Attention Area Businesses: Friday, 4/3/20 at 5pm is Deadline to Submit Waiver for Keeping Physical Locations Open

April 3, 2020

LAST CHANCE!

All non-life sustaining businesses in Pennsylvania were directed to close their physical locations as of 8 p.m. on March 19, 2020 to slow the spread of COVID-19. If you are uncertain whether your business qualifies as “life sustaining,” or if you believe you might be entitled to a waiver/exemption from the Governor’s Order because your business provides goods or services necessary to maintain operations of such a business, you must apply for a waiver no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 3, 2020. The Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED) published a revised list of life sustaining businesses on April 1st. Links to the life sustaining businesses list, DCED’s guidance via FAQs, and the wavier application are below.

The federal government has also been busy. On April 1, 2020 the Department of Labor published regulations pertaining to the paid emergency sick leave and emergency family medical provisions of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). That follows revisions to its guidance regarding the FFCRA offered via a series of Q&As. In addition, the IRS has just published its own guidance concerning the FFCRA paid leave tax credits that are available to employers. Links to the DoL and IRS guidance pages are also below.

https://www.scribd.com/document/452553026/UPDATED-4-00pm-April-1-2020-Industry-Operation-Guidance;
https://www.scribd.com/document/452553495/UPDATED-4-00pm-April-1-2020-Life-Sustaining-Business-FAQs;

https://expressforms.pa.gov/apps/pa/DCED/Waiver-process-keeping-physical-locations-open

https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/pandemic/ffcra-questions

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-employee-retention-credit-available-for-many-businesses-financially-impacted-by-covid-19

Questions Every Business Must Ask

Q. Has your business recently reviewed its legal structure to determine whether it is set up in the most advantageous manner for legal and tax purposes, considering recent developments and changes in the law?

Q. Do the owners of your business have a current, updated buy-sell agreement which controls how ownership interests in the business are to be transferred in the event of an owner’s death, disability or termination of employment?

Q. Have the owners of your business developed a succession plan to define how ownership and authority will transition upon the death or retirement of the present owners?

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