COVID-19 Update #3: CARES Act, state unemployment & Health Trust latest info

Dear NMTA members, You can count on us to provide you with a weekly roundup of information that our team has found to be the most valuable for your business. We send these out each Monday. It’s hard to stay on top of everything, but this info should assist you as we get through COVID-19, together. Last week was a busy one. Hopefully, you saw that Governor Jay Inslee announced that he has extended the "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order to May 4. While some businesses remain open, many of our members are closed. If you feel your business is essential and you would like to open, please apply HERE. Maybe you heard about the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and the Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) last week, too. These loans and grants amount to $360 billion and were part of the $2.2 trillion CARES Act that President Trump signed on March 27. The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which enables businesses to obtain up to $10 million in loans that are 100 percent forgivable if they do not lay off any employees or if they rehire employees they’ve already laid off. These loans are through your lender and the application can be found HERE. Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL), which includes a $10,000 grant that businesses can apply for and which they do not need to pay back. The rest of the EIDL loan, which caps out at $2 million, is not forgivable but can be more flexible than PPP in the types of expenses it covers. These loans are through the Small Business Administration and the application can be found HERE. Our friends at NMMA put together this helpful flowchart to help you determine whether the EIDL or PPP is most helpful. You can find that HERE. If you have questions, you can email Peter Schrappen at NMTA (Peter@nmta.net) and/or check out these Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) that our partners at the Seattle Metro Chamber put together (with the assistance of their consultant Monument Advocacy): Summary of CARES Act SBA Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) & Loan Forgiveness Program (HERE) ▪ Our friends at NMMA put together this helpful flowchart to help you determine whether the EIDL or PPP is most helpful. You can find that HERE. Also, last week a record number of people filed for unemployment insurance, which is administered through our state’s ESD. There are numerous resources available to walk you through the process for your employees and as an employer, and we found these to be the most helpful. For Workers: The Employment Security Department has resources for workers on paid sick leave, paid family and medical leave, unemployment benefits, and more. Check out this easy reference chart on scenarios and benefits. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner has a site set up to help with insurance questions, including a frequently asked questions page. For Businesses needing to reduce staff hours or temporarily layoff workers, here are two programs that speak to this topic Reduced hours: SharedWork is a smart alternative to layoffs. It allows employers to reduce hours and let their employees collect partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages. Changes have been made to make this program more accessible during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about SharedWork, Standby and partial employment HERE. Temporary shutdowns and layoffs: Employers who temporarily shut down and put their employees on standby can apply for relief of some benefit charges if their operations were directly impacted by COVID-19. Standby has also been automatically expanded from 4 to 12 weeks. Learn more HERE. ▪ Reduced hours: SharedWork is a smart alternative to layoffs. It allows employers to reduce hours and let their employees collect partial unemployment benefits to replace a portion of their lost wages. Changes have been made to make this program more accessible during the COVID-19 crisis. Learn more about SharedWork, Standby and partial employment HERE. ▪ Temporary shutdowns and layoffs: Employers who temporarily shut down and put their employees on standby can apply for relief of some benefit charges if their operations were directly impacted by COVID-19. Standby has also been automatically expanded from 4 to 12 weeks. Learn more HERE. In closing, NMTA covers over 5,000 member employees and their dependents receive their health insurance from the NMTA Health Trust. If you received your insurance through us, please know that you can email your health insurance questions directly to Michaela Gormley at mgormley@capitalbenefitservices.com. Also, here is news for you on this subject, too. The insurance commissioner has extended the grace period for premium payments to 60 days. Member businesses can update and change their health insurance plans mid-plan to reduce costs and/or amount of contribution by employer. Our carriers, Regence and Kaiser Permanente, have waived any out-of-pocket payments for medical treatments related to coronavirus. Regence BlueShield coronavirus resources are available at this LINK. Kaiser Permanente coronavirus resources are available HERE. Please do not hesitate to reach out to any of us on staff with your questions or suggestions or ways you could use assistance. We would encourage you to keep checking our Twitter feed (@NMTA) and #NMTACOVID for updates and webinars throughout the week Sincerely,  4. Regence BlueShield coronavirus resources are available at this LINK. 5. Kaiser Permanente coronavirus resources are available HERE. NMTA Staff ©2020 Northwest Marine Trade Assoc. | 1900 N Northlake Way #233, Seattle, WA 98103