By: Abby S. Busler School Districts across the state are experiencing an upheaval of all that is normal and forced to react and adapt to the “new” normal. On March 24, 2020, Governor Evers set forth Emergency Order #12, issuing a Stay At Home order. That order specifically directed that schools will not be open until April 24, 2020. Many school...
By: Mark G. Kmiecik and James M. Kalny The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“Act”) provides two new refundable payroll tax credits (“tax credits”) for employers providing paid emergency sick leave or paid FMLA, including tax relief for self-employed individuals. As written, however, the Act is not practical as to these tax credits, since...
By: Sherry D. Coley and Tiffany E. Woelfel Although California was the first state to issue a “shelter in place” order on March 19, 2020, it quickly became clear that it would not be the last. Since the 19th, approximately 21 states have issued similar orders as they combat the COVID-19 outbreak and try to flatten the curve. Not only are states...
By: Mark G. Kmiecik, Abby S. Busler and Ryan M. Spott The State of Wisconsin has joined several other states in shutting down all nonessential businesses with its newly issued Safer At Home Order, which is effective at 8:00 a.m on Wednesday, March 25, 2020, and will remain in effect until 8:00 a.m on Friday, April 24, 2020, or until a superseding...
By: Abby S. Busler On March 23, 2020, Governor Evers announced his plan to issue a #SaferAtHome order. This order will allow only “essential businesses” to remain open, encouraging social distancing and requesting that Wisconsinites stay at home. At Governor Evers’ 1:30 p.m. press conference, he announced the detailed order will be issued on...
By: Katherine M. Hampel and M. Andrew Skwierawski As businesses have moved to largely remote operations in response to COVID-19, employers are at an increased risk for exposure of sensitive information and are more susceptible to cyber threats than in traditional office settings. While the potential health effects of the virus were known ahead of...
By: Abby S. Busler As the pandemic escalates, businesses are adapting and reacting to the changing times. It is likely that employers will have employees test positive with COVID-19 within the next few weeks and months. The positive tests will create employee absenteeism, changes in patterns of commerce and potential interruptions of...
By: Abby S. Busler, Gini L. Hendrickson and Laurie E. Meyer Late last night, President Trump signed the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), an emergency relief package designed to assist employers and employees in the wake of the 2019 coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19). This signature is on the heels of the Senate which voted to accept...
By: Laurie E. Meyer and Abby S. Busler Virtually all employers are grappling with employment-related questions given the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Many employers are investigating or already implementing telework options. Unfortunately, many employers are being forced to consider furloughing employees (by reducing their days,...
By: Sherry D. Coley and Tiffany E. Woelfel Executive Order #5 This afternoon, Governor Evers and Secretary Palm of the Department of Health Services issued Emergency Order #5 (“EO #5”) in a further attempt to restrict the spread of COVID-19. EO #5 restricts mass gatherings of 10 or more people and will substantially impact businesses of all...
