It’s time to phase back into work and some of your staff who are living on expanded unemployment benefits do not want to come back to work because they’re afraid or not comfortable. If you have a PPP loan, you might be concerned that your “forgiveness” funds will be affected if your headcount on June 30 is less than what it was on February 15th.
The SBA put out guidance regarding this last weekend and the Journal of Accountancy summarized the new FAQ’s here : https://www.journalofaccountancy.com/news/2020/may/sba-ppp-guidance-on-laid-off-employees-refuse-to-be-rehired.html
Some important points:
- Employers must go into their state’s unemployment system and enter call back dates for all staff who are receiving benefits
- Employees who refuse an offer to return to work are no longer eligible to receive unemployment benefits
- If an employee refuses an offer to return to work, the SBA will not count that employee as a decrease in headcount for the purposes of reconciling the loan for forgiveness.
In order to prove the refusal of the offer, it’s a best practice to get it in writing by sending ALL employees an offer to return to work letter giving them the opportunity to accept or decline the offer. You can write your own, or feel free to brand and modify the template for your organization here. DOWNLOAD THE RECALL LETTER TEMPLATE
Ann Beecham is a Senior HR Consultant with Newland CPI with over 15 years in the human resources field she is also an adjunct instructor for Valencia College’s School of Continuing Education, providing professional development to executive and emerging leaders.
