Small publicly traded companies will be facing easier audit requirements following the new Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rule adopted on March 12, 2020. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires public companies’ annual reports to include the company’s own assessment of internal control over financial reporting, as well as an outside auditor’s attestation of such internal control over financial reporting. The newly adopted SEC rule exempts public companies with annual revenue below $100 million and a public float of less than $700 million from such auditor attestation requirement. Prior to such amendment, Section 404(a) and 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley… Read more
*[3/25 Ed. Note: The Department of Labor has since advanced the effective date of the provisions outlined below to April 1, 2020.] On March 18, the President signed into law the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “Act”). Among other things, the Act establishes paid sick leave (under a new law, known as the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act) and temporarily expands the existing federal Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (the “FMLA”). Notably, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and FMLA expansions only apply to employers with fewer than 500 employees and government employers. In addition, the leave… Read more
Yesterday, the State of New York enacted emergency legislation to confer immediate job protection benefits to New York employees. The new law provides for paid and unpaid sick leave, family leave benefits, and temporary disability benefits to New York employees who are subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation issued by the State of New York, the department of health, local board of health, or any governmental entity duly authorized to issue such order, due to COVID-19. The draft bill initially also included an amendment to New York’s labor law to include a permanent and comprehensive… Read more
As the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold, employers are facing an avalanche of uncertainty over what they must do, can do and should do. Below we have compiled a list of common questions employers are asking, along with our insights on each topic. NOTE: The employment and benefits team at Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP is carefully monitoring the proposed legislation before Congress regarding paid employee medical leave and other issues related to the coronavirus. We will be providing an updated Client Alert on such legislation as soon as it is finalized. Employee Inquiries, Testing and Leave May an… Read more
Early on Saturday morning (March 14, 2020), the House of Representatives passed a coronavirus relief bill, H.R. 6201, which includes, among several other provisions, the requirement that group health plans provide coverage for COVID-19 testing at no cost to participants. COVID-19 testing under the proposed legislation includes the cost of a provider, urgent care center, or emergency room visit, if the visit results in an order for or administration of COVID-19 testing. As currently drafted, the coverage mandate does not apply to health care services for treatment after COVID-19 has been diagnosed. H.R. 6201 also includes significant new paid sick… Read more
On Tuesday, March 10, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved Georgia’s Hemp Plan, allowing the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) to begin the licensing of hemp growing and processing in the State of Georgia. The GDA will begin accepting online applications for Hemp Grower Licenses on March 23. A license fee of $50/acre (maximum $5,000) must be paid when GDA approves the license. For more information on the Georgia Hemp Plan, see here. The GDA’s rules for hemp grower license requirements are here. GDA had already made the Hemp Processor online application available on March 2. The initial application… Read more
In order to facilitate the nation’s response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), on March 11, 2020, the Treasury Department released guidance confirming high deductible health plans (HDHPs) may waive participant cost-sharing requirements for COVID-19 testing and treatment. See IRS Notice 2020-15. The guidance is intended to eliminate potential administrative barriers to COVID-19 testing and treatment that HDHPs may have otherwise faced. Under federal tax rules, subject to certain limited exceptions, if an HDHP pays for benefits (e.g., by waiving participant cost sharing) before a participant satisfies the HDHP deductible, then that participant becomes ineligible to make or receive pre-tax… Read more
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (“WHO”) declared the coronavirus outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern.” On Friday, February 28, 2020, WHO increased its coronavirus risk assessment to “very high” as the number of confirmed cases throughout the world continued to increase. While the number of cases in the United States remains low, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) forecasts that the coronavirus will ultimately cause a worldwide pandemic. The current CDC coronavirus summary can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/summary.html. The coronavirus outbreak raises a host of issues for employers as they attempt to minimize… Read more
On February 25, 2020, the National Labor Relations Board (“NLRB”) revealed the final version of its new rule for determining joint-employer status (the “Rule”). The Rule reinstates a test that was in place for decades prior to the current test being adopted in 2015 and will go into effect on April 27, 2020. Under the Rule, a business must exercise “substantial direct and immediate control over essential terms and conditions of employment” to be considered a joint employer. These “essential terms and conditions” include “wages, benefits, hours of work, hiring, discharge, discipline, supervision, and direction.” Furthermore, the Rule clarifies that… Read more
If you own an IRA or are a participant in a qualified retirement plan, such as a 401(k), and if your retirement benefits are a factor in your estate planning then the SECURE Act can have a significant impact on how your beneficiaries receive those benefits. Every dollar paid out of the IRA or retirement plan to your beneficiary is subject to income tax just as you are subject to income tax when you receive a distribution during your lifetime. The SECURE Act, which applies to IRA and most retirement plan distributions to beneficiaries of decedents dying after December 31,… Read more
