As part of the federal government’s efforts to address employment concerns relating to COVID-19, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) into law last month, requiring employers to provide paid time off to their employees for reasons related to the virus.

New Jersey had recently amended its Mini-WARN Act to expand the protections available for employees whose employers engage in mass layoffs or termination of operations effective July 19, 2020. Most notably, New Jersey had become the first state in the nation to mandate severance payments (one week’s pay for each year of service).

The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and Health Care Enhancement Act, signed into law on April 24, 2020, provides $484 billion of additional funding for small business loan programs and direct benefits to health care providers for COVID-19 response and testing.

In initially analyzing the tax provisions of the CARES Act, we identified some opportunities for businesses to claim refunds of federal taxes paid for tax years preceding 2020. See "COVID-19 Response: Tax Update - Using CARES to Conserve or Generate Cash, and Other Changes to Federal Tax Law”.

The Treasury Department released new guidance on April 23, 2020 regarding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in an effort to curtail the fallout from news that publicly traded companies and financially secure universities obtained millions of dollars from the program meant to provide a financial lifeline to struggling small businesses.

With more than $349 billion distributed in the Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) (and more being appropriated this week), plus $1 trillion to be allocated in Federal Reserves Main Street Lending funds under Title IV of the CARES Act, the stage is set for both mistakes and fraud.

In Simmons v. Cornerstone Invs., LLC, 282 So.3d 199 (La. 2019), the Louisiana Supreme Court evaluated whether the lower courts had erred in prohibiting a plaintiff from introducing the full amount of medical expenses billed as well as limited evidence of the amount actually paid by the employer through workers’ compensation.

On April 22, 2020, a coalition of Illinois businesses, including the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association and the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, filed suit in Sangamon County alleging that the Illinois Workers' Compensation Commission (IWCC) exceeded its rule-making authority when it passed an Emergency Amendment stating that workers in essential categories who become ill with COVID-19 are presumed to have contracted the virus in the workplace, thus making them eligible for workers’ compensation benefits.