Resources for Covid-19 from the Windsor Chamber of Commerce

July 28 Update

• The employee missed a day or more of work between March 10, 2020 and May 20, 2020 due to a diagnosis of COVID-19, or contracted COVID-19 as an occupational disease arising out of and in the course of employment;
• The employee worked, at the direction of the employer, outside the home during at least one of the fourteen days immediately preceding the date of injury, and had not received an offer or directive from said employer to work from home instead of from his or her place of employment;
• If the date of injury was more than fourteen days after March 23, 2020, such employee was employed by an employer deemed essential by the Department of Economic and Community Development pursuant to Executive Order 7;
• The contraction of COVID-19 by such employee was confirmed by a positive laboratory diagnostic test within three weeks of the date of injury.

June 8 Updates

• Extends the period to use PPP funds from 8 weeks to 24 weeks
• Reduces the minimum payroll spend to 60% (from 75%)
  Borrowers can now use the 24-week period to fully restore their workforce levels and wages (December 31 instead of June 30)
• Businesses now have five years to repay the loan, instead of two

April 27 Updates

1. Order takeout from Windsor restaurants.
2. Post a picture of your food on social media with hashtag #WindsorEats (optional!)
3. Send a picture of your receipts, totalling $25 or more, to info@windsorcc.org. Every $25 you spend earns you another chance at a $25 gift card! One winner will be drawn every Thursday.

April 24 Updates

April 20 Updates

• Phase 1: Slow the Spread. Business and life will not begin to return to normal until we have the disease under control. Stay-at-home advisories and other orders targeted at reducing the spread of Covid-19 are likely to continue until:
  • Local hospitals are safely able to treat all patients requiring hospitalization without resorting to crisis standards of care
  • Connecticut is "out of the surge" of the virus, meaning a 14-day decrease in hospitalizations for coronavirus
  • Adequate supply of PPE for health care workers and the community
  • The capacity exists in the state to test all people with COVID-19 symptoms
  • Active monitoring of all confirmed cases and their contacts can be performed (the Governor has indicated that contact monitoring would be voluntary)
• Phase 2: Incremental Reopening. After the weeks or months necessary to attain the above goals, we will be able to begin to reopen in a concerted and careful fashion. The state advisory board says it's considering opening the state incrementally by region and industry. Teleworking (as much as possible), maintaining hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette, wearing a mask in public, regularly disinfecting high-touch surfaces, and limiting social gatherings will likely remain the norm until a vaccine is developed.
• Phase 3: Lift Restrictions. Once a vaccine or cure for Covid-19 is developed and tested, it must be manufactured and distributed throughout the country. When this is complete, we will be ready to lift most/all restrictions on public contact and physical distancing.
• Phase 4: Rebuild Readiness. Covid-19 will not be the last public health emergency to threaten American society. We must be ready for the next infectious disease threat.

April 2 Updates

• How much money can I apply for? Two and a half times your average monthly payroll, excluding costs over $100,000 on an annualized basis for each employee.
• How do I make sure the loan is forgiven? SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. At least 75% of the forgiven amount must have been used for payroll. Your loan forgiveness will be reduced if you decrease your full-time employee headcount, or if you decrease salaries and wages by more than 25% for any employee that made less than $100,000 annualized in 2019.
• What if I've already laid off, furloughed, or reduced employee hours? You have until June 30, 2020 to restore your full-time employment and salary levels for any changes made between February 15, 2020 and April 26, 2020.
• How do I apply? Through your bank. Any existing SBA lender, federally insured depository institution, federally insured credit union, or participating Farm Credit System institution will take applications. Although you will apply for this program through your bank, click here to see a sample application form so you can see what information will be requested.
• When do I apply? Small businesses and sole proprietorships can apply beginning April 3, 2020. Independent contractors and self-employed individuals can apply beginning April 10, 2020. We encourage you to apply as quickly as you can because there is a funding cap and lenders need time to process your loan.

• 90-day grace period for all mortgage payments: Participating financial institutions are now offering mortgage-payment forbearances of up to 90 days, which will allow businesses unable to pay to reduce or delay monthly mortgage payments. In addition, the institutions will provide a streamlined process for requesting forbearance for COVID-19-related reasons, supported with available documentation; confirm approval and terms of forbearance program; and provide the opportunity to extend forbearance agreements if faced with continued hardship resulting from COVID-19.
• Relief from fees and charges for 90 days: For at least 90 days, participating financial institutions will waive or refund mortgage-related late fees and other fees including early CD withdrawals.
• No new foreclosures for 60 days: Financial institutions will not start any foreclosure sales or evictions.
• No credit score changes for accessing relief: For those taking advantage of this COVID-19-related relief, late or missed payments will not be shared with credit reporting agencies.

