The Illinois Department of Labor released a statement today on the enforcement of the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) during the current pandemic. The Act requires employers with 75 or more full-time workers to give at least 60 day notice to employee if they (1) lay off 25 or more employees and they constitute one-third or more of the total employees; (2) 250 or more workers are laid off, or (3) closure of a site that employs 50 or more employees.
Under the new guidance, employers will be given additional time to make notification to the Department of Labor but it is still required.
"If a covered employer is forced to close or significantly reduce its workforce in the form of a mass layoff, the
WARN Act
will apply. IDOL will provide individual determinations to employers who seek an exception under Section 15 of the Act. To request the determination, the employer must provide IDOL with a written basis describing the basis for reducing the notification period." To learn more about the Illinois WARN Act and to see the entire statement from the Department, please
click here
.
The US House of Representatives followed the U.S. Senate and passed
the economic stimulus package (Phase 3.5) yesterday. The package adds another $484 billion in funding, including an additional $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Plan with $60 billion set aside for small businesses. President Trump is expected to sign the stimulus package.
Daily COVID-19 Results
Governor JB Pritzker held his daily press conference and announced:
- There are 2,724 new cases of coronavirus in Illinois.
- There are a total of 1,795 deaths related to coronavirus in Illinois, including 108 additional deaths announced today.
- A total of 39,658 cases have been confirmed in at least 96 of the 102 counties.
- There have been 186,219 individuals tested for coronavirus in Illinois.
Press Conference Key Updates
- Illinois not only reached its goal of testing 10,000 individuals for coronavirus in 24-hours, but the state surpassed that number and has tested 16,124 individuals in the last 24-hours.
- Despite hitting a record number of positive cases today (2,724 new cases of coronavirus) the state is testing more and the positive rate is actually down to 17% from the cumulative average of 21%. It is still too early to determine if this is an indicator of the curve further flattening.
- Governor Pritzker stated that antibody tests have not been certifiably proven to be accurate and consistent, and until they are the state will not be administering them.
Employer Resources & Programs
On Thursday, April 30, from 10:00am-12:00pm, the IMA will host a webinar on maximizing the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans funds.
In this webinar we'll discuss how your PPP loan funds should be spent and how they should be tracked so your loan can become eligible for forgiveness, as well as a look at any new legislation. We'll also have a Q&A session at the end of our webinar. To register for the webinar,
click here
.
