Scrap News Coronavirus Tracker Provides Updated Information on News Related to the Recycling Industry
April 22, 2021: Biden Administration Announces COVID Vaccination Payments to Small Businesses
President Biden announced the details for his initiative to provide small business relief to help small businesses provide paid leave for employee to get a COVID vaccination. The initiative comes from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) passed in March. Eligible employers, such as businesses and tax-exempt organizations with fewer than 500 employees and certain governmental employers, can receive a tax credit for providing paid time off for each employee receiving the vaccine and for any time needed to recover from the vaccine.
The paid leave credits are tax credits against the employer’s share of the Medicare tax and is equal to the sick leave wages paid for COVID-19 related reasons for up to two weeks (80 hours), limited to $511 per day and $5,110 in the aggregate, at 100 percent of the employee’s regular rate of pay.
Eligible employers may claim tax credits for sick and family leave paid to employees, including leave taken to receive or recover from COVID-19 vaccinations, for leave from April 1, 2021, through September 30, 2021. Self-employed individuals may also claim this tax credit.
For more information about the employee vaccination payment plan, please go to: https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/Paid-Leave-Credit-Snapshot.pdf
March 11, 2021: Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19
ISRI has reposted a document link on its COVID-19 Hub titled Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19 that includes several helpful updates. The new information provided on the document includes links to new frequently asked questions and answers on face coverings, recordkeeping, and return to work; CDC COVID-19 toolkits; updates for specific industries; newly updated print resources; California’s employer portal to assist with compliance; Virginia’s permanent standard for infectious disease prevention; the CDC COVID-19 vaccination website; and a number of additional updates on prevention and control of COVID-19 from government agencies. These updates are helpful in guiding employers through current regulations and recommendations to slow the spread of the disease and provide guidance on maintaining a safe and healthy workplace.
Below is the link to this document on the ISRI website:
February 1, 2021: OSHA Issues Stronger Workplace Guidance on Coronavirus
OSHA has issued stronger worker safety guidance to help employers and workers implement a coronavirus prevention program and better identify risks which could lead to exposure and contraction.
The guidance details key measures for limiting coronavirus’s spread, including ensuring infected or potentially infected people are not in the workplace, implementing and following physical distancing protocols, and using surgical masks or cloth face coverings.
This guidance is not a standard or regulation, and it creates no new legal obligations.
January 28, 2021: VA Permanent COVID-19 Workplace Standards Take Effect Today
Final permanent COVID-19 workplace prevention standards are now effective from the Virginia Department of Labor and Industry (DOLI). The requirements closely align with the temporary rules issued last year, but include some significant changes.
While Emergency Temporary Standards are in effect in California (CalOSHA AB685), Oregon (OROSHA COVID-19), and Michigan (MIOSHA Rules 705164), Virginia is the first in the nation to establish permanent standards. OSHA regulations include requirements that apply to preventing occupational exposure to job hazards including COVID-19, but Virginia may serve as a model for other states considering their own permanent standards specifically for COVID-19.
ISRI is hosting a webinar that is free to members, COVID-19 in 2021: Moving Forward Safely, on Wednesday, February 3 at 2 PM Eastern, which will provide the latest information and resources about COVID-19. For more information about Virginia’s Final Permanent Standard for Infectious Disease Prevention of COVID-19 and how you can ensure that your workplace is in compliance with applicable requirements in your state, please contact ISRI Vice President of Safety Tony Smith.
January 1, 2021
With cases of coronavirus picking up in many parts of the country, there are more and more restrictions in place. ISRI would like to remind its members that they have access to ISRI’s virtual event archives, including the event Conflict with Customers: COVID, Masks, and More. It provides valuable resources and how best to avoid customer conflicts, how to de-escalate the belligerent customer, and when to call in security or police.
As a result of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations continuing to rise, states have began to issue restrictions on businesses and everyday life. ISRI continues to stay on top of these restrictions and will report any substantive actions that would impact the recycling industry.
ISRI compiled a number of useful resources available on the ISRI COVID-19 Resources Hub, including a COVID-19 State and Local Policy Dashboard, that brings together emergency declarations, executive orders, and other sources of official information in all 50 states.