Get a Payroll Quote

All Fields Required

Payroll Type

Name

Phone

SurePayroll.com

COVID-19 Legislation and Small Business Resources

The government is rolling out legislation to create federal programs to address the impact of COVID-19. As a business owner dealing with unprecedented challenges, you might have questions. SurePayroll is here to offer support, including helping you navigate through this complex legislation and understand what it means for you and your employees.

Whatever your current situation is as a business, we have information and resources to help you.

SurePayroll has created a specialized report that has payroll costs calculations you’ll need to complete a PPP application. Note that household employers are not eligible for PPP loans.

When you log into the product you will see a yellow banner on your dashboard with the headline Planning to apply for a Paycheck Protection Program loan? Click on the banner to access your report.

The reports are sufficient for what is required for the PPP loan application with the SBA.

If you have more questions about the report, check out this helpful guide for additional details about funding options available to your business.

The legislation is complicated, and we recommend that you consult with your CPA or financial advisor to determine if this is the right approach for your business. To learn more about the PPP loans, including eligibility requirements, visit our blog.

No, household employers are not eligible for loans under the Paycheck Protection Program. However, other forms of relief are available to household employers. We’ve put together a helpful guide for additional details about funding options available to your business.

My business is open and operating

Under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), there is a provision – the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act – that expands not only who is eligible but also what qualifies as FML.

Learn more about FMLA

A second provision under FFCRA, the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, expands, to 80, the hours employers must provide to eligible employees for qualifying reasons associated with COVID-19.

Learn more about the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

There are refundable tax credits – 100 percent for wages paid – available under both temporary leave acts.

Learn more about these tax credits

The federal government passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that provides small-business loans up to $10 million to help cover the costs of keeping your employees, paying their wages, rent, and utilities if you meet certain requirements.

Learn more about SBA loans

Learn more about loan forgiveness

Learn more about SBA loans

I suspended business operations temporarily

The Small Business Administration has funding available through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program, if you are eligible.

Learn more about the EIDL Program

You can borrow up to $2 million, with interest rates ranging from 2.75% to 3.75% depending on business type.

Learn more about borrowing

The SBA has a 3-step application process, which businesses can take advantage of now.

Learn more about applying for loans

Yes. SurePayroll is open for business, and the entire team is standing by (now remotely) to work with you on solutions that meet your needs today and put you in the best position to move forward when we emerge from pandemic.

We have instituted our Business Continuity Plan (BCP) so we can continue to help you with one of your top priorities – keeping your business running and paying your employees.

To stay up to date with SurePayroll’s business continuity and contingency plans and any status updates, visit go.surepayroll.com/BCP

Any updates or changes to service hours will be posted to your account dashboard, noted on go.surepayroll.com/BCP, and pinned to our social accounts.

First quarter 2020 ends on Tuesday, March 31, and first quarter 2020 federal payroll tax filing and payments will not be delayed, according to our sources in Washington, D.C.

We’re moving forward with our normal federal tax filing plans. If we learn otherwise regarding the federal filing deadline, we’ll let you know as soon as possible. We are also actively monitoring changes at the state level. As these changes are solidified, we will communicate to you as soon as possible.

With a presence spanning multiple states and localities, our experienced emergency response team has detailed plans in place to be flexible in shifting business functions to unimpacted locations as needed.

Our product is designed to help you automate and simplify payroll processing.

Use our mobile apps to run payroll anywhere, right from your smart phone; your employees can also access their paystubs and review deductions from their mobile device.

AutoPayroll is another option to simplify your business processes. If you run the same payroll every pay period, whether for salary or hourly employees, you can set your payroll on cruise control and never have to worry about logging in and approving payroll or missing the payroll processing cut-off.

For additional payroll continuity plan best practices, visit our blog.

If you have an employee who has requested to switch to direct deposit, you can update the payment method by logging into your account, clicking on “Employees” and selecting “Employee List”. Select the employee you’d like to edit, select “Bank” and click on “Direct Deposit”. Enter the bank account and routing numbers. Repeat as needed for additional accounts for split deposits. Click save.

Note that if you had a payroll entry in progress before you updated the employee, the system will require you to reset payroll and re-enter the information.

SurePayroll continues to review implementation guidance related to the FFCRA from federal agencies. We are updating our systems to support you during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic..

Here’s what we know as of March 30, 2020:

The effective date for the FFCRA is Wednesday, April 1, 2020.
The leave provisions of the FFCRA generally apply to all private employers with fewer than 500 employees.
Eligible employees with a qualifying need related to the COVID-19 public health pandemic as specified in the FFCRA will be entitled to paid leave as of April 1, 2020.
Each covered employer must post a notice of the FFCRA requirements in a conspicuous place on its premises.
Covered employers will be entitled to tax credits in the specified amount under the law for the benefits paid to eligible employees for qualified leave taken under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act and the Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.

Return to these FAQs for the most up-to-date details about requirements of the Act, employer tax credits, and reporting sick time.

