Over the past few days, Governor Charlie Baker’s office has released guidance for employers on its phased reopening of the Massachusetts economy.  The plan to reopen includes a carefully planned, four-phase approach which addresses which businesses can open when, and what requirements those businesses must follow in order to resume operations.  Each phase will last a minimum of three weeks or longer, before transitioning to the next phase, though public health trends may require the state, or certain regions, to revert back to previous phases.

Outside GC's immigration team shares important immigration-related developments below:

Although the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) received additional funding on April 24^th, many small businesses impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis still report difficulty with navigating the application process. The Treasury Department has responded by issuing more PPP-related guidelines and information on its CARES Act assistance page.

When the federal government announced the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) several weeks ago, making available $349 billion for loans to small businesses impacted the COVID-19 health crisis, borrowers scrambled to submit loan applications in accordance with the “first-come, first-served” process. On April 16th, PPP funds were depleted, leaving many small businesses empty-handed. In response to the continued need, the government has approved additional funds for both the PPP and the SBA’s other loan program that can be used to reduce the impact of COVID-19, the Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program ("EIDL Program”).

Last night, President Trump signed a Proclamation restricting immigration to the U.S. for certain foreign nationals. The order takes effect at 11:59pm EDT on April 23, 2020 and is effective for 60 days (and may be continued depending on labor market conditions.)

The novel coronavirus has upended business operations on a global scale, and mitigation efforts continue to be implemented to help organizations stay afloat during this unprecedented pandemic. On March 19th, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), an informal working group comprised of representatives of each of the national data protection authorities in the EU, issued a statement regarding data processing activities during this public health crisis, emphasizing that while data protection rules should not hinder the fight against COVID-19, it is still imperative that certain prescribed steps be taken to ensure the protection of personal data.

On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) was signed into law. Its key provisions include an Employee Retention Credit, which allows employers to recoup certain wages paid to employees who are not providing services due to a suspension of operations related to COVID-19, and the creation of a temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. Both of these mechanisms provide ways for businesses to avoid layoffs by implementing temporary shutdowns or reductions in hours.

A critical component of the government’s newly passed stimulus package, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act” or “Act”), is the new Small Business Administration (SBA) loan program called the Paycheck Protection Program (the “Program”). Created under Section 7(a) of the Small Business Act, this Program will make available $349 billion for loans to small businesses to help prevent their collapse during the COVID-19 public health crisis.