News

COVD-19 cases are trending in a positive direction. Cases are down, and all adults may now receive a COVID-19 vaccine. While legislative efforts have been made to curtail an employer’s ability to mandate the COVID-19 vaccination onto their employees, as of today, those efforts have been unsuccessful. The question that seems to be on every employer’s mind is not whether they can mandate these vaccines, but whether they should.

On April 13, 2021, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited Liberty Tax Service of Lynn, Massachusetts for prohibiting its employees and customers from wearing masks, failing to ensure employees and customers practiced social distancing and refusing to implement other safeguards against the coronavirus. The Massachusetts-based business now faces $136,532 in penalties.

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law a comprehensive stimulus package titled the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) that includes assistance in the form of a 100 percent COBRA premium subsidy to “assistance eligible individuals” for a period of up to six months. Although ARPA went into effect on April 1, 2021, employer implementation of the new law has been delayed pending the release of the model notices by the Department of Labor (DOL). However, on April 7, 2021, the DOL issued the model notices to be used by employers to satisfy the notice obligations imposed by ARPA along with a set of FAQ’s that provide some clarifying guidance. Now that the model notices have been released, employers should begin taking steps toward satisfying its obligations under ARPA.

The PPP Extension Act, signed by President Joe Biden on Tuesday, extends the deadline for PPP applications to May 31, 2021. The Act also provides that the SBA will have until June 30, 2021 to process applications. While applicants now have an additional two months to apply for a first or second draw PPP loan, the Act does not provide any additional funding for the current round of PPP. As of March 28, 2021 the SBA has disbursed around $734 billion of the $806 billion appropriated by Congress to the program.

Beginning today, under the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will provide financial assistance for COVID-19 related funeral/cremation expenses incurred after January 20, 2020.

Governor Asa Hutchinson announced today the statewide mask mandate will be lifted effective immediately. Our labor and employment attorneys have put together some much needed guidance in the form of frequently asked questions to help business owners understand how this affects their place of business and current requirements set for employees and customers.

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP is proud to announce the establishment of the Friday Forward Fellowship. The program was created by the firm’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee with the goal to increase the number of law school students from diverse backgrounds. Recognizing that diversity includes many human differences such as race, ethnicity, sexual and gender identity, military service, socioeconomic status, faith and beliefs, disability status, immigrant upbringing, and other conditions, we are committed to seeking out these populations in Arkansas colleges and universities to provide financial support and mentorship with the goal of inspiring a more diverse representation in the Arkansas legal profession.