Wednesday morning was made for Breakfast Rotarians, but since we still are meeting remotely, yours truly had a little difficulty linking up with our ZOOM login code so I was late. So for those of you that may require the code for future meetings and are technically challenged, like me sometimes, I will provide the code here so that you don’t miss a moment of Rotary. Please make a note; https://us04web.zoom.us/j/286731667?pwd=TnM1NDJhcFhyWGFtb1JSZWd3RWpLQT09
Meeting ID: 286 731 667
Password: 846280
(Editor’s note, I am leaving this in this Beacon because I am not making this edition public because we are attaching the PowerPoint from this week’s presentation. We are fortunate that she is allowing us to share the slides. Please don’t share the above zoom information or the presentation slides outside our club.)
Celebrating Happy Birthdays were Marianna Buoni and Marlene Heise both on April 16th with Greg Desme and Pat Thompson on April 17th. Since we do not ignore the social distancing mandate, we miss singing to you in person, but Past President and Songstress Denise Haynes gleefully sang Happy Birthday to all of you on our behalf.
It is hard to believe that Temo Lopez is already celebrating his one-year Breakfast Rotary anniversary. We have enjoyed having you in the club; it appears we may have grown on you too. According to President-Elect David Spalinger, there are plans for you during Dave’s regime.
**Featured Speaker**
Our featured speaker, BBRC’er Karen Bonanno is a specialist in workplace human resource issues. Karen, owner of PAS and Associates, provides, through her business, a think-tank of solutions for every-day employment issues. And believe me, since having an employment law division in my own office, I know that proper and sound employment issues must be taken very seriously. At PAS and Associates they do just that and more. It is for that reason that Karen shared with us some of the implications of the new employment procedures called Families First Coronavirus Response Act and other COVID-19 complications with employees.
The FFCR Act, according to Karen, addresses the administration of paid sick leave and expanded family medical leave related to COVID-19. The Act remains in effect from April 1st through December 31st of this year.
To summarize features of FFCRA, Karen told us that businesses - private or public - with 50 or more employees, are required to provide 12 weeks of employer paid sick leave to an employee who becomes infected with COVID-19 or is required to care for a family member who contracts the virus. Employers are eligible to receive tax credits for disbursements to employees.
Prior to the Act, to be eligible for these benefits employees had to be employed with the company for a long period. Now, under the Act, employees with just 30 days of employment may be eligible to receive 10 weeks paid leave due to COVID-19 illness. There are various formulas used under the Act to determine which employees are eligible and how many sick days they can receive. To sum it up, given the sudden onset of the virus and how quickly it has decimated worker productivity and safety, practically all exempt and non-exempt workers may receive time off.
Karen mentioned there are new EDD posters with information on FFCRA. They need to be posted in a conspicuous place in every business. The posters entitled “Employees Rights”, has a matrix with the number of days off and percentage of pay an employer is required to offer.
Karen explained the difference between being laid off and furloughed. Someone who is laid off is terminated from the employer. A furloughed employee is still employed but has reduced or modified work hours. Exempt employees cannot be furloughed with a reduction in pay unless they are re-classified as non-exempt.
There are many implications to working from home. Worker’s Compensation compliance becomes an issue. Employers must consider whether the employee has the resources to complete tasks, if they are working in a safe environment, confidentially of work product, and integrity of wage and hour issues.
It is best for the employer to create policies that define what is expected of the employee when working from home. Karen recommends consulting with an attorney, or law office that specializes in employment law who can navigate employers through the pitfalls of this very litigious area. Thank you Karen very much for this very prudent piece of advice…
For those of us working or who have businesses, it is critical to be on the frequently changing laws related to employment. Karen demonstrated that we are fortunate to have members in BBRC that we can contact when we need accurate answers. I recommend seeking out and contracting with Karen at PAS for all your employment and HR needs. Contact Karen at Karen@PASassociates.com or www.PASassociates.com.
Thanks Karen!
**Announcements Announcements**
Super Star
Kathy Berry of Broken Yolk along with her amazing staff served 50 lunches last Saturday to fellow Rotarians. Club members came out to support the restaurant and Kathy – they have been so generous to the club! In the last few weeks Broken Yolk has been pounding the pavement to get food baskets out to those in the community clamoring for a food basket from the restaurant. The primary goal of the food baskets is to serve the community with fresh food and serve their fresh food providers with an outlet to sell their produce, rice, and beans. Thank You Kathy for your leadership!
Kathy Berry of Broken Yolk along with her amazing staff served 50 lunches last Saturday to fellow Rotarians. Club members came out to support the restaurant and Kathy – they have been so generous to the club! In the last few weeks Broken Yolk has been pounding the pavement to get food baskets out to those in the community clamoring for a food basket from the restaurant. The primary goal of the food baskets is to serve the community with fresh food and serve their fresh food providers with an outlet to sell their produce, rice, and beans. Thank You Kathy for your leadership!Family of Rotary, please keep Past President and Honorary Member Steve Shayer and Connie Bensusen in your thoughts and prayers. Steve’s father, Len Schroeder recently passed away . Al, Connie’s husband is undergoing medical treatment. Please Rotarians if there is a brother or sister Rotarian experiencing a hardship, please connect with President Cheryl, Family of Rotary chair Denise Haynes or any of the Board members so that we can address those needs from within.
Again Breakfast Rotarians we are missing a few members on ZOOM meetings so please connect with fellow Breakfast Rotarians to have them join in. Even though our meetings are not exactly the same as they were in person, we want to encourage participation until we get back to the old routine at the Petroleum Club. You don't need a camera, or a computer to join in! As Mike O'Doherty demonstrated, a smart cell phone is all that is needed!
Be safe while providing Service Above Self,
Frank Wooldridge