COVID-19 Response Resource Center: Timely Counsel for your Business

Starting Jan. 1, 2021, employers subject to the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) are no longer required to provide employees with COVID-related paid leave, but they may do so in some situations and still receive tax credits for doing so.

The FFCRA, which required that employers provide emergency paid sick leave for COVID-related reasons and emergency paid family leave to employees due to school closures, expires on Dec. 31, 2020. These requirements were not extended as part of the stimulus package passed by Congress on Dec. 21, 2020 and signed into law by the president ... Read More 

On Dec. 16, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its much-awaited guidance on the COVID-19 vaccine in the workplace. (See section “K. Vaccinations” at this link (for the full guidance.) This guidance provides crucial information to employers who have been weighing whether, and how, to require or implement the COVID-19 vaccines in the workplace. 

As with other moments during the COVID-19 pandemic, employers will need to be nimble in their response to current events, changing circumstances, and evolving scientific and legal guidance. For ... Read More 

This week, Governor Roy Cooper issued a “Modified Stay at Home” order. His new Executive Order 181, among other things, requires people to stay at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. It also requires restaurants, bars, entertainment venues, personal care businesses and some other businesses to close at 10 p.m. Certain activities such as travel to and from work; obtaining food, medical care, fuel or social services; or to take care of a family member, are exempted. The new Order is effective on Dec. 11, 2020 at 5 p.m. and extends through at least Jan. 8, 2021.

What are the major changes ... Read More 

On Dec. 2, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance to local health departments regarding their options and choices for shortening the length of quarantine after a person is exposed to the COVID-19 virus or has traveled internationally.

Post-Exposure Quarantine

Prior guidance required that a person quarantine for 14 days from the last exposure to a COVID-positive person, regardless of any negative test. The purpose of the quarantine period is to prevent spread of the virus by people who may be contagious but never develop symptoms, and to ... Read More 

This week, Governor Roy Cooper tightened mask requirements and enforcement and again extended North Carolina’s Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions. His new Executive Order 180 is effective on Nov. 25, 2020 at 5 p.m. and extends Phase 3.0 restrictions (first detailed in Executive Order 169) through 5 p.m. on Dec. 11, 2020.

What are the major changes under this Order?

Under this Order:

• A face covering will now be required in all indoor settings if there are non-household members present, regardless of the distance away.

      o Under previous executive orders, face coverings were ... Read More 

This week, Governor Roy Cooper extended and modified North Carolina’s Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions effective through 5 p.m. on Dec. 4, 2020. His new Executive Order 176 extends and modifies the Phase 3 restrictions that were first detailed in Executive Order 169 and extended in Executive Order 170.

What changes under the new Order?

 • The Phase 3 measures are extended for another three weeks, through Dec. 4, 2020.

• The Mass Gathering Limit for indoor spaces is reduced from 25 to 10 people.

What remains the same under Phase 3?

• The outdoor Mass Gathering limit remains ... Read More 

This week, Governor Roy Cooper extended North Carolina’s Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions through 5 p.m. on Nov. 13, 2020. His new Executive Order 170 extends the Phase 3 restrictions that were first detailed in Executive Order 169.

Highlights of the Phase 3 restrictions that have been extended include:

• Large outdoor venues with seating greater than 10,000 may operate with 7% occupancy for spectators. 
• Smaller outdoor entertainment venues, like arenas or amphitheaters, may operate outdoors at 30% of outdoor capacity, or 100 guests, whichever is less. 
• Movie theaters and ...

This week, Governor Roy Cooper issued Executive Order 169 moving North Carolina to Phase 3.0 COVID-19 restrictions. The new Order is effective Oct. 2, 2020 at 5 p.m. through 5 p.m. on Oct. 23, 2020.

Highlights of the new Order include:

• Large outdoor venues with seating greater than 10,000 may operate with 7% occupancy for spectators. 
• Smaller outdoor entertainment venues, like arenas or amphitheaters, may operate outdoors at 30% of outdoor capacity, or 100 guests, whichever is less. 
• Movie theaters and conference centers may open indoor spaces to 30% of capacity, or 100 guests ...

On Friday, Sept. 11, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued revisions to their original regulations on paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). These revisions are in response to the Aug. 3, 2020 decision by a federal court in New York that invalidated portions of the original regulations. Most significantly, the revisions provide a new, narrower definition of who qualifies as a “health care provider” for purposes of the FFCRA.

Under the FFCRA, two types of paid leave were made available to employees working for an employer with fewer than 500 ... Read More 

On Aug. 8, 2020, President Trump issued a memorandum calling for the Secretary of Treasury to allow for the deferral of payroll tax withholding on the employee portion of certain payroll taxes. This memorandum is separate from the ability of employers to defer their own payroll tax obligations under the CARES Act and is intended to provide stimulus to the economy by temporarily boosting take-home wages. On Aug. 28, 2020, the Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2020-65, allowing employers to defer payroll tax withholding, but requiring all ... Read More