{"id":12102,"date":"2020-03-27T17:47:11","date_gmt":"2020-03-27T21:47:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ggfl.ca\/?p=12102"},"modified":"2023-02-07T15:14:44","modified_gmt":"2023-02-07T20:14:44","slug":"covid-19-helping-your-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ggfl.ca\/covid-19-helping-your-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 – Helping Your Employees"},"content":{"rendered":"
Additional COVID-19 Resources<\/h5>\n

Managing Your Cash Flow During COVID-19<\/a><\/p>\n

New Tax Filing and Tax Payment Deadline<\/a><\/p>\n

The Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy<\/a><\/p>\n

Canada Emergency Business Account<\/a><\/p>\n

Aid for Students and the Canadian Emergency Student Benefit<\/a><\/p>\n

GGFL Service Changes<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Secure Document Drop-Off<\/a><\/p>\n

COVID-19, Taxes and Office Operations<\/a><\/p>\n

Client Safety and Care During COVID-19<\/a><\/p>\n

Updated June 23, 2020<\/em><\/p>\n

People are the most important resource of any successful business and keeping employees working during this temporary crisis is critical for many reasons, both practical and emotional.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important then for all business owners to examine the federal government\u2019s subsidy initiatives aimed at keeping as many people as possible in work and as many businesses as possible afloat.<\/p>\n

Here are the options to help employers keep their workforce and when that\u2019s impossible the programs available to laid-off employees<\/p>\n

Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy<\/strong><\/h4>\n

On Friday March 27, the federal government announced a significant increase in the payroll subsidy.<\/p>\n

The new measures, which are designed to keep employees on the payroll during the COVID-19 crisis, include a 75 per cent wage subsidy \u2013 an increase from the 10 per cent announced last week. For more details, please see COVID-19 and the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Canada Emergency Response Benefit<\/h4>\n

The federal government has introduced the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB). This is a taxable benefit providing $2,000 a month for up to four months for workers who lose income as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The CERB replaces the Emergency Care Benefit (ECB) and Emergency Support Benefit (ESB) and is designed to make the benefit process easier.<\/p>\n

The CERB covers Canadians who have lost their jobs, are sick, quarantined, or taking care of someone who is sick with COVID-19. It also covers working parents who must stay home, without pay, to care for sick children or children at home because of school and daycare closures. The CERB would apply to wage earners, as well as contract workers and self-employed individuals who would not otherwise be eligible for Employment Insurance (EI).<\/p>\n

New<\/strong> <\/em>– On June 16th, the government announced that the Canada Emergency Response Benefit would be extended by an additional 8 weeks. This extension will make the benefit available to eligible workers for up to a total of 24 weeks.<\/p>\n

People who have recently lost their job or work part-time<\/strong>: All Canadians who have ceased working due to COVID-19, whether they are EI-eligible or not, would be able to receive the CERB. In addition, Prime Minister Trudeau announce on April 15th that people earning up to $1000 per month will now be eligible for CERB and benefits will be back-dated to March 15th.<\/p>\n

People on EI or who recently ran out of EI<\/strong>: Canadians who are already receiving EI regular and sickness benefits will continue to receive their benefits and should not apply to the CERB. Anyone who ran out of Employment Insurance (EI) benefits since January 1st is able to apply for CERB.<\/p>\n

Season Workers<\/strong>: Anyone who had been expecting seasonal work over the summer months is also eligible for CERB.<\/p>\n

Artists:<\/strong> Copyright revenue for artists will no longer make them ineligible for the CERB program.<\/p>\n

Note that if you were earning non-eligible dividends from your business prior to ceasing work, you would still be eligible for the CERB.<\/p>\n

For the CERB, it is important to note for self-employed individuals to be eligible there would need to be a cessation of work (not just a cessation of receiving income) due to COVID-19.<\/p>\n

More details here: Emergency Response Benefit<\/a><\/p>\n

On April 6th, the government reported that they are working to provide support to those who don\u2019t yet qualify for the CERB, including contract and gig workers.\u00a0 Stay tuned for more details.<\/p>\n

Guaranteed Loans<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The government will guarantee bank loans of up to $40,000 for small businesses. These loans will be interest-free for the first year and for qualifying businesses, up to $10,000 of the loans would not be repayable.<\/p>\n

Work Sharing <\/strong><\/h4>\n

For employers and employees affected by COVOD-19, special temporary government measures are now in place. Work sharing helps employers and employees avoid layoffs by financially compensating employees whose income will be reduced.<\/p>\n

The measures are in place until March 2021 and lowers several barriers previously in place. For example:<\/p>\n