Subject: COVID -19 Special 8

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COVID-19: News
and Updates
Special #8 - March 31, 2020

COVID-19 and the American Workplace
United States Department of Labor - FFCRA poster PDF provided 

Weekend update: DOL answers more of our FFCRA questions
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete, LLP
By Robin Shea /Winston-Salem Office

CARES Act Provides $2 Trillion in Relief to Employers and Employees
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete, LLP
By Susan Bassford Wilson
St. Louis Office

Benefit relief and implications under the CARES Act
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete, LLP
By Deborah Hembree and Dana Thrasher
Birmingham Office

Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report



COVID-19 and the American Workplace

The Wage and Hour Division provides information on common issues employers and employees face when responding to COVID-19, and its effects on wages and hours worked under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), job-protected leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).

FFCRA will help the United States combat and defeat COVID-19 by giving all American businesses with fewer than 500 employees funds to provide employees with paid leave, either for the employee’s own health needs or to care for family members. The legislation will ensure that workers are not forced to choose between their paychecks and the public health measures needed to combat the virus while at the same time reimbursing businesses.
 
Fact Sheets
(Reminder Poster has to be posted by April 1, 2020)

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employee Paid Leave Rights (PDF) / Spanish (PDF)

Families First Coronavirus Response Act: Employer Paid Leave Requirements (PDF) / Spanish (PDF)

 For more information go to the United States Department of Labor at https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic

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News & Analysis
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete, LLP
3.31.20

Weekend update: DOL answers more of our FFCRA questions
By Robin Shea /Winston-Salem Office


On Friday and Saturday, the U.S. Department of Labor added to its initial FAQs about the expanded leave and paid leave provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

The Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act allows most employees to take FMLA leave if they are needed to care for sons or daughters who are out of school or child care, or whose child care provider is unavailable, for a coronavirus-related reason. The Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act requires employees to be paid up to 80 hours for five coronavirus-related reasons plus a “substantially similar” reason if so designated by the federal government. Both provisions will take effect this Wednesday and will expire on December 31.

These laws do not apply to private sector employers with 500 or more employees.

We previously reported here and here about the initial set of FAQs. There are now 59 FAQs, and here are the highlights of the new ones:

Documentation (FAQs 15 and 16)


Employees requesting leave (either paid sick leave or expanded FMLA leave) are required to submit to the employer a form that will be issued by the Internal Revenue Service and other information to allow the employer to seek tax credits. Leave can be denied to any employee who fails to submit the required documentation and information.

To confirm the reason for the leave for a school/child care closing under the expanded FMLA or the Paid Sick Leave Act, the employer can accept a notice posted on a school or child care center website, media reports of a closing, or an email from an official of the school or child care facility, or provider. If the leave is for a coronavirus-related serious health condition within the meaning of the “old” FMLA, the employer can require a medical certification from the health care provider of the employee or the employee’s spouse, parent, or child.

Flexible schedules, intermittent leave (FAQs 18, and 20-22)

Employees can take expanded FMLA or paid sick leave on an intermittent basis if they are teleworking, and if the employer agrees to allow them to do so. The increments of “time off” and time worked can be anything agreed upon by the employer and the employee.

The rules are more complicated if the employee works onsite. If the employee is taking paid sick leave because of his or her own isolation or quarantine order from a government official or recommendation from a health care provider, because of symptoms of coronavirus, or because of the school/child care closing reason that also qualifies for expanded FMLA leave, then the employee can take the leave on an intermittent basis, provided that the employer agrees. If the employee working onsite takes paid sick leave for the other authorized reasons (care of an individual under an isolation or quarantine order, or under the “substantially similar” catchall provision), then the leave cannot be taken on an intermittent basis. Employees taking paid sick leave in this situation must take all of their paid leave continuously until (1) it is exhausted, or (2) they no longer qualify for paid leave. In the event of (2), any unused paid sick time can be used at a later date for a qualifying reason, provided that it is used by December 31, when the law expires.

Business closings (FAQs 23-28)

If a business closes -- whether the closure is for economic reasons or because of a government directive -- the employees are not entitled to expanded FMLA leave or paid sick leave. This applies whether the closure occurred before the effective date of the FFCRA or afterward. It also applies even if the employee was on expanded FMLA leave or paid sick leave at the time of the business closing. Similarly, employees who are out of work because of furloughs or other temporary closures, or whose hours are reduced because of lack of work, are not eligible for expanded FMLA leave or paid sick leave.

