FAQs for Business Owners facing COVID-19 Decisions

By Nicole Martin | March 21, 2020

It’s been a hard week for all Americans and the world. The number one question my team has been answering is the difference between layoff and furlough and nearly 50% of our retained book has deferred billing, put contracts on notice or hold and one global business we have served has sadly already dissolved their business. This too shall pass we pray. Amidst the chaos, we aim to be a positive source of energy. I encourage leaders to share what inspires their courage and purpose in tough times. People need to know what  keeps you vibrant. I happen to Chair the Milwaukee Board of Best & Brightest® Winners. On March 18, we were on a wrap up call following the recent Awards Symposium in Milwaukee. All the Board was able to share some actual response they are putting in practice in response to COVID-19.

A diverse group of employers but the tone was the same.

Solutions included:

  • Flexing Policies if in office still, like “eat at desk”’;
  • “Establishing WORK ZONES” by groups of employees (e.g. Group A, Group B) with “in” and “out” doors by group” so traceability exists if Covid-19 presents and people need to be quarantined;
  • “Establishing rotating schedules” to allow for distancing in R&D labs and manufacturing environments;
  • Also, making sure HR leaders were proactively partnering with business owners to review “Business Continuity Plans” to assure your customers you ARE IN BUSINESS! Yes, many have closed for two weeks but honestly 1 in 10 businesses are shutting down for good right now.
  • For those that are holding the line,  some are holding employee bonuses IF they pay out at end of this quarter typically. While others promise to advance holiday pay and carry the workforce if possible.
  • Most have learned they are not ready to be 100% virtual and this pandemic is forcing it. Our Winners see this as the silver lining. The need for “Remote” or “Work from Home” Protocols and Guidelines were highlighted as some had to “shut down because managers didn’t know how to manage virtual”.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act which includes the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act, where passed on March 18th and go into effect 15 days after signing. These Acts covers private employers with less than 500 employees. Employers with fewer than 50 employees can seek exemption when the imposition of such requirements would “jeopardize the viability of the business.”

Per SHRM, the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act provides employees with paid leave for up to 12 weeks when employees are unable to work because their minor child’s school or child care provider is closed due to Coronavirus. Workers who have been on the payroll for at least 30 calendar days will be eligible for paid leave benefits. The first 10 days is unpaid and the reaming time is capped at $200 a day (or $10,000 total) and the benefit expires at the end of 2020. (Littler)

Under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, employers will need to provide two weeks or 80 hours of paid sick time. This includes and is applicable to

  1. Employees sickened with COVID-19
  2. Employees that have COVID-19 symptoms and are seeking testing
  3. Employees that are caring for a family member with COVID-19
  4. Employees ordered by the government to quarantine or isolate, employees who have been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine
  5. Employees who need to care for a child due to school or childcare provider closing due to COVID-19.

Paid-sick-leave benefits will be immediately available when the law takes effect and capped at $511 a day for an employee’s own care and $200 a day when the employee is caring for someone else. This benefit will also expire at the end of 2020.

Our hope is that the measures that have been taken over the past few weeks will help to minimize the time that employees may need to take under this new legislation. At this time, we encourage employers to continue to look at efforts to enable employees to work remotely so that as the effective date of this new legislation comes into effect employees who are able to work remotely can help sustain business continuity and given their reduced risk of exposure by working from home, this could minimize the amount of time an ill employee would be forced to take given the current guidelines and under the new legislation.

I have asked my team of boosters at HRBOOST® to share some of the FAQ’s we are fielding to our Clients and businesses at large. The landscape is fluid, but we hope there is something here to help you stay calm and stay in business!

(in no particular order)

Q: Do we have to pay someone who self isolates:

A: As an employer you should seek first to understand why the employee is seeking to self-isolate and whether the employee’s job can be completed remotely. If the employee is performing work while self-isolating at home, then you do need to pay them. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires companies to pay employees if they are performing work. As an employer, you can permit them to self-isolate at home without working and therefore without pay. However, if the employee is self-isolating for a qualified reason under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act that becomes effective April 3rd and applies to employers with fewer than 500 employees then you may need to pay a portion of their pay. Part time or Full time have been set forth in the Act.

