Daily Three: July 17

1. MSLP FAQ Amendments: On Wednesday, the Fed further amended its list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the Main Street Lending Program (MSLP) to provide additional guidance on numerous aspects of the program. Read our overview of the amendments here. Authored by Emily Watson

2. Unionized Employers – Understand your bargaining rights and obligations during the pandemic. After remaining relatively silent on labor issues during the pandemic, the National Labor Relations Board has issued a series of advice memoranda, some which address employer rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, in Mercy Health General Campus, a Board attorney advised that employers should be “permitted to, at least initially, act unilaterally during emergencies such as COVID-19 so long as its actions are reasonably related to the emergency situation.” While an employer may be initially entitled to act unilaterally, the employer must negotiate over the decision (to the extent there is a decisional bargaining obligation) and its effects within a reasonable time after that. If you are considering making changes in response to the pandemic, we are available to advise on appropriate policies and your bargaining obligations to the Union. Authored by Becky Canary-King

3. If you have genetic material in storage, it may be a good time to consider what will happen to the genetic material upon your passing. You should check with your storage facility as any contract or documentation you signed with them may contain direction on the material that would govern in the event of your death. Even if you include specific language in a written document or estate plan, these contracts will typically govern. You can then discuss how to update these forms with the facility if they do not reflect your current wishes. Separately if the facility does not have any language governing in their contracts, you may wish to include a provision in your estate plan regarding how you would want such genetic material to be distributed, donated, or disposed of at your passing. Check your contracts. Authored by Carrie Harrington

For more resources and LP’s response to COVID-19, visit this webpage.