• Occupancy capped at 50% of store capacity.At entrance, staff will maintain a count of the number of customers entering and exiting stores.
• Clearly mark 6' spacing in lines on floor at checkout lines and other high-traffic areas and, as much as practicable, provide ways to encourage 6' spacing in lines outside the store.
• Post conspicuous signage and floor markings to direct customers and limit bottlenecks and/or encourage spacing and flow in high-density areas.
• Have aisles be one-way in stores where practicable to maximize spacing between customers. Identify the one-way aisles with conspicuous signage and/or floor markings.
• Maximize space between customers and employees at checkout lines, including, but not limited to, only using every other checkout line, where and when possible.
• Install Plexiglas shields to separate employees from customers at checkout lines and other areas in the store where practicable.
• Communicate with customers through in store signage, and public service announcements and advertisements, there should only be one person per household during shopping trips, whenever possible.
• Discontinue all self-serve foods (e.g., salad bar, olive bar) and product sampling.
• Allow touchless credit card transactions. If not possible, sanitize credit card machines (including pen) regularly and consistently.
• Cart and basket handles sanitized between uses (by staff).
• Wherever possible, employees will wear gloves and face masks at all times that they are interacting with customers and/or handling products.

March 30 Updates

• Payroll Taxes Deferred Through 2020: Employers may defer payroll taxes accrued through the end of 2020. Deferred taxes will not become due until the end of 2021 and end of 2022, with 50% of the liability being paid at each date.
• Employee Retention Credit: Employers whose operations were fully or partially suspended due to a COVID-19 government-mandated shut-down order, or employers whose gross receipts declined by greater than 50 percent when compared to the corresponding calendar quarter of the prior year, are eligible for a refundable tax credit equal to 50 percent of qualified wages up to $10,000 paid to each employee ($5,000 in actual credit per employee).

March 27 Updates

• Limit entrance of customers into their locations to the minimum extent necessary to pick up and/or pay for orders
• Use touchless payment systems
• Require remote ordering and payment, whether by telephone, computer, mobile application, or other technology.

• Ensure customers maintain six feet of distance between each other
• Manage any resulting lines to maintain six feet of distance while people are waiting to enter
• Where practical, employ touchless payment technology if they already have such technology available.

• Pausing the payment of payroll taxes, which will grant businesses relief so they have more cash to keep employees on their payrolls.
• Lending and grants for small businesses that will enable this sector to endure through the crisis. If employers maintain their payrolls until June, the portion of the loans used for payroll costs, interest on mortgage obligations, rent, and utilities would be forgiven. Self-employed individuals will be able to access these loans.
• Establishing a bridge loan facility, similar in kind but much larger in scale than the State of Connecticut's zero-interest, 12-18 month loan program announced yesterday, that will enable businesses to continue to pay employees and provide essential operations for a time on far less, or no revenue.

March 26 Update

March 23 Updates:

• Employees of eligible employers can receive two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at 100% of the employee's pay where the employee is unable to work because the employee is quarantined, and/or experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, and seeking a medical diagnosis.
• An employee who is unable to work because of a need to care for an individual subject to quarantine, to care for a child whose school is closed or child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, and/or the employee is experiencing substantially similar conditions as specified by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can receive two weeks (up to 80 hours) of paid sick leave at 2/3 the employee's pay.
• An employee who is unable to work due to a need to care for a child whose school is closed, or child care provider is unavailable for reasons related to COVID-19, may in some instances receive up to an additional ten weeks of expanded paid family and medical leave at 2/3 the employee's pay.
• Employers with fewer than 50 employees are eligible for an exemption from the requirements to provide leave to care for a child whose school is closed, or child care is unavailable in cases where the viability of the business is threatened.

• For an employee who is unable to work because of Coronavirus quarantine or self-quarantine or has Coronavirus symptoms and is seeking a medical diagnosis, eligible employers may receive a refundable sick leave credit for sick leave at the employee's regular rate of pay, up to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate, for a total of 10 days.
• For an employee who is caring for someone with Coronavirus, or is caring for a child because the child's school or child care facility is closed, or the child care provider is unavailable due to the Coronavirus, eligible employers may claim a credit for two-thirds of the employee's regular rate of pay, up to $200 per day and $2,000 in the aggregate, for up to 10 days.
• In addition to the sick leave credit, for an employee who is unable to work because of a need to care for a child whose school or child care facility is closed or whose child care provider is unavailable due to the Coronavirus, eligible employers may receive a refundable child care leave credit. This credit is equal to two-thirds of the employee's regular pay, capped at $200 per day or $10,000 in the aggregate. Up to 10 weeks of qualifying leave can be counted towards the child care leave credit.
• Eligible employers are entitled to an additional tax credit determined based on costs to maintain health insurance coverage for the eligible employee during the leave period.

March 20 Updates:

March 18 Updates:

March 17:

• Actively encourage sick employees to stay home
• Separate sick employees
• Emphasize staying home when sick, respiratory etiquette and hand hygiene by all employees
• Perform routine environmental cleaning
• Advise employees before traveling to take certain steps: Check the CDC’s Traveler’s Health Notices here.