 

Q: What if employee is not sick but employer tells them to not come to work? Do they have to pay them?

A: If the employee is performing work while self-isolating at home then you do need to pay them. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires companies to pay employees if they are performing work. Employees may be eligible for some pay under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act once it goes into effect.

 

Q: What is the difference between Furlough and Layoff:

 Furlough

A furlough is generally understood to be a temporary layoff, and although a worker can be eligible for unemployment benefits during these times, most states have a waiting period before a worker can collect benefits. As a result, if a furlough is no longer than the waiting period, a worker might not be eligible for unemployment benefits. In other states, workers may only be eligible for partial benefits during a furlough. Typically, If the furlough period is only one week in length,  the worker will not receive any unemployment compensation. A furlough is an alternative to layoff. When an employer furloughs its employees, it requires them to work fewer hours or to take a certain amount of unpaid time off. For example, you may furlough your hourly or nonexempt employees one day a week for the month and pay them for only 32 hours instead of their normal 40 hours each week. Another method of furlough is to require all employees to take a week or two of unpaid leave sometime during the year. In the case of the Coronavirus many are doing two-week closures unpaid.  Employers must be careful when furloughing exempt employees so that they continue to pay them on a salary basis and do not jeopardize their exempt status under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). A furlough that encompasses a full workweek is one way to accomplish this, since the FLSA states that exempt employees do not have to be paid for any week in which they perform no work.

An employer may require all employees to go on furlough, or it may exclude some employees who provide essential services. Generally, the theory is to have the majority of employees share some hardship as opposed to a few employees losing their jobs completely.

Layoff

A layoff is a temporary separation from payroll. An employee is laid off because there is not enough work for him or her to perform. The employer, however, believes that this condition will change and intends to recall the person when work again becomes available. Employees are typically able to collect unemployment benefits while on an unpaid layoff, and frequently an employer will allow employees to maintain benefit coverage for a defined period as an incentive to remain available for recall. This would be at the employers expense in most cases.

 

Q: What if the employee needs take time off to look after a child or a Covid-19 affected family member?

A: If the employee is performing work while self-isolating at home then you do need to pay them. The federal Fair Labor Standards Act requires companies to pay employees if they are performing work. In addition, under the newly passed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that becomes effective April 3rd, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act provides employees with two weeks of paid sick leave in these situations. The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act provides 10 days of unpaid time and then additional compensation for the remaining time for employees who need to be home to take care of child whose school or day care has been closed due to COVID-19.

It is important to note that the Secretary of Labor has the authority to exempt small business with fewer than 50 employees when the imposition of such requirements would “jeopardize the viability of the business.”

 

Q: What if the employee does not want to come to work and feels they are high risk (e.g. Age 60 or older, Diabetic, Cardiovascular Disease, Respiratory Condition or some other underlying health condition)?

A: Determine whether the employee’s job can be completed remotely. If it can, consider allowing the employee to work remotely. If the employee’s job cannot be completed remotely consider paid time off and sick time available to the employee or unpaid time off. Once the Families First Coronavirus Response Act goes into the effect, the employee may be eligible for leave under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act.

 

Q: What do I do as an employer if an employee notifies me that they have tested positive for Covid-19?

A: Employers should inform employees that may have had possible exposure if this person has  been working with others in the workplace. Without disclosing any identifying information about the individual who tested positive you are required to notify the workplace community that was potentially exposed to Covid-19. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) privacy rules restrict employers from sharing personal health information of an employee.

 

Individuals who have had close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 should self quarantine. Employers can require an employee who has been exposed to the virus to stay at home. Health experts recommend that self-quarantine lasts 14 days.

Employers should also take action to disinfect the workplace.

 

Q: What if someone is affected by COVID-19 and others in the workplace were potentially exposed? What is my employer responsibility?

