Cutting Edge June 2020

June 1, 2020

in Cutting Edge,

The Cutting Edge

News and Ideas to Keep Your Business on the Cutting Edge

June 2020

Toolbox Talks

BMSA's most requested safety service!!

BMSA's Toolbox Talk Safety Program is an annual subscription that includes everything you need to conduct a year's worth of safety meetings:

12 Industry specific, 1-page handouts
Manager instruction/resource page for regulatory support
Sign in sheets to satisfy documentation requirements
3-Ring binder to keep it all together

Special 2020 Introductory Offer: $199

Annual renewals $225

(2021 pricing: $250/yr)

Employee Temperature-taking Policy:

When and How?

Question:

What is the best way to implement an employee temperature-taking policy? Should it be required of everyone or should it be used only for employees who are returning to work after being sick, or other times? What type of thermometer is best? When, where and how should the temperature be taken? What are the actions an employer should take based on the resultant number?

Answer:

The EEOC released COVID 19-related guidance, which directly addresses the topic of taking employee temperatures at Questions A.3, B.1., and B.2. Specifically it provides that “employers may measure employees' body temperature. However, employers should be aware that some people with COVID-19 do not have a fever.” It also addresses employer obligations to maintain confidentiality if it does so. We recommend reviewing this guidance as a part of any effort to take employee temperatures. We also note that the CDC has issued guidance that references integration of temperature monitoring under certain circumstances, which can be viewed at Implementation of Mitigation Strategies for Communities with Local COVID-19 Transmission and is also a helpful resource.

From an employment law standpoint, it does appear that employers do have limited flexibility to take the temperature of employees (although as noted above, the EEOC authorizes such medical examination at the present time), but please note that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) imposes a duty of confidentiality upon employers and this is unchanged in view of the current pandemic. If an employer proceeds with taking the temperature of its personnel, it must do so in a confidential way and ensure that any documentation (including the results, which are similarly confidential) is specific to each employee and maintained properly in a separate medical file in accordance with ADA guidelines.

Click here to see the full answer.

(Source: Federated Insurance HR Question of the Month, May 2020)

New OSHA Enforcement Policy on

Recording Cases of COVID-19

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has revised its previous enforcement policy for recording cases of COVID-19. The new enforcement guidance went into effect May 26th, 2020. All information pertaining to OSHA’s new enforcement policy with respect to COVID-19 can be found in an enforcement memo here .

All employers who are currently subject to OSHA’s existing recordkeeping requirements , which includes building material and supply dealers, must now record a case of COVID-19 as job-related if the case:

· Is confirmed as a COVID-19 illness (positive test);

· Is work-related as defined by 29 CFR 1904.5 ; and

· Involves one or more of the general recording

criteria in 29 CFR 1904.7 , such as medical

treatment beyond first aid or days away from work.

Employers with fewer than 10 employees are exempt from OSHA’s recordkeeping requirements.

Given the nature of the disease and ubiquity of community spread, in many instances it remains difficult to determine whether a COVID-19 illness is work-related, especially when an employee has experienced potential exposure both in and out of the workplace. In light of these considerations, OSHA is exercising enforcement discretion to assess employers’ efforts in making work-related determinations.

In determining whether an employer has complied with this obligation and made a reasonable determination of work-relatedness, Compliance Safety and Health Officers (CSHOs) will apply the following considerations:

The reasonableness of the employer’s investigation into work-relatedness.
The evidence available to the employer.
The evidence that a COVID-19 illness was contracted at work.

If, after the reasonable and good faith inquiry described above, the employer cannot determine whether it is more likely than not that exposure in the workplace played a causal role with respect to a particular case of COVID-19, the employer does not need to record that COVID-19 illness.

Read more here .

