EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AMID COVID-19 · 2020. 4. 6. · EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AMID COVID-19 On March 23, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-12 requiring all Oregonians

EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AMID COVID-19

OVERVIEW + UPDATES

1 | Oregon Ordered To Stay Inside

All information was updated as of 03/24/20. For the latest information please refer to the references at the end of this presentation


On March 23, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-12 requiring

all Oregonians to stay home unless absolutely necessary. The order prohibits the

operation of businesses where close personal contact is difficult or impossible to

avoid and provides guidelines for those allowed to stay open.

2 | Businesses Ordered To Close



Per PARAGRAPH TWO of Executive Order 20-12:

Amusement parks; aquariums; arcades; art galleries (to the extent that they are open without appointment); barber shops and hair salons; bowling alleys; cosmetic stores; dance studios; esthetician practices; fraternal organization facilities; furniture stores; gyms and fitness studios (including climbing gyms); hookah bars; indoor and outdoor malls (i.e., all portions of a retail complex containing stores and restaurants in a single area); indoor party places (including jumping gyms and laser tag); jewelry shops and boutiques (unless they provide goods exclusively through pick-up or delivery service); medical spas, facial spas, day spas, and non-medical massage therapy services; museums; nail and tanning salons; non-tribal card rooms; skating rinks; senior activity centers; ski resorts; social and private clubs; tattoo/piercing parlors; tennis clubs; theaters; yoga studios; and youth clubs.

3 | Exceptions for Businesses



Food & Drink businesses ONLY on take-out or delivery basis. Malls can only

provide food, grocery, health care, medical, pharmacy or pet store services.

3. Paragraph 2 of this Executive Order does not apply to restaurants, bars, taverns, brew pubs, wine bars, cafes, food courts, coffee shops, or other similar establishments that offer food or drink, which remain subject to Executive Order No. 20-07 (prohibiting on-premises con-sumption of food or drink, but allowing take-out or delivery service).

4. Indoor and outdoor malls, and other businesses subject to paragraph 2 of this Executive Order, are not prohibited from operating to provide food, grocery, health care, medical, pharmacy, or pet store services.

4 | Required Social Distancing For Businesses



Businesses that don’t meet the criteria in PARAGRAPH TWO must:

“...designate an employee or officer to establish, implement and

enforce social distancing policies consistent with guidance from

the Oregon Health Authority”

(waiting on official OHA guidance as of 3/24)

5 | Workspace Restrictions



As of March 25, all Oregon businesses required to:

- Facilitate telework & work-at-home

- Prohibit work at offices where telework & work-at-home are possible

- Establish, implement and enforce social distancing policies consistent

with guidance from the Oregon Health Authority (OHA)

(waiting on official guidance as of 3/24)

- Businesses that fail to comply will be closed until they demonstrate

compliance (waiting on official guidance as of 3/24)

6 | Overview of HR 6201



- Signed into law on 3/18

- Requires small businesses to provide employees with:

- Initial 10 days of emergency Paid Sick Leave

- Additional 12 weeks of Emergency Paid Family/Medical Leave

- Emergency Unemployment Insurance Stabilization and Access Act of 2020

(provides $1 billion in funding for processing and paying unemployment

insurance & administrative costs)

- Reimbursement to small businesses for paid leave as tax credits

(Families First Coronavirus Response Act)Source: (NFIB – National Federation of Independent Business)



- Applies to businesses with fewer than 500 employees

- Applies to any employee who works for the business

- No minimum days/hours of employment

- Full time Employees get 80 hours of Emergency Paid Sick Leave

- Part-time Employees are paid based on average # of hours worked

during past 6 months (if employed less than 6 months, the average

# of hours per week they would normally be scheduled)

7 | Emergency Paid Sick Leave - 10 Days

8 | Emergency Paid Sick Leave -



a) Employee subject to Federal, State or local

quarantine or isolation order related to outbreak

b) Employee advised by healthcare provider

to self-quarantine due to outbreak

c) Employee experiencing COVID-19 symptoms

& seeking medical diagnosis

PAY RATE:

