Without a doubt, COVID-19 has impacted many veterinary businesses and their employees. Read more about what support is available to businesses and employees.
For employers AND employees
- Tax Day is now July 15: The IRS announced announced the federal income tax filing due date has been automatically extended from April 15 to July 15, 2020. Taxpayers can also defer federal income tax payments due on April 15 to July 15 without penalties and interest, regardless of the amount owed. This deferment applies to all taxpayers, including individuals, corporations and other non-corporate tax filers as well as those who pay self-employment tax. To avoid delays, the IRS urges taxpayers to file electronically rather than on paper; using direct deposit is also critical to speed up refunds. Click here to read more from the IRS.
For employers
- Small business loans: Colorado small businesses impacted by COVID-19 can seek individual small business loans up to $2 million as part of the SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program.
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act: President Trump signed HR 6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law. The effective date is April 1, 2020. Click here to read more from the AVMA. Highlights of the bill include:
- Paid leave: The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern. These provisions apply from April 1 through December 31, 2020.
- FMLA COVID-19 benefit: This benefit provides up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave benefits related to the coronavirus to be paid at 2/3rds of regular pay rates after the first 10 days which are unpaid. The leave is only available for child care in the event of school closure or if the employee’s child care provider is unavailable due to the public health emergency.
- COVID-19 sick leave: This benefit applies up to 80 hours of additional paid sick leave for employees related to the coronavirus. There are daily and aggregate caps on the sick leave benefit of either $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate if the employee is sick or quarantined, and $200 per day and $2,000 in aggregate if the employee is caring for someone else.
- Requirement to notify employees of rights to paid leave: Employers are required to post a notice to employees about their paid leave rights in a conspicuous place in the practice, or to email or mail the notice to employees by April 1. Click to download the notice for your practice.
- Tax credits: Tax credits for employers intended to mitigate the impacts of the expanded leave provisions.
- COVID-19 testing: Free testing for the coronavirus during the emergency.
- Click to view FAQs from the Department of Labor.
- Paid leave: The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern. These provisions apply from April 1 through December 31, 2020.
- Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act): The CARES Act was signed into law Friday, March 27. The act contains many complicated and intersecting provisions that will take time to interpret, particularly as the veterinary community awaits further clarifications from the Department of Treasury, Department of Labor, and the Small Business Administration. The CARES Act amends many provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Highlights of the bill for employers include:
- Paycheck Protection Program — This initiative provides 100% federally guaranteed loans to small businesses. This legislation provides small business job retention loans to provide eight weeks of payroll and certain overhead to keep workers employed. Eligible businesses may borrow up to 2.5x the borrower’s average monthly payroll costs, not to exceed $10 million. These loans may be forgiven if borrowers maintain their payrolls during the crisis. The amount of loan forgiveness can be reduced if there is a reduction in the number of employees or a reduction of greater than 25% in wages paid to employees. Eligible businesses must have fewer than 500 employees. Businesses may go to a participating SBA 7(a) lender, bank, or credit union and apply for a loan beginning April 3. Read more about this program and how to get started from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
- Economic Injury Disaster Loan — Small businesses may apply for loans of up to $2 million with a 1% interest rate and a repayment period of up to two years. Businesses are eligible for a loan advance of up to $10,000, with advance funds made available within three days. A business can qualify for both EIDL and PPP but cannot use both for same expenses. Click to view the loan application.
- Tax credits and tax deferrals to support small businesses — The act will allow employers to receive an advance tax credit instead of having to wait for reimbursement on the back end. There are a number of tax policies included, such as a new retention tax credit; allowing for employers to make tax-free student loan repayment contributions on behalf of their employees; and allowing for the deferment of employer payroll taxes through 2020.