(Source: LBM Journal, May 27th, 2020)

Thirteen BMSA members made the recent ProSales 100 list. We’d like to recognize those BMSA members:

# 20 - Professional Builders Supply (Morrisville, NC)

# 34 – TW Perry (Gaithersburg, MD)

# 37 – Lezzer Lumber (Curwensville, PA)

# 39 - Guy C. Lee Building Materials (Smithfield, NC)

# 45 - Big C Lumber (Granger, IN)

# 64 - The Lester Group (Martinsville, VA)

# 65 - Jennings Builders Supply & Hardware (Cashiers, NC)

# 67 - Harbin Lumber Company (Lavonia, GA)

# 68 - Garris Evans Lumber (Greenville, NC)

# 70 - Yoder’s Building Supply (Fair Play, NC)

# 75 - Buck Lumber & Building Supply (Charleston, SC)

# 78 - Tindell’s Building Materials (Knoxville, TN)

# 96 - Goldsboro Builders Supply (Goldsboro, NC

SBA and Treasury Release Additional PPP Loan Forgiveness Guidance

The Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department released an interim final rule which provides borrowers and lenders guidance on requirements governing the forgiveness of Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

A summary of the provisions is detailed below:

Creates an alternative method for determining when the eight-week period starts for businesses with pay cycles of biweekly or more frequent. These borrowers can choose an alternative payroll covered period, which is the eight-week period starting the first day of the pay period after they received the funds.
Clarifies when non-payroll costs must be incurred or be paid to qualify for loan forgiveness. Specifically, the costs must be paid during the eight-week period or incurred during the period and paid on or before the next regular billing date, even if that date is after the eight weeks. The guidance also states that advance payments on mortgage interest are not eligible for loan forgiveness.
Reiterates previous guidance setting the rules for when employers can exclude from loan forgiveness calculations employees who refuse to be rehired. The new guidance states that in calculating any reduction in full time equivalent employees, employers can exclude any employees who decline a good faith offer to return at the same pay and hours as before they were laid off or furloughed. The guidance includes a requirement for borrowers to notify the state unemployment office of an employee’s rejected offer within 30 days of that rejection.
Includes definition of full-time equivalents (FTEs) as 40 hours, and two methods for calculating FTEs for non full-time employees.
Borrowers can restore forgiveness if they rehire employees by June 30 and reverse reductions to salaries and wages for FTE employees by June 30. The guidance said loan forgiveness totals would not be reduced for both hours and wage reductions for the same employee.

In addition, the SBA and Treasury released an interim final rule which informs borrowers and lenders of SBA’s process for reviewing PPP loan applications and loan forgiveness applications and related borrower and lender responsibilities.

A summary is detailed below:

States that the SBA may review any PPP loan, regardless of size, to determine if the borrower is eligible for PPP loans under the CARES Act, whether the borrower calculated the loan amount correctly and used the funds for eligible costs, and whether the borrower is eligible for the amount of loan forgiveness it requests.
Borrowers may appeal SBA determinations within 30 days of receipt. The guidance also says an appeal process will be established, with the specifics coming later guidance.
Requires lenders to decide on loan forgiveness within 60 days of receipt of the complete application from the borrower. The SBA then has 90 days to review the loan forgiveness application.
Clarifies that borrowers may be asked questions by lenders and the SBA.

For questions, please contact NLBMDA Director of Government Affairs, Kevin McKenney at kevin@dealer.org .

Attention! New Federal Poster

To Be Posted!

All employers with less than 500 employees will now be required to post this new federal poster. Poster should be posted in a common area where all employees have access to the information such as by time clocks, break rooms or a designated information bulletin board.

To download a PDF version of the poster, click here .

Phase 4 Relief Package Update

NLBMDA sources have stated that congressional Republicans and the Trump administration are still far from finishing a draft bill, and want to evaluate the impact of Phase 3 before crafting another package.

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, told reporters this afternoon that real negotiations won’t start until the third or fourth week of June.

As reported, the House of Representatives has passed their own Phase 4 bill but the Senate will take up something different.

As a reminder, NLBMDA has compiled federal guidance and resources in the NLBMDA COVID-19 Action Resource Center .

Read the executive order, here .

(Source: NLBMDA Alert Update, May 2020)

Safety First! June 2020June 1, 2020 BMSA Bulletin May 2020May 1, 2020

Cutting Edge June 2020

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