Continuation of health insurance benefits (FAQs 30 and 51)

If the employee is taking expanded FMLA leave, the employee’s health insurance benefits should continue on the same basis as if he or she were still working. This is identical to the insurance continuation rule that applies under the “old” FMLA. The employer must also continue health insurance coverage for employees on paid sick leave. For new hires who take paid sick leave while subject to an insurance waiting period, the time on paid sick leave must be counted as part of the waiting period.

Supplementation of paid leave benefits (FAQs 31-34)

Employees are not allowed to “double-dip.” In other words, they cannot use both their paid leave under the expanded FMLA and their paid sick leave at the same time. If the employer wishes, it can allow employees receiving only 2/3 pay to choose to supplement that with accrued paid time off. However, the employer cannot require employees to do so.

If the employer lets employees supplement their 2/3 leave pay with other paid leave, it is not entitled to a tax credit for the “supplement.”

An employer cannot “offset” an employee’s paid leave entitlement with its own paid time off. The paid leave entitlement under both the expanded FMLA and the Paid Sick Leave Act is in addition to whatever paid leave the employer already offers.

“Son or daughter” (FAQ 40)

The FAQ clarifies that “son or daughter” includes adult children if they (1) have mental or physical disabilities and (2) are incapable of self-care because of their disabilities. This tracks the “old” FMLA regulations.

Restoration requirement, retaliation (FAQ 43)

Upon completion of expanded FMLA or paid sick leave, the employee must be restored to his or her job, or to an equivalent one. The DOL clarifies that an employer will be liable for retaliation if it takes action against an employee because the employee took leave under the laws or engaged in protected activity under the laws.

If an employer conducts a layoff or other action that affects an employee on expanded FMLA leave or paid sick leave, it can include that employee in the layoff. The employer would have to show that it would have taken the same action even if the employee had not been on leave. This standard also applies to neutral job-related actions taken that adversely affect an employee on leave under the “old” FMLA.

There is a limited exception to the restoration requirement when the individual on leave is a “highly compensated key employee” or when the employer has fewer than 25 employees. In these circumstances, the employer may be excused from the restoration requirement if

  • the position no longer exists due to economic or operating conditions that affect employment and due to COVID-19 related reasons during the period of leave;

  • the employer made reasonable efforts to restore the employee to the same or an equivalent position;

  • the employer makes reasonable efforts to contact the employee if an equivalent position becomes available; and

  • the employer continues to make reasonable efforts to contact the for one year beginning either on the date the leave related to COVID-19 reasons concludes or the date 12 weeks after your leave began, whichever is earlier.
(Quoted from DOL page with minor edits.) This limited exception applies only in the case of FMLA leave related to the closing of a school or child care, or unavailability of the child care provider, for a coronavirus-related reason.

“Old” FMLA versus “new” FMLA (FAQs 44-45)

If the employer was covered by the FMLA before April 1, 2020, then employees are entitled to a total of 12 weeks’ leave in a 12-month period, using the same “leave year” that the employer uses for other FMLA purposes. Of course, paid sick leave is available whether the employee has FMLA leave available or not.

Health care providers, emergency responders (FAQs 52, and 56-57)

For purposes of documenting the need for COVID-19 leave for medical reasons, the old FMLA’s definition of “health care provider” applies. In other words, a “health care provider” could be a physician, osteopath, nurse practitioner, or other provider defined in the FMLA regulations.

However, for purposes of the exempting “health care providers” from being “eligible employees,” the definition is much more broad:


  • [A] health care provider is anyone employed at any doctor’s office, hospital, health care center, clinic, post-secondary educational institution offering health care instruction, medical school, local health department or agency, nursing facility, retirement facility, nursing home, home health care provider, any facility that performs laboratory or medical testing, pharmacy, or any similar institution, employer, or entity. This includes any permanent or temporary institution, facility, location, or site where medical services are provided that are similar to such institution.

