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On April 27, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced details of his plan to reopen Texas businesses in phases, so long as the COVID-19 outbreak can be sufficiently contained in the process. In conjunction with the release of the “Open Texas” strategic plan, Governor Abbott also issued three executive orders on April 27, 2020, each aimed at balancing measures to reopen sectors of the state while maintaining sufficient protections. Below are key provisions of the Open Texas strategic plan and the related executive orders. Please use the following links to access the full text of the Open Texas strategic plan and each of Governor Abbott’s executive orders.
Continue Reading Texas Reopens: What Businesses Need To Know

We are pleased to share a recent SHRM article, “What to Do When Scared Workers Don’t Report to Work Due to COVID-19,” with quotes from Robin Samuel. This articles discusses several topics including employee’s legal rights and how to respond to an essential worker’s fear of returning to work.

Click here to view the article.…

This 1-hour webinar recording covers cost-cutting strategies including, layoffs, furloughs, salary reductions, delayed start dates and revoking offers, shortened workweeks, and exit incentive programs. Each topic outlines necessary key steps and considerations.

Please see below the webinar materials as well as additional resources.

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Join us Thursday, April 30 for our next COVID-19 webinar as we discuss the challenges US employers will face when bringing employees back into the workplace while maintaining appropriate safety. The webinar will cover eight key considerations for employers to address in planning for a reopening of the workplace.

  1. Government Orders
  2. Timing
  3. Workplace Safety &

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On April 22, 2020, the President signed a Proclamation to suspend the issuance of immigrant visas (i.e., non-temporary visas) for the next 60 days to individuals who are currently outside of the United States and do not currently have an immigrant visa. The proclamation is not a broad restriction on all immigration that many feared might be the case from comments earlier this week. Since Embassies and Consulates remain closed, the status for immigrant visa applicants abroad remains unchanged. Yet, as we saw with the 2017 Buy American and Hire American Executive Order, the most recent Proclamation, intended to protect the U.S. workforce amidst the COVID-19 related economic downturn, could have a much wider impact beyond the narrow scope of the proclamation itself.

Who is impacted?Continue Reading Immigration in the News: Latest COVID-19 Related Executive Order on Immigration Impacts Immigrant Visa Applicants Abroad

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rapid, severe, and unprecedented disruption to the movement of workers around the globe. In an effort to impede the spread, many governments have implemented travel and immigration restrictions that have impacted visa processing, work authorization, and cross-border entry for foreign nationals employed by multinational companies.

In order to allow…

With signs that the virus is peaking in the US, and with some state Shelter-in-Place Orders scheduled to be lifted in the coming weeks, employers are turning their attention to planning for how best to bring employees back to work.

As with the initial outbreak, US employers can look to other corners of the world…

Are They Right For You?

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the global economy, United States employers are continuing to examine ways to reduce costs while at the same time both limiting the financial impact on employees and preserving their ability to ramp back up when circumstances allow. State short time compensation programs, also known as work share programs, provide one avenue for cost savings that may be appropriate for some employers.

Where available, these programs provide pro-rated unemployment compensation benefits to groups of workers whose hours are reduced by their employer on a temporary basis in lieu of layoffs. In addition, the recently passed Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) provides a federally-funded $600 per week unemployment compensation supplement to those who participate in such programs through July 31, 2020.

This Alert provides additional details about state short time compensation programs and answers frequently asked questions about the pros and cons of participation.

Where are short time compensation programs available?

Currently, the following 27 jurisdictions have short time compensation programs in place: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin. The CARES Act provided federal funding for other states to enact short time compensation programs, so additional states may do so in the near term.Continue Reading Short Time Compensation (Work Share) Programs

With our thanks to Chris Guldberg for this post. 

The financial fallout from the outbreak of COVID-19 has unfortunately forced employers to turn to layoffs and furloughs. Many employers facing these decisions are looking for cost effective ways to mitigate the financial impact on affected employees. A supplemental unemployment benefit plan (“SUB Plan”) may be one way to assist employees while generating some cost savings for the company.

A SUB Plan is a unique type of severance benefit plan that permits employers to supplement state unemployment benefits on an employment tax-favored basis. The employer can make up the difference between an employee’s normal wages and state unemployment benefits and, unlike traditional severance, payments under a SUB Plan are treated as a benefit rather than wages and are thus not subject to FICA or FUTA for the employer or employee.Continue Reading An Alternative to Traditional Severance: SUB Plans