business with employees often—in meetings, on the
company intranet site, in newsletters and in blogs.
- Be empathetic in your
communications, as every employee’s situation may be
different.
In these uncertain times, it’s
imperative that you clearly communicate your business’s plans as
frequently as possible. It’s not
possible for you to control the pandemic, but it is possible for
you to help ease the stress your employees are experiencing.
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How to Conduct a Job Interview
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The
most important tasks in conducting a job interview are preparing
questions and evaluating candidate answers. However, there
are other key items you can attend to that will ensure a
successful job interview. Learn the action steps you need to know
by watching the video below.
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