The foregoing is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be tax or legal advice. Consult your licensed attorney, accountant, or other tax professional to discuss your particular facts, circumstances, and how these opportunities might apply to your business.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law March 18, 2020. The Act dedicates tens of billions of dollars for paid sick and family leave, unemployment insurance, free COVID-19 testing, and other measures to help Americans impacted by the crisis.

The final bill will take effect for covered employers no later than 15 days after enactment and sunsets Dec. 31, 2020.

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

Under the Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act, employers would be required to provide sick time, available for immediate use, to each employee who requires such time for qualifying reasons associated with COVID-19.
Employers also must provide up to 80 hours of paid sick leave (PSL) to eligible full-time employees and pro-rate part-time employee paid sick time based on the average number of hours regularly scheduled in a two-week period. The calculation and caps for compensation vary dependent on the reason for leave up to the maximum $511 per day if the employee is directly impacted and up to $200 per day if it is for care provided to someone else. Aggregate caps exist as well.

Requirements

Employees who have worked at least 30 calendar days for a covered employer would be eligible for qualifying leave.
Small businesses with fewer than 50 employees may be exempt if the leave would jeopardize the viability of their business. Employers with fewer than 25 employees may be exempt from certain provisions related to job protection.
Qualifying need is defined as “the employee is unable to work (or telework) due to a need for leave to care for a son or daughter younger than 18 years of age of such employee if the school (meaning a primary or secondary school only) or place of care has been closed, or the childcare provider of such a son or daughter is unavailable due to a public health emergency.”
Eligible employees who qualify for leave under these reasons would be paid by their employer after the first 10 days of leave at a rate of not less than two-thirds of their current rate of pay for the number of hours the employee would otherwise be scheduled to work, up to a maximum of $200 per day or an aggregate of $10,000, for up to 12 weeks in the benefit year.
Employees taking leave under the Emergency FML Expansion Act must be permitted to elect to use any available paid time off including vacation, personal time, medical leave, and/or sick leave during the first 10 days of their FMLA leave.
Standards for employees covered under a multiple-employer bargaining agreement are addressed separately in the legislation.
Exemptions apply for employers of healthcare workers and emergency responders.

For more information, refer to our blog.

The law provides for a 100% tax credit on Paid Sick Leave and Paid Family Leave paid by employers under the provisions of this Act.

SurePayroll’s parent company, Paychex, is working in concert with our industry coalition, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), to urge tax agency adoption of rules that can be easily and quickly administered or implemented for the FFCRA. More details will be shared as we have them.

Employers cannot require their employees to take paid time off before using paid sick leave under this Act. These benefits are in addition to any existing sick time policies at your company.

Yes, new earnings have been added into our payroll system to track the wages according to the benefits in the Act. These earnings will be available as default earnings types on your account. To pay an employee using these earnings, simply select the appropriate earning type from the dropdown on the payroll entry screen.

We’re working in concert with our industry coalition, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), to urge tax agency adoption of rules that can be easily and quickly administered or implemented for the FFCRA. If you choose to pay sick time to your employees now, before we have guidance from the IRS, please keep track of those hours.

If you are considered a covered employer, your employees are eligible for wages up to the maximum cap. For you to take advantage of the benefits of the Act, those wages need to be included in your payroll reporting/processing.

SurePayroll is in the process of updating its systems to deploy the necessary software changes. Please rest assured that we will partner with you to assist you to comply with the Act’s paid leave provisions and receive the related tax credits.

Nothing in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act requires you to cover employees due to the inability to work because of the location of business shutdowns. Employees may have the choice to use paid leave or forego pay during that period. However, employers must review any applicable state or local law or ordinance that requires employers to provide paid leave and ensure compliance with the same.

The Act does not include any provision for paying employees who are unable to work from home and are not able to go to work because of a shelter-in-place order.

We’re working in concert with our industry coalition, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), to urge tax agency adoption of rules that can be easily and quickly administered or implemented for the FFCRA. Please make sure you are tracking any other credits that you would typically apply to the Form 941 return.

We’re working in concert with our industry coalition, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), to urge tax agency adoption of rules that can be easily and quickly administered or implemented for the FFCRAAs soon as we have IRS guidance, we will update you. We appreciate your patience as we await final IRS guidance and then update our payroll systems accordingly.

Please check this page daily as we’ll post updates as soon as the IRS has issued final guidance.

For more information from the IRS, access their FAQs here.

The IRS said that there will be clear guidance for employers with these numbers of employees, but it has not been made available yet.

We’re working in concert with our industry coalition, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), to urge tax agency adoption of rules that can be easily and quickly administered or implemented for the FFCRA. As soon as we have IRS guidance, we will update you.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce Coronavirus Emergency Loans Small Business Guide and Checklist >

State-by-State COVID-19 Resource Pages >

Get a Payroll Quote

All Fields Required

SurePayroll.com

COVID-19 Legislation and Small Business Resources

Applying for the Paycheck Protection Program

Helping Your Business Navigate the COVID-19 Legislation

My business is open and operating

I suspended business operations temporarily

Customer Support during COVID-19

Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), As of April 6, 2020

Emergency Paid Sick Leave Act

Requirements