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The CARES Act, now passed by the House and Senate and expected to be signed by the President changes the unemployment system and created a pandemic unemployment assistance program. For weeks of unemployment, partial unemployment, orinability to work caused by COVID-19 between January 27 and December 31 the act provides covered individuals with unemployment benefit assistance when they are not entitled to any other unemployment compensation or waiting period credit. This includes self-employed and other workers, such as independent contractors, who have not previously been included in the unemployment system. The weekly benefit amount is generally the amount determined under state law plus an additional $600 for up to 39 weeks (which is notably longer than the typical 26 weeks in most states).

In an effort to provide support to the nation's ailing economy during the COVID-19 outbreak, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The CARES Act, among other things, amends the Small Business Act (SBA) for the period from February 15, 2020 to June 30, 2020, also referred to as the "covered period," to expand the SBA loan program, making $349 billion in funds available to businesses and nonprofit organizations that would not otherwise qualify to cover expenses that would otherwise not be permitted.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) requires certain employers to provide their employees with paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave for specified reasons related to COVID-19. These provisions will apply from April 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020. Employers are required to post the FFCRA Poster to provide notice to all employees.

Supply chains across the globe are being disrupted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as manufacturers of “non-essential” goods curtail or completely suspend production based on worker shortages or government orders. The impacts of those realities will be felt for months or years to come by downstream businesses who assumed a certain supply of goods or raw materials when accepting orders from their customers. Given the lead times associated with manufacturing products, supply chains will not be refilled overnight. That means that many sellers may not have sufficient supplies to fill all customer orders in the short term or once the pandemic abates and consumer demand returns.  In those situations, sellers will need to carefully consider their legal obligations before picking and choosing among their customers in a limited supply context.

As Arkansas begins its second full week of battling COVID-19, telemedicine has emerged as a major weapon in fighting the pandemic. Last week, both the federal and state government issued notices of significant regulatory flexibility for telehealth services in hopes that health care providers can treat a higher number of patients and reduce the spread of COVID-19 by keeping more sick or high-risk patients at home.

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing significant disruptions to normal everyday life, and part of this normal everyday life is retirement planning. This alert is intended to provide guidance to retirement plans in this very unusual time we find ourselves related to retirement plans. The first section is related to defined contribution plans, and the second section is related to defined benefit plans.

Employers familiar with the federal form I9 know that the Authorized Representative must physically inspect the documents presented by the employee so that she may attest the documents appear genuine and relate to the new employee. The employee must also be physically present. That has presented a problem for employers with remote workers. At least for now, there is a temporary solution, but only for those employers working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.