COVID-19 Viewpoints

In a previous post, we covered the impact of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) on employee welfare benefit plans, programs, and arrangements. This post explains how this new law affects tax-qualified 401(k) and other defined contribution plans.

On April 22, 2020, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) announced it is extending its suspension of operations at all Trusted Traveler enrollment centers until at least June 1, 2020 to protect CBP officers and the general public from exposure to COVID-19.

On Friday, the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued responses to a series of frequently asked questions (FAQs), in an effort to provide some level of regulatory flexibility for health care providers responding to COVID-19 concerns.  These FAQs relate to enforcement of the OIG’s administrative enforcement authorities under the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and Civil Monetary Penalties Law prohibiting beneficiary inducement (Beneficiary Inducement CMPL) only.

With the reopening of the economy on the horizon, employers are looking ahead to welcoming employees back to the traditional workplace. Business operations will look vastly different during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In Part 2 of our Roadmap Series, we outline important operational planning steps and actions employers can take now to successfully and safely bring employees back to the workplace. Future posts in this series will address many of these issues more in-depth, so be sure to stay tuned.

In accordance with the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security) Act, the USPTO has extended some patent-related deadlines.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it is extending its current office closures, and is now preparing to reopen its offices on or after June 4, 2020.

This advisory reviews the SEC Division of Corporation Finance’s statement of April 23, 2020, including what forms it covers and how filers can submit typed signatures on documents submitted by email.

On April 12, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.16 mandating that essential businesses in New York require their employees to wear face coverings when in direct contact with customers or members of the public. The New York State Department of Health has now issued guidance regarding the order, which went into effect April 15th. We highlight the provisions of the order and the DOH guidance below.

This advisory covers the SEC’s April 21, 2020 approval to allow NYSE-listed companies to regain compliance with stockholders equity/market capitalization and minimum price continued listing standards by tolling applicable compliance periods through June 30, 2020 due to COVID-19.

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has introduced uncertainty and unique challenges in nearly every aspect of life. During this unprecedented time, Mintz is working to keep our clients and community informed and empowered to navigate this new world. To that end, we’ve created a number of webinars on a variety of COVID-19-related topics of interest to health care industry stakeholders. In case you missed them, here’s a highlights reel of what we’ve covered so far – just click on the links below to access the webinar recordings.

On April 23, 2020, the CFTC announced a targeted no-action relief to certain market participants from compliance with net capital treatment of covered loans received under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).

New York State issued guidance on March 20th detailing answers to many frequently asked questions about the newly implemented COVID-19 quarantine leave law. We summarized the key components of the emergency law, which was enacted on March 18, 2020 and became effective immediately, in a previous blog post. In short, employers are immediately obligated to provide certain paid/unpaid leave (with duration and pay status varying based on the employer’s size), job protection, and expanded paid family leave and disability benefits to employees who are subject to a government-issued order of mandatory or precautionary quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19.

This update discusses the new federal interim stimulus package, negotiations for the Phase 4 package, the Municipal Liquidity Facility, the SMART fund, plans to reopen the Massachusetts economy, and more.

Due to the economic impact of COVID-19, especially on smaller broker-dealers, FINRA will allow small firms more time to pay their Annual Assessment (comprised of the Gross Income Assessment and the Personal Assessment).

This alert from the Mintz Immigration Practice discusses President Trump’s Executive Order, signed April 22, 2020, suspending the entry of new immigrants into the US for 60 days.

With the rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the United States, the federal and state governments have scrambled to adjust existing legislation, or create new legislation, to account for the “new normal.” It is no surprise that many employers, especially those that operate in multiple jurisdictions, are struggling to keep up. Here we have summarized recent COVID-19 related updates in the D.C., Maryland, and Virginia region.

These FAQs provide US employers of foreign nationals with information on their obligations under immigration law related to pay reductions, reduced hours, leaves of absence, furloughs, and other steps they may be considering during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rapid onset of the coronavirus crisis stripped many employers of the opportunity to prepare an orderly retreat from the physical workplace. While we do not know what the “normal” post-pandemic American workplace will look like, employers should plan now for this transformation.  The Mintz Employment, Labor and Benefits section is pleased to provide this Roadmap for the Post-Pandemic Workplace series that will provide guidance on critical issues employers should focus on as they prepare for what promises to be a very different workplace.

Since our last roundup-style blog post on the response of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the agency has taken a wide variety of additional actions with the goal of getting much-needed medical products into the hands of health care providers on the frontlines of the pandemic as it hits the United States hard. We’ve already covered recent FDA policy changes aimed at expanding the availability of face masks, face shields, and respirators (see prior post here), so today’s post will focus on other emergency actions outside of the personal protective equipment space. Mintz clinical laboratory experts are also preparing separate articles on the diagnostic and antibody testing issues ongoing with the COVID-19 response, so we are not going to discuss testing in today’s post either.

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has released its 124-page temporary regulations of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”).