Updates

Expanded Incentives for Charitable Giving

You may have heard a lot about the CARES Act and its direct financial assistance for small businesses, nonprofits and employees. The CARES Act includes a number of other important provisions, including ones that encourage charitable giving from both individuals and corporations. We are already seeing individuals and businesses contribute to the COVID-19 response in important ways – these incentives can help encourage more of that. Above-the-line charitable contribution deduction. Under this new charitable giving incentive, individuals can deduct up to $300 of donations, even if they don’t itemize on their tax return. This means that a lot more [...]

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:06+00:00April 16th, 2020|COVID-19, Public Charity|Comments Off

Federal Funding Available to Offset Reduced Staffing

Since the CARES Act was enacted on March 27, there has been a storm of information about how the federal government is assisting businesses, nonprofits, and employees. An overlooked area of the CARES Act is the federal subsidy to state-based short-time compensation agreements. Wisconsin has a short-time compensation program called Wisconsin's Work-Share Program. A work-share program provides employees with partial unemployment insurance (UI) benefits when their employer has temporarily reduced worker hours. The employees with reduced hours receive a pro-rated UI benefit to offset this reduction in paid wages, implemented by the employer in lieu of laying off workers. Wisconsin's Work-Share Program's general [...]

By Tracy|2020-04-16T23:39:44+00:00April 13th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment|Comments Off

SBA Loan and Employment Guidance

Hello friends and colleagues, Thanks to the support of the Madison Community Foundation, over the past two days, Scholz Nonprofit Law has hosted several seminars on the Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Support Act (“CARES”), and related options for financial support and sustainability during these challenging times. If you want to listen to a recording of the seminar, see here. We focused our seminar on two topics (i) SBA loan programs available to nonprofits, and (ii) employment challenges nonprofits are facing. Jeff Femrite discussed (i) the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loans (which may be totally forgiven if used [...]

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:19+00:00April 8th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|Comments Off

CARES Act Impact on Nonprofits

Dear clients, better known as friends and colleagues: We know this is a difficult time for so many, personally, as well as for your organizations. Know that we’re concerned and thinking of you! We are keeping track of opportunities for assistance for nonprofits and will keep providing information as it becomes available (and we have the chance to digest it). For today, below is a brief summary of provisions of the federal Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act that apply to nonprofits. As we learn more details, we will keep updating the Scholz Nonprofit Law blog. The [...]

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-16T23:31:31+00:00March 29th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|Comments Off

Updates to FFCRA, effective April 1

All employers with fewer than 500 employees, including nonprofits, must provide two weeks of paid leave and likely are required to provide up to 12 weeks of paid FMLA under FFCRA. Employers will be paid back by the government through a payroll tax offset or additional refunds. The only exemption for the FMLA paid leave is for employers with 50 than fewer employees for whom this obligation would jeopardize their viability. We have no details on that at this point so all employers should assume they will be required to do this and get reimbursed. Details below. Notice requirements [...]

By Tracy|2020-03-29T14:00:42+00:00March 27th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|Comments Off

COVID-19 Response Update

The past two weeks have been….a lot. It has been a shake-up for all of us personally and is certainly impacting the nonprofit community. We want to support our community in these difficult times and will send out periodic updates. As a start: Our team remains available to assist as your organization pivots in the wake of this COVID-19 crisis. While our office is temporarily closed, all members of our team are available to you by email, mobile phone or teleconference. See contact information below. We are monitoring emerging laws affecting the nonprofit community and will share resources that [...]

By Tracy|2020-03-29T14:01:44+00:00March 25th, 2020|COVID-19, Employment, Nonprofit|Comments Off

COVID-19 Wisconsin’s Safer at Home Order — March 24, 2020

Summary of Emergency Order #12 – Safer at Home Order In an attempt to slow the infection rate of COVID-19, on March 24, 2020, the State of Wisconsin issued Emergency Order #12 – Safer at Home Order (the “Order”). The purpose of this Update is to help our clients and friends better understand issues created by the Order. It is a general summary, and is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have questions, or need assistance navigating the specific requirements of the Order, please call Jeff Femrite at 608 692-0310 or send Jeff an email at [email protected]. Capitalized [...]

By Melissa Scholz|2020-04-19T00:26:39+00:00March 24th, 2020|COVID-19|Comments Off

New Overtime Rule Salary Limit for Exempt Employees

What it is and what employers need to do now On September 24, 2019, the Department of Labor issued a final rule on overtime pay eligibility increasing the minimum salary threshold to $35,568 annually or $684 weekly. This followed a halted, never-implemented rule announced in 2016 to increase the level to $47,476. The increase is the first since 2004 and will take effect on January 1, 2020. Overview of determining overtime pay exemption. Any work performed by an employee that exceeds 40 hours per week is “overtime.” All employees, including nonprofit employees in almost every case, are eligible [...]

By Tracy|2019-10-11T00:54:00+00:00October 11th, 2019|Employment|Comments Off

Deadline for Form 990: May 15, 2019

This is your reminder with helpful tips All tax-exempt organizations, including 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and 501(c)(6)s, must file a version of the Form 990 with the IRS. Many of you on this list will qualify to file the "Form 990-N," which is a simple 5-10 minute process. You should be aware that if you do not file a Form 990 in 2019 and also did not file one in 2017 and 2018, your organization will lose its tax-exempt status and you will have to reapply with another application and filing fee. When is my Form Due? The Forms 990 are due 4 months and 15 days after the [...]

By Melissa Scholz|2019-04-29T14:53:28+00:00April 6th, 2019|Nonprofit, Taxes|Comments Off

How to Conduct Meaningful Performance Reviews

An indispensable element to a strong & stable work force Performance reviews are the employment equivalent of annual physical exams. Many dread them. While some schedule one each year, others avoid them until and unless problems arise that cannot go ignored. When used properly, performance reviews are excellent investments in staff and an organization. From a legal perspective, you are in a much stronger place to make decisions about promotion, compensation, and continuation of employment when you have provided and received input throughout the employment period. Performance reviews should be an ongoing process. Feedback—positive and negative—should be a continuous, [...]

By Tracy|2019-04-25T17:53:14+00:00February 19th, 2019|Employment|Comments Off