In January 2021, President Joe Biden issued an Executive Order directing the Department of Labor ("DOL") to consider issuing an Emergency Temporary Standard ("ETS") addressing COVID-19. After numerous delays, the final ETS was issued on June 10, 2021, and addresses what healthcare employers, who are not excluded from its application, must do to protect workers from COVID-19. For more details on applicability of the ETS and its requirements, see the prior Burr Alert on this topic.

 

 

 

 

The State of South Carolina has now adopted legislation allowing "pass through" entities to elect each year to be taxed at the entity level on their active trade or business income instead of having their owners taxed at the individual level on this income. This includes partnerships, S-corporations and LLCs taxed as partnerships or S-corporations. This election can be filed for tax years beginning after December 31, 2020.

 

 

 

 

While the United States has seen a drastic drop in COVID-19 cases as vaccinations become more prevalent, other countries continue to see significant infection rates. Travel restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 remain in place. Currently, foreign nationals who have been present in China, Iran, India, Brazil, South Africa, the Schengen region, the United Kingdom, or Ireland within fourteen days of attempting entry into the United States will generally be refused. In order to avoid disruptions, businesses employing foreign nationals on H, L, O, and other temporary visas have relied heavily on the National Interest Exceptions ("NIE") to bypass the regional travel restrictions. Recently, the Department of State announced an expansion of the National Interest Exception criteria that should allow more individuals to qualify.