[custom_adv] Businesses and employers can prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19. Employers should plan to respond in a flexible way to varying levels of disease transmission in the community and be prepared to refine their business response plans as needed. [custom_adv] According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), most American workers will likely experience low (caution) or medium exposure risk levels at their job or place of employment (see OSHA guidance for employerspdf iconexternal icon for more information about job risk classifications). [custom_adv] The coronavirus pandemic is affecting small businesses in a variety of ways. From loss of business to remote work, things are changing fast during the COVID-19 outbreak and businesses are being forced to adapt. CO— is working to bring you the best resources and information to help you navigate this challenging time. [custom_adv] The $2 trillion coronavirus rescue package that the Senate passed on Wednesday will fundamentally transform the U.S. government by placing thousands of businesses and millions of workers on federally funded life support. [custom_adv] The government will pay the wages of some workers who remain on their companies’ payrolls. It will sustain other workers who have lost their jobs with checks that are as large as — or even larger than — what they were earning before they were laid off. And it will cushion some of the country’s largest corporations from bankruptcy, with taxpayers taking shares in those companies as collateral. [custom_adv] Rarely before has the government involved itself so deeply in the business of business. Amid a historic drop-off in economic activity, the bill temporarily transfers financial responsibility from private industry to the federal government, allowing the United States to control the levers of capitalism and potentially decide who wins and who loses. The level of intervention this week far outstrips the financial scope and breadth of recovery efforts during the 2008 financial crisis. [custom_adv] That is a controversial proposition in normal times but one lawmakers deemed necessary now, as companies large and small, from airlines and big banks to nail salons and brew pubs, face unprecedented hardship. The ripple effects have already sent millions of Americans into unemployment. [custom_adv] The government’s intervention will come in a variety of ways, including direct payments to individuals and businesses, generous loans in which the government agrees to backstop losses and equity stakes in companies. [custom_adv] Midsize companies, or those with between 500 and 10,000 employees, get to borrow at an interest rate that is not higher than 2 percent annually, and don’t have to repay principal or interest for six months. The midsize companies cannot “outsource or offshore” jobs from the start of the loan until two years after it has been repaid. [custom_adv] Businesses and employers can prevent and slow the spread of COVID-19. Employers should plan to respond in a flexible way to varying levels of disease transmission in the community and be prepared to refine their business response plans as needed.
