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Regulatory Roundup January 2021

February 01, 2021

Legislative updates from January include COVID-19 relief, PPP loans, paid leave, executive orders, EEO-1 data collection, and more.

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Benefits Administration, Employee Management, Payroll

As Year End season winds down, a new administration enters the White House, and we look ahead to tax season, several regulatory updates came through in January that we summarize for you here in our monthly Regulatory Roundup.

The majority of legislative changes occurring in January were related to COVID-19 relief. The U.S. Department of Treasury and the Small Business Administration released new guidance documents on calculating First Draw and Second Draw Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. Updated forms were also released with the new guidance, reflecting Interim Final Rules on Loan Forgiveness, which consolidates previous loan forgiveness rules and incorporates the changes made by the Economic Aid Act (EAA). Updated forms include:

In his first few weeks in office, President Joe Biden also issued several Executive Orders related to COVID-19 relief. One order extended the suspension of Federal student loan payment (originally set to expire January 31) through September 30, 2021, also keeping the interest rate on student loans at 0% during the moratorium period. Another Executive Order related to workplace safety. The order requires the Secretary of Labor to issue revised OSHA guidance within 2 weeks of the date of issue (January 21, 2021) and to determine if emergency mandates are necessary in regard to masks in the workplace by March 15, 2021.

State-level legislative changes passed in Seattle, WA, where the city council passed a bill requiring certain large grocery employers to pay $4.00 per hour of hazard pay to their employees in addition to their employee’s base pay until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Westchester County, NY, the Westchester County Safe Time Leave Law was passed, though it does not preempt the New York State Sick Leave Law. The new law allows eligible employees who are victims of domestic violence (including family offense matters) or human trafficking to use up to 40 hours of paid safe time in a 12-month benefit period to attend or testify in criminal or civil court proceedings related to domestic violence or human trafficking or move to a safe location.

Lastly, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced that they will be collecting the 2019 and 2020 EEO-1 component 1 data beginning in April 2021. The precise opening dates of the collections, as well as the new submission deadline dates, will be announced via a notice on the EEOC website and the new dedicated website for the agency’s EEO data collections.

Get more details on the compliance and tax alerts from January here:

COVID-19 Relief

Paid Leave Protection

Westchester County, NY, Paid Safe Leave

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Compliance

EEO-1 Filing Information for 2019 and 2020

Visit our Return to Work page to browse our resources to help you engage, rehire, and recruit in this new environment. You can also check out our Legislative Updates Related to Coronavirus (COVID-19) for a comprehensive summary of legislative changes and how Paylocity has responded with updates to our product to help you stay compliant. For the latest information and resources related to the coronavirus, check our COVID-19 Resources page often.

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This information is provided as a courtesy, may change, and is not intended as legal or tax guidance. Employers with questions or concerns outside the scope of a Payroll Service Provider are encouraged to seek the advice of a qualified CPA, Tax Attorney, or Advisor.