Hello Everyone!
Future Communication
First, let me explain my communication approach. If you could please bookmark this blog portion of our website, my plan is to text all of you whenever I make a post to this page, so you can just come here and read it. I can provide much more detail here than in text messages. Additionally, I plan on posting helpful links, communication from our health insurance, and maybe a funny video or two, but I think this will be the easiest way to get that info out. If any of you have difficulty with the site, please let me know and we’ll figure out an alternative.
Employment Update
So in regards to Monday, I apologize for the abrupt nature of the shutdown. We were trying to figure out the plan first and wanted to communicate again at the end of the day before the Stay-in-Place order took effect, but it seemed like the best thing to do for everyone’s health was to shut it down immediately and communicate later. I will communicate that plan now, but please know that the plan I am communicating below is only the first step. There are many contingencies, two in particular I will mention below, that will effect the future steps of how this plan ultimately goes.
- We are going to keep everyone on payroll for the next two weeks (80 hours of pay). This means;
o You cannot file for unemployment, because you are still employed.
o Your benefits will remain active until at minimum 4/30/2020 (more on this below).
o You will receive a pay check on 4/3/2020 for the hours that you worked on 3/16/20 – 3/23/20 (we’ll pay a full 8 hours for those of you present on 3/23) + 32 hours of leave pay for 3/24/20 – 3/27/20.
o You will receive an additional pay check on 4/17/20 for 48 hours of leave pay. This is subject to change as I will outline below.
o For those of you without direct deposit, these checks will be mailed to the home address we have on file.
- Our goal is to keep everyone on payroll throughout the duration of the Stay-at-Home order
- We are anticipating the Stay-at-Home order to last 10-12 weeks. Hopefully it will end sooner, but I’d rather be pleasantly surprised if it ends early than continually disappointed when it keeps getting extended
- In order to continue paying you beyond the two weeks outline above, we are depending on several things;
o We have applied for several large loans to help facilitate payroll costs while we are not generating revenue through sales. I can confirm that these loans have been received by the loan company but they have not been approved yet. I should have an update on this by the end of the week.
o The current stimulus plan that is tied up in congress. There are many provisions for additional loans and credits that we can put towards keeping you on payroll. If/when this passes, I will update you on the relevant contents and what we will be able to take advantage of. They’re nearing a vote now as I write this, so hopefully I can update you on that tomorrow.
- Assuming that we receive the loan and/or the stimulus package passes, we should be able to continue to pay you for at least an additional 10 weeks. It is possible that we will only be able to pay you 2/3 of your normal pay though, but we will be able to keep your medical and other benefits active. There are also many changes happening to Unemployment right now, so if it turns out you can get more money through unemployment, we may go ahead and furlough everyone so you can access the greater amount.
- If we do not receive the loan and congress can’t pass a helpful stimulus plan, then we will most likely have to furlough everyone. We are looking for a way to be able to do this so that you can collect unemployment pay but we will be able to cover your medical benefits for an additional two or three months.
So that’s it – you can see why I didn’t want to send this through text messages! I know it’s a lot but I want to keep you informed. If you have more questions, please let me know.
Final Thoughts
It’s a crazy time, but I’m really confident that as long as the economy doesn’t completely tank, we’re going to be in a great position to fire right back up from where we left off. I appreciate your patience and understanding while we work this out and thank all of you for the kind words you’ve shared recently. We’re still receiving a surprising number of requests for leads and the sales staff is still getting requests to sign contracts (we’re sending them through the mail or through email!) so I’m encouraged and optimistic for the company.
I’m going to look for a way to add a forum to this site that you can comment on (like facebook), maybe post needs (does anyone have some 15lbs dumbells? Everyplace is sold out of weights, toilet paper, and bullets!), recipes, ideas, whatever, just a place where we can share stuff.
You all are wonderful and I hope you’re enjoying your time at home. If you want to send me some pictures of what you’re getting into, I can definitely post it on the site so we can feel like we still have some sort of contact. Stay safe!!!
