The National Restaurant Association (NRA) has launched a new industry website geared to COVID-19 related education and industry advocacy. Restaurantsact.com, managed by the NRA, is a veritable one-stop hub of critical information for restaurants, employees, customers and industry partners. It offers an exceptional interactive map of each state across the country as well as the…
Read More »There are two upcoming webinars that we think will be very helpful to our readers, the first of which is this afternoon. From 2:00 to 3:00 PM EDT today, April 24, 2020 Immediate Cash Flow and Refund Opportunities from the Government Stimulus Programs and Tax Changes will feature Restaurant Finance Monitor’s John Hamburger and panel…
Read More »Last week, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed into law several bills to address issues raised in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. Among those signed by Murphy were more amendments to the New Jersey Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act (NJ WARN Act) as well as expansions of the New Jersey Family Leave Act (FLA)…
Read More »In response to a proposal by Governor Ralph Northam, of which we advised you last week, the Virginia legislature has approved a delay in the minimum wage increase that was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2021. Under the amendments passed this week however, the initial increase (from the current $7.25 to $9.50…
Read More »Organized labor is still determined to fight to save the Obama era expansion of the joint employer rule, most recently using the COVID-19 crisis as its tool of choice. The AFL-CIO along with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) early this week sent a letter to NLRB Chairman John Ring urging the delay the final…
Read More »The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has officially run out of money as of late Wednesday evening with the entire appropriation of $349 billion having been allocated to small businesses across the country. The Small Business Administration (SBA), which was charged with the administration of the forgivable loan program as part of the massive $2.2 trillion…
Read More »Notwithstanding the current stand-off in Congress, efforts are still underway in the US Senate to appropriate additional funds for the critical Paycheck Protection Program. As we reported last week, the Coalition of Franchisee Associations (CFA) was asking all franchisees to contact Congress to urge the appropriation of additional funds for this program. This week, that…
Read More »The Department of Labor (DOL) has published revisions to its regulations on the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Phase II of the COVID-19 economic recovery legislation. As revised, the regulations allow employers to require employees to use employer-provided paid leave (paid time off, vacation, etc.) and expanded family and medical leave concurrently, except in…
Read More »The White House announced the creation of 17 industry specific task forces that the President will look to for advice and guidance relative to reopening the American economy. One of the task forces, focused on the food and beverage industry, consists of twenty-three (23) individual members including restaurant brand CEOs, chefs and restaurateurs as well…
Read More »In what one could argue is an acknowledgement of the negative impact minimum wage increases can have on businesses, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam last week proposed an amendment to delay a planned increase in the state minimum wage, rather than veto the measure outright. Virginia became the latest democratic trifecta state in 2019 (both branches…
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