In the Dunkin’ Q1 earnings call held yesterday, company executives described the positive Dunkin US and Baskin sales momentum the brand had experienced leading into mid-March, only to be knocked down by the Covid 19 impact. By early April, Dunkin US same store sales had fallen to minus 35% but has since improved to almost…
Read More »The Internal Revenue Service (IRS), which for over a month now has had its Call Centers, Taxpayer Assistance Centers and refund processing centers closed due to COVID-19, has begun bringing employees back into the office. Initially, according to the National Treasury Employees Union which represents IRS workers, the agency is asking for volunteers and offering…
Read More »Starbucks also held an earnings call this week during which the company reported that global comparable sales fell a full 10 percent during the second fiscal quarter that ended March 29, while their average ticket was up 4% and a total net of 255 new stores opened globally. Here in the US, the COVID-19 crisis…
Read More »McDonald’s also presented Q1 earnings yesterday with a similar pattern – positive January and February US sales followed by a dramatic fall-off beginning in mid-March. The US same store sales bottomed out at -35% and improved to -25% in mid-April. Virtually all US units are open, and the drive thru sales mix rose from 67%…
Read More »The Department of Labor reported yesterday that another 3.8 million new unemployment claims were filed last week, pushing the total for the last six weeks over the 30 million mark. In the wake of the latest report out of DOL, the Congressional Budget Office has projected that the unemployment rate could reach as high as…
Read More »The US House gave final legislative approval to a bill refunding of the Paycheck Protection Program yesterday with an additional $310 billion and sent the bill to the President Trump, who has already signed it into law. The law immediately provides additional funding to the PPP for forgivable loans to small businesses and with that…
Read More »In response to some of the larger well capitalized “small businesses” (such as Shake Shack, Ruths Chris and others) having received PPP loans in the first round, the Small Business Administration (SBA) yesterday updated its FAQ on the loan program to make it clear that the funds are meant for small businesses and not for…
Read More »Yesterday, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released an updated federal guidance for all US employers. With several states across the country seemingly preparing to reopen much of their economy, the EEOC has clarified and expanded upon its prior guidance. With the stipulation that testing must be “job-related and consistent with business necessity,” as…
Read More »The Occupational and Safety Health Administration (OSHA) last week published an Interim Enforcement Response Plan that provides guidance to OSHA personnel on handling complaints, referrals and severe illness reports related to the COVID-19 pandemic. It provides insight for employers on OSHA’s intent to prioritize complaint investigations relating higher risk of COVID-19 exposure with the hope…
Read More »With economic relief funding having been passed and signed by the President, a good deal of the focus in Congress is now shifting to questions surrounding insurance coverage and the exclusions found in many – if not most – policies relative to viruses, epidemics, pandemics and the like. Currently, there are no fewer than 4…
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