Hunton Employment & Labor Perspectives

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued supplemental CARES Act guidance  on May 8, 2020, that addresses the interplay between the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program and partial unemployment benefits at the state level.  The FPUC program is the portion of the CARES Act that enhances state unemployment insurance benefits by $600 each week a claimant is eligible for state benefits.  That program is in effect only between the week ending April 4, 2020 and the week ending July 31, 2020.

As states have worked to process the millions of unemployment claims arising out of the pandemic, many questions have arisen about who is eligible for the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) benefit under the CARES Act.  The Department of Labor’s most recent guidance attempts to answer many of these questions posed by the states and may be helpful to employers considering furloughs or layoffs.

As state unemployment agencies are inundated with new claims, the US DOL recently provided instructions to states for implementing the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation Program (PEUC) of the CARES Act in its April 10, 2020 guidance.  PEUC allows states to enter into agreements with the Secretary of Labor to pay up to 13 weeks of unemployment benefits to eligible individuals, through December 31, 2020.  We highlight the important takeaways below.

As discussed in our previous alert on this issue, the CARES Act established a $349 billion U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide immediate access to capital for small businesses who have been impacted by COVID-19. On April 13, 2020, Texas Governor Greg Abbott provided additional guidance to Texas employers when he announced that investment banking, securities and investment management firm, Goldman Sachs, will partner with San Antonio-based nonprofit organization, LiftFund, to provide $50 million in loans to small businesses. Specifically, Goldman Sachs will provide the capital, and LiftFund and other community development financial institutions will administer the funds. Texas business owners can now apply for a PPP loan and find more information about the program on the LiftFund website.

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act into law. One aspect of the CARES Act, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), permits certain employers to obtain forgivable loans in order to keep employees on the job and to pay overhead costs.

Below are 10 facts small business owners should know about the PPP, which is administered by the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) 7(a) Loan Program.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020 as a federal response to the economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus. As we previously reported, the Act greatly expands unemployment benefits for workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, but many questions remained about how the Act would be applied.  The DOL recently issued guidance answering some of these questions.

On March 27, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES”), an unprecedented $2 trillion economic rescue plan in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.  Our firm has previously summarized the CARES Act’s tax and health and retirement benefits provisions here and here.  Below, we summarize additional aspects of the Act that impact the workplace.  It is important to note that there are a number of open questions presented by this legislation, which could impact employers’ structure for layoffs, furloughs, and pay reductions.  We anticipate the various governmental agencies charged with implementing the CARES Act will be issuing guidance soon, and we will provide updates as appropriate.