COVID-19 Information

GUIDANCE FOR DETERMINING WHETHER A BUSINESS ENTERPRISE IS SUBJECT TO A 75% WORKFORCE REDUCTION UNDER EXECUTIVE ORDER 202.6
(enacted to address the COVID-19 Outbreak)

On March 18, 2020, Executive Order 202.6 (or as revised) directed that all businesses and not-for-profit entities in New York State, shall utilize, to the maximum extent possible, any telecommuting or work from home procedures that they can safely utilize.
It is directed that, no later than March 20, 2020 at 8 p.m., each for-profit or not-for profit employer (excluding state and local governments and authorities) shall reduce the in-person workforce at each business/work location by 75% from pre-state of emergency declaration employment levels.

Read the full article here 

Critical Payroll Tax Changes – Families First Coronavirus Response Act March 19, 2020

PayServ is closely monitoring developments from the U.S. federal government concerning payroll tax changes in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19).  Below, we have summarized the information we know so far about the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and how it may impact your business.

On March 14, 2020, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the “Families First Coronavirus Response Act” with the Senate passing it on March 18, 2020.  Late last night the President signed it into law. This Act includes provisions that impact employers, including required paid family medical leave, unemployment insurance, and paid sick leave.

The bill only applies to employers with 500 employees or fewer, although additional legislation may come later for employers with over 500 employees. Under the Act, employers are required to provide paid sick leave and paid family leave while providing a refundable payroll tax credit to employers to cover 100% of the cost of wages. There is also a refundable income tax credit made available for self-employed individuals. Employers with less than 50 employees must apply for a hardship exemption in order to qualify

Paid Sick Leave

Applicable employers must provide all full-time employees with two weeks (80 hours) of paid sick leave for circumstances related to COVID-19, such as doctor’s visits, self-isolation, etc. (existing leave offered can count toward the 10 days). Part-time employees must receive the number of hours of paid sick time that they work in a two-week period, on average.

If the sick leave is for an employee who is sick or seeking a diagnosis, the benefit must replace all of the employee’s wages up to a maximum benefit of $511 per day. If an employee is caring for another individual who is sick, the benefit must replace at least two-thirds of the employee’s wages up to a maximum benefit of $200 per day. The paid sick leave credit offsets 100% of employer costs for providing mandated paid sick leave. The credit also offsets, uncapped, the employer contribution for health insurance premiums for the employee for the period of leave.

Employers must provide compensation at their regular pay rate for any sick time taken.. The provision doesn’t preempt any local or state paid sick leave regulations.

Paid Family Medical Leave

Under the Act, applicable employers must provide 12 weeks of job-protected paid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. Eligible employees are those who have been working for at least 30 calendar days.

Employers must offer 12 weeks of paid family leave for employees who have been employed for at least 30 days with a minor child in the event of the closure of the child’s school or place of care. The first 10 days are unpaid, but the employee can overlap this with the 10 days of paid sick leave. This benefit must replace at least two-thirds of the employee’s wages up to a maximum of $200 per day. The paid family leave credit offsets 100% of employer costs for providing mandated paid family leave. The credit also offsets, uncapped, the employer contribution for health insurance premiums for the employee for the period of leave.

Self Employed Individuals 

Under FFCRA, self-employed individuals are provided similar credits as refundable income tax credits in an amount of what self-employed workers would have received if they had been an employee receiving paid leave benefits pursuant to the mandates. For a given day that a self-employed worker could not work, they can claim a “rough justice” tax credit in the amount of their average daily self-employment income for the year.

We want to assure you that PayServ is taking every conceivable precaution to keep everyone safe while ensuring business continuity related to your payroll needs. As COVID-19 continues to spread and the number of reported cases increases, it is important that we continue to take measures on behalf of our employees, clients and the community to do our part to help limit the spread of the virus. With that in mind below is some important information we wanted to share with you.,

We are still open and have made operational changes to stay that way.

• The majority of our employees are working remotely while some essential staff is in the office ensuring payrolls that require delivery are processed and sent out as normal.
• We are in continuous communication with our remote staff. 
• if you need to reach us the best way is through Please email us at [email protected] or to an individual email address and someone will get back to you asap.
• We do have staff to answer the phones but ask for your patience as call volumes are higher than normal.

If you have a change to your normal pay frequency, pay rates or will be suspending payroll processing please let us know ASAP. 

This process is ongoing, and we continue to review our operations and modify activities as needed.

DELIVERY

Please note, we have no control over our delivery providers (I.e.; USPS, UPS and the Courier)  While we currently do not see issues related to delivery, we ask that you consider electronic options such as employee self-service, direct deposit and electronic reports as an alternative to ensure your employees are paid in case this changes.

Please contact us asap so we can review ways to mitigate this risk even on a temporary basis.

 PayServ intends to remain open and processing payrolls as usual as long as the banking system is functioning as normal. 

 Those clients with employees on direct deposit, especially those who’s employees utilize employee self-service to view their stubs, will likely not be impacted.

We understand that PayServ is an important business partner for you. Please know that we are working diligently to ensure we are providing you with the support and service you have come to expect during this trying time. 

Read this helpful article on Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers from the CDC

Unemployment Options for Employers and Employees

We know there are a lot of questions about employment, unemployment, forced closures,…etc. We want to point you toward the resources that may give you some information on what options you have as an employer and what options you can give your employees during this time.

Here is a direct link to the Department of Labor where you can access state-specific information about what you are able to do.

As per the Department of Labor website:

Under the guidance, federal law permits significant flexibility for states to amend their laws to provide unemployment insurance benefits in multiple scenarios related to COVID-19.

For example, federal law allows states to pay benefits where:

• An employer temporarily ceases operations due to COVID-19, preventing employees from coming to work;
• An individual is quarantined with the expectation of returning to work after the quarantine is over; and
• An individual leaves employment due to a risk of exposure or infection or to care for a family member.

In addition, federal law does not require an employee to quit in order to receive benefits due to the impact of COVID-19.

New Jersey Companies: here is a quick resource guide on what’s available to your employees for different COVID-19 scenarios. Get more info here: Unemployment Resources for New Jersey

New York Companies: NYS is waiving the 7-Day waiting period for Unemployment Insurance benefits for people who are out of work due to COVID-19 closures or quarantines. Get more info here: Unemployment Information for New York 

Additional Resources from the U.S. Small Business Administration

Click here for updated SBA information for business

*Please note, although not all businesses will qualify for these specific programs, there is other SBA assistance that is always available.

Important SBA tips from our public assistance unit

Disaster Preparedness Factsheet

Disaster Mitigation Factsheet

Disaster Assistance Loans: Businesses & Nonprofits

Disaster Assistance Loans: Homeowners & Renters

Disaster Assistance Loans: Community Impact

PayServ Office Update:

We want to keep our clients updated and assure you that as of now we are fully operational. While we are open, we continue to take preventative measures and develop best practices to minimize health risks and limit potential service disruptions. With that in mind, we are alternating staff work locations and forwarding phones therefore, the best way to get in touch with us is by emailing [email protected].

We will respond to your emails promptly.

Please note that as an additional precaution, we have restricted client access into our building. For those clients picking up payrolls, we will bring it to you outside.

We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding while we work to adjust to this temporary situation.