The Path Forward Recording – Virtual Conversation – April 1

As a caring leader your people are looking to you for encouragement, optimism and strategies for the path forward. Listen to the discussion and hear what our  panel of  Legal, HR/people, Tax, Strategy and Leaderships experts had to say about the CARE Act, SBA Loans, Paycheck Protection Program and strategies for leading during times of stress and uncertainty.

Questions Received By Attendees and Answered By Our Experts

• Regarding the rebates being sent to individuals, will any taxpayers be required to pay back any portion of these funds when they file their 2020 tax returns?
• I heard that the CARES Act has a provision allowing employers to defer payment of their payroll taxes. Does this apply only to certain businesses and are there any specific requirements?
• Is it necessary for a business to have furloughed employees to qualify for the new SBA loan program in the CARES Act, or is there any other bright-line test for being impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic?
• The various tax provisions provided to businesses in the CARES Act are somewhat confusing. Will they need to make choices to claim the different benefits?
• Could you highlight briefly what changes are being made in the tax laws through the CARES Act and what steps businesses should be taking now to prepare for the changes?
• What do you do with an employee who insists on wearing a face mask?
• Under what circumstances could an employee claim worker’s comp for contracting corona virus in the performance of regularly assigned duties?
• Is the loan forgiveness program tied to any union neutral commitments?
  Insights on layoffs, furloughs, benefits, and unemployment options
• What if an employer wants to reduce his employees’ pay by the $600 federal addition to state unemployment compensation?  That’s because in some cases people could make more while on layoff than by working, which could create a disincentive for people to really work hard at finding another job.
• Under what circumstances could an employee claim worker’s comp for contracting corona virus in the performance of regularly assigned duties?
• On the CARES act legislation that provides loans for Small Business Relief, can you share more about how the PPP applies to loan forgiveness for payroll that includes pay to 2% shareholders? Also, any nuances we should be aware of with using a PEO to process payroll, either related to delaying employer payroll taxes or reimbursements for payroll taxes from employee sick leave/FLMA.
• It appears that the SBA will loan amounts for Independent Contractors but will not allow this amount to be forgiven.  What is your understanding?
• What insight can you share about the paycheck protection program?
• What are some of the best uses of stimulus money?
• How do we handle employees who refuse to come back to work “indefinitely”?   I know we aren’t supposed to fire them, yet, we have a business to run and they aren’t here.  It’s very frustrating that they can get away with staying home since they are “scared”.  We are all scared and none of us want to be here.  Yet, we have a business to run.
• How to move past COVID-19 and re-engaging our workforce
• What do I do if people want to continue working from home once the shelter-in-place and lock-downs are over?
• How do I measure their productivity and making sure they are being efficient?
  Under the CARES ACT, will I still be able to fire underperforms or do I have to keep them on the payroll to keep a “grant” status on the loan?
• How does OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Act) impact cleanliness, sanitation of the workplace, and safety considerations of my business?
• What do we think the “other side” of this looks like?    What can businesses do to prevent and mitigate this type of situation in the future?
• How do you get your Corporate Culture to “Re-Calibrate”, if behaviors of consumers change long-term on the other side of this crisis?
• What can I, as the dealer/business owner personally do to ease employee’s anxiety and worry?
• Thoughts on communication tactics when you don’t necessarily have answers?
• Insight on  how to lead through this challenging time?
• Motivational ideas: I have sent out a video once so far – looking for other ideas going forward.
• How can I make sound decisions in such uncertainties?
• How to keep customers engaged when I cannot provide a service?
• How can we motivate our employees to get back to work when this is over? And, how long will it take to get people efficient again?
• Should I expect to have to rebuild some teamwork after people have been isolated from each other?
• What percentage of my market should I expect to lose?

Thank you to our panelist:

• Dan Schneider: Partner, The Rawls Group – dschneider@rawlsgroup.com
• George Taylor: Partner, Burr Forman – gtaylor@burr.com
• Matthew Scully: Labor & Employment Law, Partner, Burr Forman – mscully@burr.com
• Renay Winston: President of People 1: renay.winston@people-1.net
• Brigitta Hoeferle: CEO, NLP Center of Atlanta – brigitta@nlpatlanta.com
• Tim Oberst: Partner, Bennett Thrasher – tim.oberst@btcpa.net