Important Dutchess County Business Updates For March 23, 2020

Dutchess Business Notification Network

To get updates as they come in and are verified, be sure to join our Facebook Group by searching "Dutchess Business Notification Network", or by clicking HERE .

Below are updates and resources for businesses, employers, and employees. Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you believe would benefit from this information.

Update for Monday, March 23, 2020

The Small Business Administration has now made low interest loans of up to $2 million available to organizations in New York. It will take roughly 3 weeks to process the application and has interest rates of 3.75 % for small businesses and 2.75 % for nonprofits. For more information, click the SBA link below.

In Governor Cuomo's press conference today, he announced he is mandating that all hospitals increase their bed capacity by 50%, and is asking that any hospital that can increase their capacity by 100% to do so.

He also announced he would be issuing an Executive Order later today that would enlist all registered nurses in New York to assist health centers during the crisis, including any nurse currently working at an insurance firm. When this order is published we will post it onto our Facebook page.

Governor Cuomo also announced that he has instructed his team to begin formulating the NY FORWARD plan, in preparation of reopening businesses when it is deemed appropriate. He did not indicate a timeline of this plan being initiated since the spread of the virus has not yet been contained, but said they would look into ways to have health individuals return to work.

Governor Cuomo has issued an executive order expanding the Tax Commissioner’s authority to abate late filing and payment penalties. This will allow the Commissioner to abate interest on quarterly and annual sales and use tax filings and remittances with a due date of March 20, 2020, for those who were unable to timely file and pay as result of the COVID-19 virus. It can be found HERE.

An Interim Guidance to Restaurants to Sell Grocery Items has been released by the state's Department of Agriculture and Markets. It can be found HERE.

If you have any questions regarding the information in this notification or any other business related concerns and suggestions, please email [email protected]. Please do NOT contact elected officials regarding information in this email as they are currently inundated with handling the government response to this crisis. This network was created to help coordinate responses and share the burden, and we ask that you please contact us with any questions or concerns so our elected officials can focus on their task at hand. Thank you for your continued support through this time.

Summary Of Benefit Changes From RBT

Federal Actions

The following federal policies apply to employers with fewer than 500 employees. They go into effect April 2 and remain in effect until December 31.

Employees who are health-care providers or first responders may be excluded from the policies. Employers will receive a refundable tax credit against the employer portion of Social Security taxes for 100 percent of the qualified sick leave and family leave wages paid each quarter under the policies.

Emergency Paid Sick Leave

This program is available for full- and part-time employees who are unable to work (or telework) regardless of their start date. An employer cannot require the use of other paid leave before using the paid sick leave provided by the new law. It provides two weeks of paid sick leave for employees who:

Are being treated for coronavirus or exhibit symptoms and are awaiting a diagnosis, or
Have been told by a doctor or government official to stay home because of exposure or symptoms.

Full time employees are entitled to 80 hours (two weeks) of paid time off at their regular rate of pay, not to exceed $511 a day. Part time employees are entitled to two weeks of paid time off, also up to $511 per day, based on the average number of hours worked during a two-week period.

In addition, eligible full-time employees are entitled to 80 hours of paid time off at two-thirds of their normal pay rate, capped at to $200 per day, to care for another person who is quarantined for the reasons described above, or for a minor child whose school has closed or whose child-care provider is unavailable due to coronavirus precautions.

Emergency Paid Family Leave

This program is available for employees who have been employed for at least 30 days. It provides up to 12 weeks of leave for employees who are unable to work (or telework) because they must care for a minor child whose school has closed or whose child-care provider is unavailable due to coronavirus precautions.

The first 10 days of leave may be unpaid, although the employee may elect to use any available paid time off during that time, including paid time off provided under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave described above. After the first 10 days, the employer must provide up to 10 weeks of paid leave at two-thirds of the employee's regular pay rate (capped at $200 per day).

New York State Actions

The following New York State policies are now in effect.

Emergency Paid Sick Leave

For employees who are under a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation issued by New York State or any government agency that can issue a Covid-19 order:

Employers with 10 or fewer employees must provide their workers with job protection for the duration of the quarantine order.
Employers with 11 to 99 employees as of 1/1/2020 must provide five days of paid sick leave and Job protection for the duration of the quarantine order.
Employers with 100 or more employees as of 1/1/2020, and public employers, must provide fourteen days of paid sick leave and job protection for the duration of the quarantine order.

Sick leave shall be provided without loss of any accrued sick leave that an employee may have, meaning this leave will be in addition to whatever leave is already provided by the employer.

Benefits are not available for employees who are deemed asymptomatic or not yet diagnosed with any medical condition and who are physically able to work (or telework).
Benefits are not available for anyone returning from travel to one of the destinations on the Centers for Disease Control's travel advisory list.

Should an employee's period of quarantine or isolation extend beyond their available sick leave as described above, the employee would be able to apply for Paid Family Leave (PFL) and for New York State Short Term Disability (DBL) concurrently.

Benefit amounts would be the combination of payments from PFL and DBL, up to 100 percent of an employee's average weekly wage, capped at $2,884.62 per week. These benefits can also be used for the care of a dependent minor child who is under an order of quarantine or order of isolation. This provision does not apply if a child's school or place of care is closed.

Changes to New York State Unemployment

New York State is waiving the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance benefits for people who become unemployed due to Coronavirus-related closures or quarantines. Situations where an employee may file an unemployment claim include but are not limited to:

Termination of all employment
Being furloughed from a position (a temporary layoff with an expected return to work date)
A reduced work schedule, for example going from working five days a week to two 2 days.

A person filing a new unemployment insurance claim should file based on the first letter of their last name. If your last name starts with A-F, file your claim on Monday. For last names starting with G-N, file on Tuesday. For last names starting with O-Z, file on Wednesday. If you miss your filing day, file your claim on Thursday, Friday or Saturday.