The US Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service have issued guidance on President Trump’s August 8 memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to use his authority to defer certain payroll taxes.
There has been some public debate about challenges that may be imposed by the policy, which are addressed in the following articles:
This past weekend, Governor Walz announced that Minnesota had received approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the Lost Wages Assistance (LWA) program. LWA temporarily provides an additional $300 per week to Minnesotans receiving unemployment benefits. An applicant must be unemployed due to COVID-19 and receive a weekly benefit amount of at least $100. The program is anticipated to last five to eight weeks, and those currently receiving benefits do not need to take any additional action to receive the additional amount. More information can be found here.
The School Year and Family Leave
The Department of Labor has published a new FAQ to provide guidance on eligibility for paid relative to the various formats and schedules that schools have announced on reopening with a blend of in-person and distance learning. Employees qualify for paid leave when:
A child attends a school operating on an alternate day basis;
A parent chooses remote learning when in-person instruction is available; and
A school begins the year with remote learning but may shift to in-person instruction if conditions change.
The American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) has published a State of the Hotel Industry Analysis on the economic and human struggle the hotel industry continues to face six months into the COVID-19 pandemic.
Key findings of the report include:
4 out of 10 hotel employees are still not working.
Almost two-thirds (65%) of hotels remain at or below 50 percent occupancy, which is below the threshold at which most hotels can break-even and pay debt.
Consumer travel remains at all-time low, with only 33 percent of Americans reporting they have traveled overnight for leisure or vacation since March and just 38 percent saying they are likely to travel by the end of the year.
Urban hotels are suffering the most and facing collapse with cripplingly low occupancies of 38 percent, significantly below the national average.
COVID-19 has left hotels in major cities across the country struggling to stay in business, resulting in massive job loss and dramatically reducing state and local tax revenue for 2020 and beyond.
AHLA transmitted the report to Congress with a letter urging swift action on a targeted extension of the PPP; establishing a commercial mortgage backed securities market relief fund; and making structural changes to the Main Street Lending Facility to ensure hotel companies can access the program.
Our Member Updates are generally sent to members only. In the interest of public health and the health of our industry, we encourage you to share this update widely. Additional resources can be found on our website and through our social media posts onFacebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
