Several weeks ago, I suggested that you stay tuned for the latest developments—that we wouldn’t know much about the Biden vaccine mandate until we had actually read any Presidential executive orders. Well, we can now read two of these:

On February 12, 2021, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill to provide immunity from lawsuits related to COVID-19. The Alabama Senate passed the bill on February 4. The Alabama House of Representatives passed the bill on February 11. We have found no changes that the House made to the Senate version of the bill. Formerly known as Senate Bill 30, it is now Alabama Act 2021-4 as a result of the governor’s signature and went into effect as soon as the governor signed the bill.

As employers are well aware, the Families First Act Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) was enacted earlier this year to provide paid and partially paid leave to a massive swath of eligible employees working for businesses with fewer than 500 workers. The law provides for up to 80 hours of paid sick leave for employees who are diagnosed with COVID-19, experiencing symptoms and seeking a diagnosis, or advised by a healthcare provider to self-quarantine.

On Friday, May 8, 2020, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey surprised some of us with an early revision to her “safer at home” order, and surprised us somewhat less with an attempted effort to provide some liability protections for employers who re-open. We have reviewed the orders and have some suggestions for employers who choose to re-open.

In a guidance document issued on its website, the IRS announced that small and midsize employers can begin taking advantage of two new refundable payroll tax credits, designed to immediately and fully reimburse them, dollar-for-dollar, for the cost of providing Coronavirus-related leave to their employees.