Federal Alerts

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that employers will be allowed to inspect Form I-9 documents remotely in certain situations related to COVID-19 until October 31, 2022. Prior to the announcement, this temporary policy was set to expire on April 30, 2022.

On April 6, 2022, President Biden announced an extension of the pause on student loan repayment through August 31, 2022.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has announced that a temporary policy regarding expired documents used for Form I-9 purposes will end on April 30, 2022. The I-9 is used to verify a new hire's identity and work authorization.

The United States Supreme Court has issued a decision that blocks a federal OSHA emergency temporary standard (ETS) that would require employers with 100 or more employees to ensure that employees either be vaccinated against COVID-19 or produce a weekly negative test. Separately, the court upheld a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Interim Final Rule (CMS Rule), requiring vaccinations among certain healthcare workers. 

Click here for more details on the decisions.

OSHA’s Recordkeeping Standard, 29 CFR 1904, requires that certain employers maintain annual records of workplace injuries and illnesses. The records are maintained throughout the calendar year on the OSHA Form 300 Log of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (300 Log) and are summarized on the OSHA Form 300A Summary of Work-Related Injuries and Illnesses (300A Summary) at the end of each calendar year. The 300A Summary is required to be posted in the workplace every Feb. 1 through April 30 to show records from the previous year’s injuries and illnesses even if no work-related injuries or illnesses occurred during the previous year.

On Monday, Jan.  10, 2022, the Biden Administration announced a requirement to expand access to free at-home COVID tests.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would generally be effective beginning in 2022, but the IRS stated that entities may rely on the regulations now for the 2021 reporting submissions.

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule establishing limits on the amount of time tipped employees can spend performing work that isn’t “tip-producing work” and still be paid at the reduced cash wage for tipped employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The final rule becomes effective on December 28, 2021.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it won’t enforce an emergency rule regarding vaccination of healthcare workers while there are injunctions in place that block the implementation of it.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued guidance (Notice 2021-65) regarding the retroactive termination of the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC). The recently enacted Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act terminated the ERTC with retroactive effect to Sept. 30, 2021 (i.e., wages paid after that date do not qualify for the ERTC, unless the employer is a recovery startup business).