Susan Gross Sholinsky Quoted in "Finding Financial Relief"

The FFCRA exempts employers with fewer than 50 workers from the need to provide extended leave due to school or childcare center closings, if doing so would jeopardize the survival of the business. ...

Businesses may qualify for waivers of the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or childcare unavailability if an authorized officer of the business has determined one of three conditions ...

“The rule notes that employers should document when they make this determination and maintain such information in their files,” says Susan Gross Sholinsky, vice chair of the Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practice of the Epstein Becker Green law firm in New York. “But employers are not required to submit such documentation to the Department of Labor.” ...

Many employers face a larger challenge: How can they survive without sufficient hands on deck? “In my experience, employers are less concerned with the costs of providing the paid leave than with the number of employees who will seek to take the leave and therefore be unavailable to work,” Sholinsky says. “This is particularly true for businesses exempted from shelter-in-place orders, so that some or all of the employees are required to come into the workplace.” ...

Businesses can apply for forgiveness of the PPP loans (turning them into direct grants) if funds are spent for permitted purposes during the eight-week period after the loans are made. “Forgiveness is based on the employer maintaining or quickly rehiring employees and maintaining salary levels — and at least 75% of the forgiven amount must be put towards payroll costs,” Sholinsky says. The forgiveness is reduced if employers reduce head counts or wages by certain amounts. ...

“The CARES loan program for mid-sized employers (500 to 10,000 employees) will be administered by the U.S. Department of the Treasury but is largely undefined and having difficulty getting off the ground,” Sholinsky says. ...