- Employee’s regular rate of pay for reasons a, b & c

- Capped at $511 per day and $5,110 aggregate per

person for reasons a, b & c

d) Employee caring for individual subject

to self-quarantine

e) Employee caring for son or daughter if school or childcare

closed/unavailable

f) Employee experiencing “any other substantially similar

condition” specified by HHS

PAY RATE:

- 2/3 Employee’s regular rate for reasons d, e & f

- Capped at $200 per day and $2,000 aggregate per

person for reasons d, e & f

Qualifying Reasons & Pay Rate

Mandatory Emergency Paid Sick Leave when employee unable to work or telework due to:



- Employers of employees who are health care providers may choose to exclude

employee from the application of this section

- Secretary of Labor has proposed to “exempt small businesses with fewer than

50 employees from leave to care for son or daughter if school or childcare is

closed/unavailable when the imposition of such requirement would jeopardize

the viability of the business as a going concern” (this is still to be determined, as

there are not yet guidelines in place as to the definition of “jeopardize viability” –

NFIB encouraging broad definition)

9 | Emergency Paid Sick Leave - Exemptions



- Employers are entitled to an advanceable, refundable tax credit equal to the

amount of the qualified Emergency Paid Sick Leave paid out PER QUARTER

- Employers will not have to wait till the end of the quarter to access tax credits

- Tax credits are applied against employer portion of Social Security & Medicare

taxes, but employers are reimbursed if their costs for qualified Emergency Paid

Sick Leave exceeds the taxes they would owe.

- We are still waiting for guidance on:

a) How employers will access Social Security/Medicare payroll

taxes in escrow for paid leave

b) How employers will receive funds from the IRS & Treasury

10 | Emergency Paid Sick Leave - Employer Tax Credits

11 | Emergency Paid Family/Medical Leave



- Applies to small businesses and significantly expands the FMLA until 12/31/2020

- Provides for up to 12 weeks of job-protected leave if employee is unable to

work or telework while caring for a son or daughter due to school or daycare

closure/unavailability

- First two weeks may be unpaid, then the following guidelines apply:

- Full-time employees compensated at 2/3 of regular rate

- Part-time employees/irregular schedule compensation is based on average

# of hours worked 6 months prior, or if less than 6 months, average # of hours

the employee would be scheduled to work.

- Pay capped at $200/day and $10,000 aggregate per employee



We’re keeping close to official sources and updating our information daily.

In our next edition, we’ll update you on:

- New developments with the Emergency Family Medical Leave Act

- New developments with Unemployment Insurance

- New developments with small business reimbursements & access

to economic relief funding

- Economic Relief legislation just released by Congress – awaiting Presidential

signature and official guidance from lawmakers

12 | Coming Up Next

13 | Resources



We’re grateful for the reliable sources of information that have helped us navigate

the COVID-19 pandemic, especially those that focus on the economic impact for

U.S. small businesses. Here is a list of resources we’re following on a daily basis:

- NFIB (National Federation of Independent Business) www.nfib.com

- Oregon Employment Department – www.oregon.gov/employ/Pages/COVID-19.aspx

- Oregon Health Authority – www.oregon.gov/oha/pages/index.aspx

- Oregon Gov Kate Brown – www.oregon.gov/gov/pages/index.aspx

- Senator Jeff Merkley – www.merkley.senate.gov

- National Law Review - www.natlawreview.com

To speak to an experienced team member, please reach out to us:

caputo-group.com

caputo-group.com/contact

503.646.5716

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EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AMID COVID-19 · 2020. 4. 6. · EMPLOYER RESPONSIBILITIES AMID COVID-19 On March 23, Oregon Gov. Kate Brown issued Executive Order 20-12 requiring all Oregonians