    This definition includes any individual employed by an entity that contracts with any of the above institutions, employers, or entities . . . to provide services or to maintain the operation of the facility. This also includes anyone employed by any entity that provides medical services, produces medical products, or is otherwise involved in the making of COVID-19 related medical equipment, tests, drugs, vaccines, diagnostic vehicles, or treatments. This also includes any individual that the highest official of a state or territory, including the District of Columbia, determines is a health care provider necessary for that state’s or territory’s or the District of Columbia’s response to COVID-19.

An ”emergency responder” is “an employee who is necessary for the provision of transport, care, health care, comfort, and nutrition of such patients, or whose services are otherwise needed to limit the spread of COVID-19.” This could include members of the military or National Guard, law enforcement officers, correctional institution personnel, firefighters, emergency medical service personnel, 911 operators, and public works personnel. It also includes “persons with skills or training in operating specialized equipment or other skills needed to provide aid in a declared emergency as well as individuals who work for such facilities employing these individuals and whose work is necessary to maintain the operation of the facility.” Finally, it includes the individual determined by the highest official of the state, territory, or the District of Columbia to be the emergency responder necessary for the jurisdiction’s response to COVID-19.

The exemption of health care providers and emergency responders is also available to employers that are public agencies.

Small business exception (FAQs 58-59)

The small business exception to the expanded FMLA and paid sick leave laws applies if the employer has fewer than 50 employees, but only if the leave is because the employee is needed to care for a son or daughter who is home because of a school or child care closing, or because a child care provider is not available, for a reason related to coronavirus. In the case of expanded FMLA leave, the employer would also have to demonstrate that providing expanded FMLA leave “would jeopardize the visibility of the small business as a growing concern.”

  • The DOL says that the exemption will apply if an authorized officer of the business determines one of the following:

  • The provision of paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave would result in the small business’s expenses and financial obligations exceeding available business revenues and cause the small business to cease operating at a minimal capacity;

  • The absence of the employee or employees requesting paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave would entail a substantial risk to the financial health or operational capabilities of the small business because of their specialized skills, knowledge of the business, or responsibilities; or

  • There are not sufficient workers who are able, willing, and qualified, and who will be available at the time and place needed, to perform the labor or services provided by the employee or employees requesting paid sick leave or expanded family and medical leave, and these labor or services are needed for the small business to operate at a minimal capacity.

(Quoted from DOL page with minor edits.) In other words, a small business will qualify for the “small business exemption” if (1) it has fewer than 50 employees, (2) the leave would be taken for the school-related reason, and (3) an authorized official of the company has determined that one of the three conditions listed above is satisfied.

Words of wisdom from the DOL


The FAQs contain words of wisdom, and employers who follow them are likely to be more successful in the event of a complaint or other investigation. First, the DOL says that employers and employees should cooperate as much as possible in determining the type of documentation that is required for leave, and whether employees should be allowed to take intermittent leave or supplement their leave pay with PTO. Second, the DOL says that employers should be “judicious” when exempting health care providers and emergency responders from the FFCRA to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Third, the DOL says that small businesses should “collaborate to reach the best solution for maintaining the business and ensuring employee safety.”


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LEGAL BULLETIN 
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete,LLP
March 30, 2020

CARES Act Provides $2 Trillion in Relief to Employers and Employees
By Susan Bassford Wilson
St. Louis Office

President Trump signed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act into law on March 27, 2020. Among other things, this act offers loans to businesses affected by the coronavirus and expands unemployment insurance benefits available to workers.

Loans for Businesses

The CARES Act allocates millions of dollars for loans to businesses struggling due to the coronavirus. The bill provides about $500 billion in loans and other relief to large employers, and about $350 billion in loans for smaller employers. The loans include grants to specific industries including airlines and businesses critical to maintaining national security, funding for programs administered by the Federal Reserve, and funding for loans administered by the Small Business Administration. However, companies considering these grants and loans should read the small print before applying.

Loans to small businesses

Businesses with fewer than 500 employees may be eligible for economic injury disaster loans as well as loans under the newly authorized Paycheck Protection Program. Paycheck Protection loans can be taken up to an amount equal to 2.5 times a company’s average monthly payroll pre-coronavirus, subject to a $10 million cap. “Average monthly payroll” includes wages, salaries, and other similar compensation, as well as the costs of vacation and other paid time off, separation payments, group healthcare costs and premiums, retirement costs, and state and local taxes. Sole proprietors and Independent contractors can participate in this program as well. Additionally, these loans are forgivable if certain conditions are met and the money is used to do things like maintain payroll and pay for rent and utilities. 

