Tag: guidance

  • CUPA-HR Leads Higher Ed Letter Asking for Further Extension of I-9 Flexibility Guidance – CUPA-HR

    CUPA-HR Leads Higher Ed Letter Asking for Further Extension of I-9 Flexibility Guidance – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | December 14, 2021

    On December 13, CUPA-HR and ten other higher education associations sent a letter to United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur Jaddou requesting the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) extend its previously announced flexibilities on Form I-9 compliance requirements through June 30, 2022. The guidance, which has been extended continuously since March 2020 and was amended on April 1, 2021, permits remote inspection of Form I-9 documents in situations where employees work exclusively in a remote setting due to COVID-19-related precautions.

    The guidance is currently slated to expire on December 31, 2021. As such, colleges that have used the remote I-9 accommodation will be required to physically inspect the documents of affected employees no later than three business days once normal operations resume — providing a very limited window in which to inspect the documents of potentially large numbers of employees.

    As the current expiration date is problematic, the CUPA-HR letter requests DHS to extend the I-9 flexibility guidance through the spring semester. The letter highlights two major reasons to extend the guidance past its current expiration date: the uncertainty posed by the Omicron variant and the current guidance’s expiration date falling between two major federal government holidays and in the middle of most college and university winter breaks. Given the need for predictability and the wind-down of university operations before the expiration date, the letter also encourages DHS to announce the requested extension on or before December 17, 2021.

    Please Submit Your Feedback On the I-9 Process

    On a related note, CUPA-HR is requesting your feedback to help our Government Relations team respond to DHS’s Request for Public Input on document examination practices for Form I-9 and the guidance for flexibility created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure we can provide the most comprehensive feedback to DHS as possible, please make sure someone from your institution responds to CUPA-HR’s Survey by 11:00 p.m. ET on December 15. All responses will help us finalize the comments we submit to DHS.



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  • IRS Issues Employer Guidance on COVID-19 Paid Leave Tax Credits – CUPA-HR

    IRS Issues Employer Guidance on COVID-19 Paid Leave Tax Credits – CUPA-HR

    by CUPA-HR | September 22, 2021

    On September 7, the U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2021-53, which includes guidance to employers on reporting the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees for leave taken in 2021 as provided by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and as amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

    The FFCRA required private sector employers with 500 or fewer employees to provide emergency paid family and medical leave and emergency paid sick leave to employees who could not work or telework due to certain COVID-19 complications. The FFCRA also established fully refundable tax credits that employers may receive after providing the emergency paid family and sick leave. The tax credits under the FFCRA were set to expire on December 31, 2020, but they were extended to cover wages voluntarily paid through March 31, 2021 under the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and again through September 30, 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. Employers were no longer required to provide the paid sick and family and medical leave wages to employees after the enactment of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, but employers that voluntarily provided paid leave that would have satisfied the paid family leave and paid sick leave requirements under the FFCRA were eligible for the same fully refundable tax credits.

    The new IRS notice states that employers will be required to report the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees between January 1 and September 30, 2021 either on the Form W-2, Box 14, or in a separate statement provided with the Form W-2. The notice also includes model language to help employers communicate information about the qualified sick leave and family and medical leave wages to employees, as well as the impact these wages may have on tax credits the employee may be entitled to with respect to self-employment income.

    CUPA-HR will keep members apprised of any additional tax-related guidance from the IRS as it relates to COVID-19 policies and guidance.



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