COVID-19 Update August 13, 2020

In today’s breaking news, new unemployment claims fell under 1 million during the week ending August 8^th, a decrease of over 200 thousand from the previous week. Hopefully this indicates a labor market in continued recovery.

As another day passes with little updates to last weekend’s executive orders, several organizations have submitted letters to Treasury requesting clarity on the payroll tax deferral executive memorandum, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the National Payroll Reporting Consortium (NPRC), and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). NAPEO is in conjunction with these organizations and has drafted a letter to send tomorrow on behalf of our members, focusing specifically on PEO concerns.  Feel free to reach out if you have any questions on any of the points contained in these letters.

Experts believe the Aug. 3 executive order requiring federal agencies to review contractors’ use of foreign national workers could be a prelude to new restrictions on employers of H-1B workers in contracting arrangements. The order is aimed at protecting jobs for U.S. workers in an economic recession, according to the White House. If you have a federal contract or subcontract from fiscal years 2018-2019, you should be aware of impending reviews and determine the number of your employees to be potentially impacted by this order.