Jun 23, 2020, 2:15 PM
(from the Chronicle of Philanthropy) Individual giving declined 6% in the first quarter of this year compared with last year, a trend that would lead to $25 billion in lost revenue for nonprofits if it continues throughout 2020, according to a new survey. The implications for nonprofits may be even worse than those numbers indicate because the first two months of the year were good ones for fundraisers, followed by an 11% decline in March compared with March of 2019. One bright spot: Donations under $250 rose 6%. Experts also predict giving may begin to trend upward this summer, perhaps in relation to social justice causes in particular.
More from the Chronicle of Philanthropy
(from Liebert Cassidy Whitmore and the Chronicle of Higher Education) The COVID-19 pandemic may make it harder for employers to justify denying a disabled employee’s request for an accommodation to work from home. Some employees will be able to point out that they were able to telecommute and accomplish their essential job duties during the COVID-19 pandemic. This could undercut arguments that allowing a disabled employee to telecommute is an undue hardship. When engaging in the interactive process with disabled employees who request an accommodation to work from home, employers should carefully analyze whether or not telecommuting imposes an undue hardship on the employer’s operations.
At college campuses, the decision about who gets to teach online and who must report to campus is upsetting some faculty members. Federal agencies have issued some guidance on how employment protections apply during the pandemic, including for people who don’t have high-risk health conditions but are in regular contact with those who do. The ADA does not require that an employer accommodate an employee without a disability based on the disability-related needs of a family member or acquaintance, according to the EEOC. Under the FMLA, leave taken by an employee for the purpose of avoiding exposure to the disease would not be protected, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Instead, employers should “encourage” sick employees and those with sick family members to stay home, and should consider flexible leave policies. And under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, employees are permitted to refuse to work if they believe they are in “imminent danger."
More from Liebert Cassidy Whitmore and the Chronicle of Higher Education
(from Forbes) PPP borrowers and their advisors are scrambling to determine how to manage their businesses and expenses to best facilitate loan forgiveness to benefit their businesses and employees. Borrowers whose loans were assigned a loan number by the SBA on or before June 5 can decide whether to elect to use an 8-week or a 24-week expenditure period in order to qualify for forgiveness. Borrowers whose loan numbers were assigned by the SBA after June 5th must use a 24-week testing period.
Advantages of the 8-week period include faster forgiveness; applicability of earlier, more forgiving loan forgiveness terms; and other factors. Advantages of the 24-week period include that more of the loan amount can be spent on payroll, state and local payroll taxes, W-2 wages, group health insurance, and retirement plan contributions to receive full forgiveness; better clarity about forgiveness rules; and more time to plan.
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