NYSRA Update: COVID-19 Outbreak | May 5, 2020

Good News
  • NYSRA member, Glen Park Tavern, is doing their part for the community by donating meals to healthcare workers. However, this particular meal donation seems to have been guided by fate: “I was so honored to be chosen for Sisters Hospital because my grandfather was the president there back in 1950 and his picture is on the wall. So it really meant a lot to me, and when I was putting everything together it almost made me cry because I know my grandfather would be so proud of what they’re doing,” said Ellie Grenauer, co-owner of the Tavern. Read more: https://www.wivb.com/health/coronavirus/local-restaurant-donation-to-frontline-workers-has-history/

State
  • Melissa Fleischut, President and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association, was named to the NY Forward Reopening Advisory Board. We have already shared the National Restaurant Association’s Reopening Guidelines and our New York Restaurant Promise with Advisory Board leader Steve Cohen and former Lt. Gov. Bob Duffy. During the next week, we will develop guidelines with options for meeting the best practices for physical distancing while providing flexibility for individual operators across four broad categories: quick-service, full-service, catering and bars. If you have ideas on how the industry should look for reopening, please send them to [email protected] or work with your local chapter leaders and participate in our regional calls. 
  • Melissa Fleischut also spoke one on one with Lt. Gov. Hochul about reopening plans for the hospitality industry. 
  • For Workers’ Compensation Safety Group 505 participants, here are a few of the ways that NYSRA can help lower your premium: 
  • If you have reassigned some of your staff to work from home, and they are performing less hazardous work, we can lower your premium.
  • If you have employees who are idle, but still on your payroll, we can lower your premium.
  • If you have placed employees on furlough without pay, we can lower your premium. 
  • If you’ve laid off employees, we can lower your premium. 
  • If you’ve ceased operations temporarily, we can adjust your payroll to keep your policy active, without you having to pay premiums until you restart your business. 
  • Here are other ways that NYSRA’s Services’ team can help: 
  • We will work with any business, regardless of size, to adjust premium payments to a level that is manageable during the current crisis. 
  • We will adjust payment schedules for premium due from audit balances to meet your cash flow needs. 
  • We are suspending cancellation for non-payments, along with interest charges, installment fees, and late fees for policyholders experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19. 
  • We are completing audits of payroll using electronic upload of documents, rather than in-person visits.
  • We will allow any unpaid premium balances incurred during this crisis to be paid off over the subsequent 12-month period. 
  • The most important thing you can do now for your workers’ comp policy is to contact us so we can adjust your premium and help you avoid unanticipated premium charges in the future. While we are suspending cancellations for policyholders experiencing financial hardship due to COVID-19, the premium you currently owe will remain the same until and unless you contact us to update your payroll. Please contact Kevin Cook [email protected], Jennifer Romanski [email protected] or Sarah Cook [email protected] if you have additional questions or need policy assistance.

NYC
  • Today, at a nearly seven-hour City Council hearing, NYSRA testified in opposition to proposals that would require premium pay and ban layoffs. We were joined by allies across industries, including the non-profit sector, who all expressed grave concerns. If you have not yet taken the opportunity to share the personal impact these proposals would have on your business, we strongly encourage you to get involved! You can submit testimony here until Friday at noon. 
  • NYSRA is also pushing out a phone-to-action campaign on these two proposals, and we need our NYC members to voice a significant level of opposition. 

Communications
  • Calls
  • Caterers Council Meeting | Wednesday 11 a.m. - Register Here
  • Westchester Region Operators Meeting | Wednesday 2 p.m. - Register Here
  • Rochester Operators Meeting | Thursday 10 a.m. - Register Here
  • NYC Restaurant Operators Meeting | Friday 1 p.m. - Register Here
  • Biweekly, next call on 5/14: Capital Region Operators Meeting | Thursday 1 p.m. - Register Here
  • Webinars
  • Thursday, 5/7 at 2:00 p.m. | Contracts & COVID-19 | What Restaurants Need to Know - Presented by Norris McLaughlin P.C. | Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YR-AHdpDSDaK3HTS0yBPPA
  • NYSRA hosted a webinar today: Turning to Tech Post COVID-19 | Hospitality Industry Technology Solutions - Presented by Branded Strategic Hospitality | You can view the recorded webinar here.

Press