The act appears to be designed to incentivize employers to retain as many employees as possible because the amount that the loan will be forgiven is reduced in proportion to the number of employees who have been laid off or whose hours have been cut. However, a company that has terminated employees may still be eligible to have the entire amount of the loan forgiven if the employees are rehired or restored by June 30, 2020. The Small Business Administration is expected to issue guidance and regulations related to this Act shortly

Other business loans

Businesses with 500 to 10,000 employees can also apply for a loan, subject to certain conditions. To apply for a loan, the company must make a “good-faith certification” that the funds will be used to retain or restore 90 percent of a company’s pre-coronavirus workforce, and the company must be domiciled and maintain significant operations in the United States. Additionally, the company must promise not to “outsource or offshore jobs” during the term of the loan and for two years after the loan is repaid. The company must also certify that it will not abrogate existing collective bargaining agreements and that it will “remain neutral in any union organizing effort for the term of the loan.”

The loan provisions of this act are complex and may be subject to challenges regarding enforceability, particularly regarding the provisions related to union activity. Companies should consult with counsel to determine whether and how to seek a loan.

Expansion of Unemployment Insurance Benefits

The CARES Act loosens the requirements for workers to receive unemployment insurance benefits while also adding $600 per week of federal benefits for four months in addition to any state unemployment insurance that a worker may receive. (The federal minimum wage is $7.25, thus $600 is more than double the amount that someone working 40 hours per week earning minimum wage would typically make.) Federal unemployment insurance benefits will be available through July 31, 2020.

The act also extends state unemployment insurance by 13 weeks for a total of 39 weeks through December 31, 2020. Workers who typically are not eligible for unemployment – independent contractors, self-employed people, gig workers, and employees who have not worked enough hours in the preceding quarters – are eligible for unemployment through the end of the year. Unemployment insurance is also available to employees who are furloughed or temporarily laid off due to COVID-19. The act also provides funding for state “short-time compensation” programs through December 31, 2020. Please stay tuned for additional analysis of the CARES Act! If you have any questions about it, please contact any Constangy attorney.

Please be aware that substantial changes in the governmental guidance and underlying laws are occurring on almost a daily basis, which will impact the analysis of the legal issues related to COVID-19. It is critical that you check the Resource Center often for the most recent information and stay in continual contact with your Constangy attorney.


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LEGAL BULLETIN
Constangy, Smith, Brooks & Prophete,LLP
March 31, 2020

Benefit relief and implications under the CARES Act
By Deborah Hembree and Dana Thrasher
Birmingham Office


The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act contains several forms of relief for plan sponsors and participants in employee benefit plans, as well a few additional plan obligations. Significant items in the CARES Act include the following.

Retirement plans


The CARES Act provides a number of relief provisions that allow participants in retirement plans and IRAs greater access to their retirement benefits, including waiver of the early withdrawal penalty and increased loan amounts.

Penalty relief for early withdrawals

In an effort to promote accessibility to participant funds in retirement plans, the CARES Act waives the 10 percent additional tax penalty that applies to “coronavirus-related distributions” of $100,000 or less taken from a retirement plan or an IRA by a participant who has not yet attained age 59 ½. The $100,000 limitation applies in the aggregate – so an individual is limited to a total of $100,000 from all plans maintained by the employer (and any member of the employer’s controlled group) combined.

A coronavirus-related distribution is defined as a distribution to an individual 
  1. who is diagnosed with the virus SARS-CoV-2 or with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by a test approved by the CDC; 

  2. whose spouse or dependent is diagnosed with such disease or virus by a test approved by the CDC; or 

  3. who experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off or having to work hours reduced due to such virus or disease, being unable to work due to lack of child care due to such virus or disease, closing or reducing hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to such virus or disease, or other factors as determined by the Treasury Department.

For purposes of determining whether an individual meets the coronavirus-related distribution definition, the plan administrator may rely on an employee’s certification that the employee satisfies the above conditions.