A: Individuals who have had close contact with a person diagnosed with COVID-19 should self-quarantine. Employers can require an employee who has been exposed to the virus to stay at home and not return. Furthermore, employers can take proactive steps to take an employee temperature if they are screening before entry to work and proactive steps must be taken before letting an employee who was tested positive for COVID-19 be allowed to return to work.

Employers should also take action to disinfect the workplace.

 

Q: How does OSHA’s General Duty Clause apply to Covid-19?

A: OSHA’s General Duty Clause requires every company to provide a healthy and safe work environment for its employees. Employees have the right complain to OSHA if they believe that the company is not taking proper steps in response to the coronavirus.

 

Q: What business support resources are there for employers?

A: There are a number of resources to support businesses. Following are some pulled from a list compiled by (SHRM) Society of Human Resource Management

Workplace Safety

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has a COVID-19 Webpage to provide information for workers and employers about the evolving coronavirus outbreak.

Wages, Hours and Leave

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Wage and Hour Division is providing information on common issues employers and workers face when responding to COVID-19, including the effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act and job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Telework, Remote Work, and BYOD Security

While not specific to the coronavirus, the U.S. Department of Commerce has an in-depth Guide to Enterprise Telework, Remote Access and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Security, which can help answer security questions for employers regarding telework arrangements.

Unemployment Insurance

The DOL’s Employment and Training Administration announced new guidance outlining state flexibilities in administering their unemployment insurance programs to assist Americans affected by the COVID-19 outbreak.

NOTE: Check with your state’s unemployment insurance program regarding the rules in your state.

Taxes

The IRS has established a special section of its website focused on steps to help taxpayers, businesses and others affected by the coronavirus.

The American Institute of CPAs is providing a chart of State Tax Filing Guidance for Coronavirus Pandemic to check on state filing relief efforts.

Business Continuity

The U.S. Small Business Administration has created Guidance for Businesses and Employers to plan and respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).

 

Q: What options to employers have if they lose significant revenue fast but need to keep their employees?

Employers can consider discussing reduced hours, unpaid leave, furlough or reduced pay for a period of time or layoffs.

1. How do you run a great virtual meeting? What tools are there?

Employees will retain better morale while separated with video conference meetings and tools. There is LOOM where you can send a fun and free video to your team or advanced tools like ZoomPro, and that is something we use at HRBOOST®.  Mind, you we only recently learned if the Breakout Rooms feature, thanks to Vistage.

2. How do I communicate this to my employees?

At HRBOOST® we have drafted a Sample Employer Response to COVID-19 Notice, just give us a call at 847.736.5085 ext. 103 and we can help you customize it with advisement and then brand it to you or just email nmartin@hrboost.com. No obligation, we will get you the draft you can customize and send to your employees that can be tweaked to meet your needs as we highly recommend business owners set the tone with heart but also answer the common questions that employees will be concerned with to let them know you are striving to ensure their safety and keep business operational.

 

Q: What should we consider when putting a remote working arrangement in place?

A: Employers should consider what an employee’s job responsibilities are and how those can be completed remotely. In addition, they should consider what resources the employee will need to work remotely and confirm that those are available. Laptop, internet access, and phone service being the top resources.

Employers will also want to consider putting these arrangements in place for a specific period of time and letting employees know that such arrangements are subject to change at any time.

 

Q: What should a remote work policy include?

A: A remote work policy should include who is eligible for working remotely and what requirements and resources are needed to work remotely.

Typically, remote work policies include that the work environment be free from distractions and many employers may require that employee’s children not be at their remote work site, however, during this pandemic time employers should be flexible on this.

Let’s pray this is temporary but know that at HRBOOST® we have always been virtual, and we embed talent in your business. We are happy to be a lifeline during your time of crisis as we  know your business needs to do everything it can do keep its talent and survive the pandemic. Our Phone Client Program is $99.00 per month and you can call our HR pro’s for any reason and talk unlimited for up to 15 minutes per topic in scope. We are always on standby. www.hrboost.com/consultation Book with us today, no obligation!

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