COVID-19
Paycheck Protection Program – The program officially exhausted all $349 Billion in loan monies in less than two weeks. The Small Business Administration (SBA) has stopped accepting applications as well as enrolling new lenders. The agency is awaiting potential additional dollars from the U.S. Congress which has become bogged down in partisan wrangling. The U.S. Senate failed again Thursday to pass additional funding legislation which will cause further delay. Republican leadership is pushing for a “clean bill” with no additions to new funding. Democratic leadership is pushing for extra funds for local governments and hospitals to deal with the crisis. It is unclear when negotiations may result in a consensus funding bill. More details.
Essential Workers – Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation referred to as an “Essential Workers Bill of Rights” that would require, among other things, personal protective equipment for all frontline workers, hazard pay, federal funding for free health care coverage, child care and paid leave requirements. The legislation, as written, has little chance to move in the U.S. Senate but it is an important marker in terms of identifying which workers qualify as essential. More details.
Reopening The Economy – The President convened numerous working groups, dubbed the Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups, to advise him on “reopening the economy”. A food and beverage industry group was formed consisting of leading CEOs and industry association executives. More details. Outside of the federal component, the states themselves have been the issuer of most of the restrictions and guidelines to address the crisis. Expect the first states to begin announcing their reopening plans next week. A brief compendium on state reopening details can be found here.
Worker Safety – The federal agency tasked with protecting workers, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), issued COVID-19 workplace safety guidelines this week. The guidance is based on the CDC recommendations related to controlling the spread of the virus in the workplace. Among the OSHA guidelines, there are updated procedures for hand and surface washing and maintaining proper social distance practices. More details. The agency has, and continues to be criticized, by labor advocates for not doing enough to protect workers. Meanwhile, the states continue to lead in this space. For example, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, New Jersey and New York are requiring workers to wear face coverings among other requirements. Expect that trend to continue and for smart brands to stay ahead of mandated requirements. More details.
Wages
Illinois – The business community is calling on the governor to delay the scheduled increase in the minimum wage. It is set to increase $.75/hr to $10/hr on July 1.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Virginia – In Feb., a bill to raise the minimum wage to $12/hr by 2023 was signed by the governor. This weekend, the governor proposed an amendment to delay the first scheduled step of the increase from the current $7.25/hr to $9.50/hr by Jan. of 2021. He now is calling for a delay in that increase until May of 2021.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Paid Leave
California – The governor announced that food sector employees including farmers, distributors, restaurant employees and delivery drivers among others, will be granted two weeks of paid sick leave if they contract COVID-19 or if they are prevented from going to work because of a quarantine.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
New York – Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration related to the paid sick and family leave provisions in the “COVID-2” legislation.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Washington, DC – The mayor signed emergency legislation greatly expanding both existing statutes on paid sick leave and unemployment benefits.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Labor Policy
Illinois – The state Workers’ Compensation Commission ordered that first responders and front-line workers (including food producers) that contract COVID-19 will be presumed to have contracted the illness on the job.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Delivery
New York, NY – A class action lawsuit was filed by a group of consumers against DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates and Uber Eats contending that they used their monopoly power to impose higher fees (from 13%-40%) on restaurants and thus higher costs were passed on to consumers.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
San Francisco / Santa Cruz, CA – Both cities capped third-party delivery commissions at 15%, far below the threshold some delivery platforms were charging restaurants, particularly independents.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe
Insurance
Business Interruption Group – A group of notable industry chefs, independent restaurant owners and some trade associations have formed the Business Interruption Group (BIG) which is pushing back against insurers who are denying business interruption insurance claims because they claim civil authority shutdowns due to viruses are not covered.To Access Align's Analysis: Log In or Subscribe