Importantly, this relief applies only to coronavirus-related distributions made on or after January 1, 2020, and before December 31, 2020. This means that participants who already took distributions earlier this year can benefit from the waiver of the early withdrawal penalty. As noted, the distribution must be from an eligible retirement plan, which includes 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) plans, 401(a) plans and IRAs. Coronavirus-related distributions are treated as meeting the plan distribution requirements for these plans; thus, although somewhat unclear, it appears these distributions are a separate distribution category. In addition, these distributions are not treated as eligible rollover distributions for purposes of the plan trustee-to-trustee transfer and withholding rules. Thus, these distributions are exempt from tax withholding and exempt from the rules that require plans to offer trustee-to-trustee transfers to participants taking distributions.

The CARES Act allows an individual who receives a coronavirus-related distribution to repay that distribution to an eligible retirement plan at any time during the three-year period beginning on the day after the date on which the distribution was received. The repayment can be made via one or more contributions and cannot exceed the amount of the coronavirus-related distribution. The eligible retirement plan to which the repayment can be made is one where the individual is a beneficiary and to which a rollover contribution is permitted. In this sense, such repayments are treated as direct rollovers when made to eligible qualified retirement plans.

The CARES Act provides additional relief by spreading out the income tax inclusion from a coronavirus-related distribution. If a participant does not repay the distribution, the coronavirus-related distribution will be included in the participant’s gross income ratably over the three-taxable-year period beginning with the year the distribution is received, unless the participant elects not to have the ratable inclusion.

Retirement plan loan relief

The CARES Act also increases the loan limit available under qualified plans for those participants who meet the same requirements as those covered by the above penalty-free withdrawal provisions. The loan limit is increased from $50,000 to $100,000. In addition, if the participant’s account balance is valued at less than $100,000, the participant may take a loan of his or her entire account balance. This increase is limited to a period of 180 days from March 27, 2020.

In addition, participants may delay the repayment date for existing loans, as well as loans made on or after March 27, 2020, for one year. The delay applies only to repayment dates from March 27, 2020, through December 31, 2020. Subsequent repayments are to be appropriately adjusted, and the one-year delay is not to be included in calculating the five-year period for loan terms.

Plan amendment requirements

Of course, plans will need to be amended to provide this relief. To meet these amendment obligations, the CARES Act does not require any amendment necessary to meet the terms of the Act or any underlying regulations to be adopted until the last day of the first plan year beginning on or after January 1, 2022. The Treasury Department can extend this deadline. For calendar year plans, this means plans must be amended by December 31, 2022. For governmental plans, the date is extended two years after the date that otherwise applies to non-governmental plans (thus, for calendar year plans, the last day to amend would be December 31, 2024).

In order for this amendment extension to apply, the plan must be operated during this time period as if the amendment were in effect, and the amendment, once adopted, must apply retroactively. Importantly, if these requirements are met, the retroactive effect of the amendment, once adopted, will be deemed not to violate the ERISA anti-cutback rules.

Waiver of required minimum distributions

Similar to the temporary waiver of the required minimum distribution rules in 2009, the CARES Act provides for the temporary waiver of required minimum distributions for 2020. This means that participants who would otherwise have to take a required minimum distribution in 2020 because of a required beginning date occurring during 2020, or because the distribution was not made before January 1, 2020, are not required to take the distribution. Thus, RMDs that would otherwise have to be taken by April 1, 2020, and 2020 RMDs, would not have to be taken. In addition, special rollover rules apply to any required minimum distributions that are taken.

It appears this waiver applies only to defined contribution plans (for example, 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans, 457(b) plans and IRAs), not defined benefit plans. The amendment for this provision is similarly due by December 31, 2022, for calendar year non-governmental plans and December 31, 2024, for calendar year governmental plans.

Health plans

The CARES Act adds obligations to health plans and insurers by expanding the types of testing for which cost-sharing is not permitted. On the other side, however, there are clarifications to Health Savings Account coverage as well as a repeal of the Affordable Care Act’s exclusion of over-the-counter medicines from coverage under Health Savings Accounts and similar arrangements.

Cost-sharing limitations

Coverage for diagnostic testing under the CARES Act has been expanded to include not only testing approved, cleared, or authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, but also testing for which the developer has requested, or intends to request, emergency use authorization from the FDA (until the emergency use authorization request is denied or the developer does not submit the request within a reasonable time), or that a state develops and authorizes, provided the state has notified the Secretary of Health and Human Services of its intention to review the tests for COVID-19 diagnoses. Other tests may be included under further regulatory guidance. These tests will be covered by health plans and insurers with no cost-sharing.

