When the Governor announced last week that any New Yorker traveling to certain states must quarantine for 14-days upon their return, the policy made sense. However, it left one question unanswered: What if the travel was personal and not work related?

The new ruling left us uncertain as to how it would tie into the new Paid Sick Leave law .   We sought clarification from the Department of Health and Empire State Development but to no avail. We then turned to the Governor’s office requesting that additional guidance be provided to protect employers against more unnecessary and unplanned expenses.

Late Friday, the Governor listened to our request and did provide clarifying language in an Executive Order.

In his press statement about the new order, the Governor stated, “If we are going to maintain the progress we've seen, we need everyone to take personal responsibility. That’s why I’m issuing an executive order that says any New York employee who voluntarily travels to a high-risk state will not be eligible for the COVID-19 protections we created under paid sick leave.”

We’re thankful that the Governor heard our concern and took a stand for an employer community already struggling with a difficult year. If you have any questions about the new language, please let us know.

Additional DOL COVID-19 Guidance: Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) Federal Paid Leave

Summer is here, but summer camp is not. On Friday, June 26, DOL issued two Field Assistance Bulletins, o ne of which provides guidance on when an employee qualifies to take federal leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to care for his or her child based on the closure of a summer camp, summer enrichment program or other summer program for coronavirus-related reasons.

The FFCRA requires covered employers to provide eligible employees with up to two weeks of federally paid sick leave and up to twelve weeks of expanded family and medical leave, of which up to 10 weeks may be paid. FFCRA federal paid leave may be taken if the employee is unable to work or telework due to a need to care for his or her child whose place of care is closed due to COVID-19 related reasons. A “place of care” is a physical location in which care is provided for the employee’s child while the employee works and includes summer camps and summer enrichment programs.

The expectation that employees take FFCRA federal paid leave based on planned summer enrollments is not different from the closing of other places of care, such as a day care center.

We are still getting a better clarification, but in the interim the full Field Assistance Bulletin 2020-4 is linked below. As always, please send Chapter Staff any questions you may have.

Last week, New York held the first state legislative primaries under the new political calendar. With an unprecedented number of absentee ballots cast the outcome in many races is yet to be confirmed. Official results, particularly in close contests, could be weeks away while election officials count mail in ballots.

There were several close primaries upstate, though leaders in key races hold a sizeable advantage Jeremy Cooney has a wide lead in the 56 ^th senate district to succeed Joe Robach. Harry Bronson appears to have secured another term in the Assembly, defeating Mayor Warren’s Chief of Staff Alex Yudelson. Sarah Clark has a large lead in the race to succeed former Assemblywoman Jamie Romeo.

The race to succeed Robin Schimminger is extremely close, with Kevin Stocker holding a slight advantage over Bill Conrad in the Democrat primary. Assemblyman John McDonald is also in a tight race, leading challenger Sam Fein by roughly 500 votes with 4,800 ballots outstanding. The outcome of both races will depend on results from mail in ballots.

Downstate contests featured several incumbents facing progressive challenges. Assemblymembers like Joe Lentol and Catherine Nolan and David Weprin hold large leads over their challenges. Meanwhile, Aravella Simotas, Michael DenDekker and Michael Miller are trailing in their races. All incumbent Senate Democrats facing challenges, including Mike Gianaris, were successful in their races.

The PPP Lender Match Tool & Application Deadline is Today

The last day to apply for the PPP loan program is at the end of the day, today, June 30, 2020. There is more than $134 billion in PPP funding remain. Through Monday afternoon, the SBA noted that the PPP loan program has approved more than 4.6 million loans nationwide. Late Last week, the SBA announced the launch their Lender Match as an additional resource for pandemic-affected small businesses who have not applied for or received an approved PPP loan to connect with lenders. SBA also released Summary of PPP lending as of 6/27/20 . 

Revisions to PPP Loan Forgiveness IFR and SBA Loan Review Procedures IFR

Last week, a new Interim Final Rule, published by the SBA and the Department of the Treasury, offered revisions to the loan forgiveness Interim Final Rule and SBA Loan Review Procedures following the enactment of the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) on June 5. This IFR revises previous interim final rules posted by the Treasury and SBA by making changes to conform to the PPPFA on provisions that relate to the maturity of PPP loans, the deferral of PPP loan payments, and the forgiveness of PPP loans.

The IFR revises the change made by the PPPFA amendment of the CARES Act regarding forgiveness of PPP loans to reduce the portion of PPP loan proceeds that must be used for payroll costs for the full amount of the PPP loan to be eligible for forgiveness, from 75% to 60%. The IFR also provides guidance on the PPPFA’s minimum maturity of five years for all PPP loans made on or after the date of enactment of the Flexibility Act. In short, an earlier IFR stated loans made before June 5, 2020, had a maturity of two years; however, this IFR states borrowers and lenders may mutually agree to extend the maturity of such loans to five years. For loans made on or after June 5, the maturity is five years. The IFR also revises that a borrower may submit a loan forgiveness application any time on or before the maturity date of the loan – including before the end of the covered period – if the borrower has used all of the loan proceeds for which the borrower is requesting forgiveness.

Electrical Code Change

Did you know that all cable ties used for supporting and securing all conductors, cables, and raceways must be labeled and listed for the purpose now? This will be a highly enforced CODE Change for the 2017 NEC.

Discover this and over 60 other important Code Changes!

Any new Building Permit issued on or after May 12, 2020 must follow the requirements set forth in the 2017 National Electrical Code. ABC’s Statewide Director of Safety, Jason Ashlaw, who is a Master Electrician for over 20 years and an Instructor, is available to conduct NFPA 2017 Code update training for your Company. This Update training is a 2 hour session and we can customize this training through ZOOM. All of these Electrical Code changes are going to be enforced in New York State.

ABC Member Cost: $200 per company (up to 20 participants)

ABC Empire Chapter Resources