On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the appointment of Associate Deputy Attorney General Kevin Chambers to serve as the Director for DOJ’s COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force. In remarks...more
Republican elected officials and critics of expanded unemployment have argued that federal unemployment payments, adjusted since the outset of the pandemic, are too high. Below is a summary on state actions to limit...more
On March 12, 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) was signed into law, providing an estimated $1.9 trillion stimulus package to address the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the ARP’s key provisions include a...more
The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (the Rescue Plan) is a massive $1.9 trillion COVID-19 pandemic relief package that contains some key employment-related provisions. The Rescue Plan provides additional benefits to...more
Q: What Does the $1.9 Trillion American Rescue Plan Mean for Employers? A: On March 11, nearly a year after the enactment of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and CARES Act, and three months after the...more
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (CAA) which modifies or extends to March 14, 2021 many of the relief programs first created in March 2020 by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and...more
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (CAA) into law, providing a long-awaited additional round of economic relief related to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, this new law,...more
Who Needs to Know - All employers covered by the FFCRA, employers attempting to recall or hire employees currently receiving unemployment benefits and possibly eligible for extended benefits, and employers who may conduct...more
Facing a government shutdown and the expiration of many of the relief programs included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) enacted in March 2020, on December 21, 2020, Congress passed...more
This afternoon, the United States Senate voted on a targeted COVID-19 relief package, which was introduced by Majority Leader McConnell earlier this week. The bill failed, with a vote of 52-47. This bill would have provided...more
As the country continues to suffer from the health and economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, congressional Democrats and Republicans and the White House are still worlds apart on the next phase of much-needed relief...more
On August 8, 2020, the President issued an executive memoranda establishing the Lost Wages Assistance (“LWA”) program, a new unemployment benefit intended to replace the recently-expired $600 per week Federal Pandemic...more
Democrats and Republicans launch negotiations, each envisioning a broad-scale extension of previous efforts to stem the economic damage from COVID-19. Senate Republicans and House Democrats have both put forth proposals...more
Congress recently passed the economic stimulus package referred to as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act1”), the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (“PPPHCE Act”),...more
As businesses begin to reopen and many workers return to work, one of the main provisions of the CARES Act, signed into law on March 27, 2020, is set to expire next month. Section 2104 of the CARES Act created the federal...more
This resource was prepared by Lowenstein Sandler for informational purposes only. It is not intended to give, and should not be relied upon for, legal advice in any particular circumstance or fact situation. Use of this...more
On June 4, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor reported initial unemployment claims continue to show a decreasing trend. For the week ending May 30, 2020, 1,877,000 initial claims were filed, a decrease of 249,000 from the...more
During the current COVID-19 crisis, over one million New Yorkers have applied for unemployment insurance (UI) and New York State has paid out over $7 billion in benefits. Despite these numbers, many employers do not...more
More than half of the states have started to lift restrictions to re-open businesses or have similar plans to re-open in the next few weeks. This mass re-opening, coupled with the fact that some employees at home are...more
On May 3, 2020, the SBA and the US Department of the Treasury released new guidance to assist businesses with calculating the forgiveness amount for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, with respect to employees who...more
On April 24, 2020, the Maryland Department of Labor launched a new application, the BEACON One-Stop (Beacon), for online claims filing. Beacon provides Marylanders with a single platform to file claims for unemployment...more
The New York State Department of Labor, Division of Unemployment Insurance (NYS DOL) has implemented new procedures and temporary policy changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and federal legislation implementing the...more
Emergency Rules Related to Provision of Unemployment Insurance - On March 19, 2020, in response to COVID-19, the Georgia Department of Labor (GDOL) passed numerous emergency rules, mandating that Georgia employers file...more
Many New York employers have recently been faced with the difficult decision of whether to terminate/furlough employees immediately or hold out in the hopes that life will soon return to normal. As weeks go by, employee...more
As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 16 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks—approximately 10% of the domestic workforce. This unprecedented number has challenged our unemployment...more