The CARES Act also addresses provider reimbursement for the diagnostic testing. If there is an existing negotiated price between the provider and the health plan or the insurer (in existence before January 27, 2020), the negotiated rate will continue to apply throughout the COVID-19-related public health emergency period (which will be determined by HHS). If there is no existing negotiated rate, the health plan or insurer is required to reimburse the cost listed by the provider on its public website, or the health plan/insurer can negotiate for a lesser amount. Providers of COVID-19 diagnostic testing are required to publicize that price on a publicly available website. If a provider does not publicize the price of the COVID-19 diagnostic testing, and does not otherwise correct the failure, HHS may impose a penalty on the provider of up to $300 per day for ongoing violations.

In addition to diagnostic testing, health plans and insurers will be required to cover, with no cost sharing, any vaccinations for COVID-19 once developed. These vaccinations fall under “qualifying coronavirus preventive services” which are now addressed by the CARES Act. A “qualifying coronavirus preventive service” is defined in the CARES Act as an “item, service, or immunization” intended to prevent or mitigate the COVID-19 disease. An item or service must meet certain criteria recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force to qualify. Immunizations must have a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the individual involved to qualify. Coverage will then begin 15 days after the date on which the recommendation is made. All of these qualifying coronavirus preventive services must be covered by health plans and insurers with no cost-sharing requirements.

Health Savings Account requirements

The CARES Act clarifies that, for plan years beginning on or before December 31, 2021, a plan that does not have a deductible for telehealth and other remote care services will not fail to be treated as a high-deductible health plan.

Qualified medical expenses

As many may recall, the Affordable Care Act prohibited over-the-counter medicines (other than insulin) from being “qualified medical expenses,” and, thus, HSAs, Archer MSAs, and health FSAs and HRAs could no longer cover these expenses. The CARES Act repeals this rule. As a result, participants in these arrangements will be able to use those funds to pay the cost of over-the-counter medicines with no prescription requirement.

As an aside, the definition of “qualified medical expenses” was amended to include menstrual products. “Menstrual products” is defined as tampons, pads, liners, cups, sponges, or similar products used with respect to menstruation or other genital-tract secretions.

These changes to the definition of “qualified medical expenses” apply to amounts paid or expenses incurred for these items after December 31, 2019.

Miscellaneous provisions

A few miscellaneous changes from the CARES Act help employers with funding and reporting obligations.

Ability of Secretary of Labor to postpone deadlines

The CARES Act provides an additional basis for the Secretary of Labor to postpone certain filing deadlines. Filing deadlines can be postponed if the Secretary of Health and Human Services declares a “public health emergency” under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act. Filing deadlines can also be postponed if the President has declared a “disaster” under the Stafford Act, or if there has been a terroristic or military action. Notably, a public health emergency was declared on January 27, 2020, by the HHS Secretary, meaning that the Department of Labor can extend deadlines. The extension may not be for more than one year.

Minimum funding requirements

Minimum funding contributions for qualified plans, including quarterly contributions, are delayed under the CARES Act until January 1, 2021, subject to an increase for accrued interest that takes into account the delay. Defined benefit plan sponsors may also treat the plan’s adjusted funding target attainment percentage for the 2019 plan year as the adjusted funding target attainment percentage for the 2020 plan year.

In addition to these employee benefit provisions, the CARES Act
addresses 
various tax, employment, and other matters relevant to employers.


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Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report

Today’s significant increase in cases is in part due to additional laboratories reporting to DPH, and also improvements in electronic reporting from other laboratories. Patient information is often incomplete and DPH works to complete the records, so data will change over time.

Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report For: 03/31/2020

These data represent confirmed cases of COVID-19 reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health as of 03/31/2020 11:28:18.
A confirmed case is defined as a person who has tested positive for 2019 novel coronavirus.



COVID-19 Confirmed Cases: No. Cases (%)
Total 3817 (100%)
Hospitalized 818(21.43%)
Deaths 108 (2.83%)


For more information visit: 






Georgia Employers' Association
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