On August 8, President Donald Trump signed into law several new executive orders surrounding COVID-19 relief for employees and employers. These executive actions come as Congress failed to negotiate a deal to save previous employee pandemic assistance, including the $600 supplemental unemployment payments. As Congress continues to delay action, the President has decided to implement temporary relief measures.

The first executive order grants assistance to employees in the form of deferred payroll tax payments for employees making $104,000 per year or less. Employee portion of federal payroll taxes, both for Social Security and Medicare (due from September 1, 2020), need not be paid until December 31, 2020. Employers may (but need not) defer such payments from employee paychecks. The executive order also tasks the Treasury Department with seeking ways to forgive these payments rather than delaying them. The full order can be read HERE.

The second executive order deals with the continuation of supplemental unemployment insurance. Under this order, unemployed individuals will receive a $400 supplement to their normal state insurance payments. $300 of this money will come from the federal government while the other $100 will come from state government. This aid will continue until proper COVID-19 legislation concerning this topic is passed. This order is retroactive beginning with August 1, 2020. You can read this executive order HERE.

Additional guidance regarding these orders will likely be coming out in the following days. FNA will keep you updated on new developments related to this topic.

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