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Fed Preparing to Finance New Small-Business Payroll Loans

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

The Federal Reserve announced it would create a new program to finance loans that banks and other lenders make through the government’s emergency small-business lending program. The move will free up financial firms to make more loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration’s Payroll Protection Program (PPP), part of a $2.2 trillion economic relief package President Trump signed last month to help individuals and businesses affected by the coronavirus pandemic. In a statement the Fed said that to facilitate more lending to small businesses, it would establish a facility that offers term financing backed by PPP loans. It said additional details woul...

Required FFCRA Documentation, Recordkeeping for New Federal Paid Leave (COVID-19)

Tuesday, April 07, 2020

The new Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) has dominated employers’ attention with its provisions for emergency paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for reasons related to COVID-19, also known as coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has been trying to answer employers’ questions leading up to April 1, but one issue that remained unclear was the documentation employers should obtain from employees taking leave under the new law. On April 1, 2020, the same day the FFCRA took effect, the DOL issued regulations that specifically addressed the issue. The new FFCRA regulations require employees to provid...

Federal COVID-19 Leaves: Key Points

Wednesday, April 01, 2020

In this episode of The Workplace podcast, CalChamber Executive Vice President and General Counsel Erika Frank and employment law expert James Ward discuss key points and guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FCCRA), which takes effect today, April 1. Frank points out that the guidelines and requirements surrounding the FCCRA have been changed recently and can be changed at any moment by the DOL. She recommends that listeners regularly visit the DOL website to ensure they have the most up-to-date information. Listeners also can visit calchamber.com/Coronavirus for updates on federal an...

Governor Newsom Signs Executive Order to Help Small Business During Crisis

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order that will provide some relief for small businesses struggling during the COVID-19 crisis. The Executive Order is linked here. The Governor’s executive order allows the California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA) to offer a 90-day extension for tax returns and tax payments for all businesses filing a return for less than $1 million in taxes. That means small businesses will have until the end of July to file their first-quarter returns. Additionally, the order extends by 60 days the statute of limitations to file a claim for refund to accommodate tax and fee payers. Th...

Simplified H-1B Visa Application Process Starts March 1

Friday, February 21, 2020

This year, applying for one of those 85,000 H-1B visas begins a month earlier than in years past — and requires a lot less work for employers at the initial stage. Stated simply, the H-1B visa, commonly known as a U.S. work visa, allows American employers to temporarily hire highly-skilled foreign professionals in occupations that require specialized knowledge that many say they can’t find here. Applying for these visas used to be quite laborious, but after the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) successfully completed pilot testing of its new registration process, it announced last December that it’s implementing the new process in th...

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