- Other employer resources
- Small business guide and checklist for emergency loans (U.S. Chamber of Commerce)
- Webinar: CARES Act loan provisions (AVMA)
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act Notice – click to print and post in your practice (Department of Labor)
- FAQs: Families First Coronavirus Response Act Notice (Department of Labor)
- Business disaster preparedness resources (Colorado Small Business Development Center Network)
- Business resource center (Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade)
- Alternatives to layoffs — work-share or job-attached programs (Colorado Department of Labor and Employment)
- Federal disaster loans (U.S. Small Business Association)
- Small business emergency relief (City of Denver)
- Cash grants and advertising credits (Facebook)
For employees
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act: President Trump signed HR 6201 – Families First Coronavirus Response Act into law. The effective date is April 1, 2020. Click here to read more from the AVMA. Highlights of the bill include:
- Paid leave: The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern. These provisions apply from April 1 through December 31, 2020.
- FMLA COVID-19 benefit: This benefit provides up to 12 weeks of family and medical leave benefits related to the coronavirus to be paid at 2/3rds of regular pay rates after the first 10 days which are unpaid. The leave is only available for child care in the event of school closure or if the employee’s child care provider is unavailable due to the public health emergency.
- COVID-19 sick leave: This benefit applies up to 80 hours of additional paid sick leave for employees related to the coronavirus. There are daily and aggregate caps on the sick leave benefit of either $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate if the employee is sick or quarantined, and $200 per day and $2,000 in aggregate if the employee is caring for someone else.
- Eligibility: All employees of covered employers are eligible for two weeks of paid sick time for specified reasons related to COVID-19. Employees employed for at least 30 days are eligible for up to an additional 10 weeks of paid family leave to care for a child under certain circumstances related to COVID-19.
- COVID-19 testing: Free testing for the coronavirus during the emergency.
- Click to view FAQs from the Department of Labor.
- Paid leave: The paid sick leave and expanded family and medical leave provisions of the FFCRA apply to certain public employers, and private employers with fewer than 500 employees. Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may qualify for exemption from the requirement to provide leave due to school closings or child care unavailability if the leave requirements would jeopardize the viability of the business as a going concern. These provisions apply from April 1 through December 31, 2020.
- Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act): The CARES Act was signed into law Friday, March 27. The act contains many complicated and intersecting provisions that will take time to interpret, particularly as the veterinary community awaits further clarifications from the Department of Treasury, Department of Labor, and the Small Business Administration. The CARES Act amends many provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Highlights of the bill for employees include:
- Individual “recovery rebates:” The act provides a tax credit of $1,200 for individual filers ($2,400 for joint filers) plus $500 per child. The credit is phased out for individuals with adjusted gross income over $75,000 ($150,000 joint filers). The credit phases out completely at $99,000 for individuals and $198,000 for joint filers.
- Federal student loan relief for six months: The act provides six months of relief on federal student loan payments and suspends interest accrual through September 30, 2020. During this time, borrowers will receive credit for making payments in order to remain on track for loan forgiveness programs such as the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The act also temporarily suspends debt collections on federal loans.
- Relaxed rules on retirement accounts: The law waives the 10% penalty on early distributions from retirement accounts for 2020. Additionally, individuals subject to mandatory minimum distributions from their retirement accounts will be able to keep their capital invested instead of being forced to cash out to draw on that capital without penalty.
- Expanded size and scope of unemployment benefits: The act creates a new and temporary pandemic unemployment insurance program to cover individuals who may be unemployed, partially unemployed, or unable to work because of COVID-19 and otherwise ineligible for unemployment benefits. This includes self-employed individuals and independent contractors.
- Filing for unemployment
- For those who are self-employed, independent contractors, nonprofit employees, and gig-economy workers, or are requesting an extension of benefits, please check this page for the latest information.
- For those who were previously eligible for regular unemployment and have already filed a claim, please continue to request payment every two weeks, even if you ran out of benefits already.
- If you are a traditional employee and are not working or had your hours reduced, file a regular unemployment claim:
- If your last name begins with a letter from A to M: Please file your unemployment claim on a Sunday, Tuesday, or Thursday, or after 12 noon on Saturday.
- If your last name begins with a letter from N to Z: Please file your unemployment claim on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, or before 12 noon on Saturday.
- Click to get more information on unemployment from the Colorado Department of Labor.
