Monday, May 4th, Governor Phil Scott released Addendum 12 to the Stay Home, Stay Safe Executive Order which includes updated mandatory health and safety guidelines for the continued phased restart of business in the state. See Agency of Commerce & Community Development’s Memorandum to Businesses and Employers for the full details.

All Vermont businesses are required to have their employees, even those already working, to complete mandatory health & safety training offered through VOSHA by Monday, May 4th. Once completed, every employee must fill their name into a certificate and that certificate needs to be kept on file by the employer. Complete the training here

REFUSAL TO RETURN TO WORK: COVID-19

If you are an employer that has offered regular work, at the same number of hours and rate of pay that they were working prior to COVID-19, to an employee that was temporarily laid-off or furloughed, and the employee has refused to return to work, you MUST report this activity to the Department of Labor.

Employers can submit a report of refusal to work by completing the online form, found here at https://labor.vermont.gov/form/refusal-work-fraud-report

Federal & State Grants & Loans & For Small Business:

• Click the link above to be taken to a page with the Basic “takeaways” about all Federal and State Grants & Loans available to you as a small business owner right now!

Giving Away Free Spots:

• FCC is allowing stations to give free spots to advertisers without Lowest Unit Rate (LUR) implications as long as the free spots are not tied to an advertising package.
• Read David Oxenford’s blog

NAB COVID-19 Advocacy in DC:

• Get an update from NAB EVP of Government Relations Shawn Donilon about what’s happening on Capitol Hill and how the NAB is advocating for broadcasters interests on a national level.
• Get continuous updates at https://www.nab.org/documents/advocacy/coronaStimulus.asp

FCC EEO Waiver and Extension of 3 Major Deadlines:

• FCC released an Order 5/5/20 waiving the requirement in its EEO Rule that broadcasters and MVPDs engage in “broad outreach” when filling each full-time job position.  Making clear that this relief is restricted to the circumstances of COVID-19, the FCC limited application of the waiver to the rehiring of station employees that were laid off due to the pandemic, and only where the employee is then rehired within nine months of being laid off.
• First quarter issues/programs lists that were supposed to be uploaded to stations online public inspection files on April 10 now has the same deadline as Second Quarter, July 10, 2020. FCC Deadline Extensions Public Notice
• The first Children’s Television Programming Reports on Form 2100, Schedule H that were due March 30th are now due July 10th
• Relief from Phase 9 Repack Deadline: FCC is allowing any station currently scheduled for Phase 9 of the repack to move to Phase 10.  If stations in Phase 9 would still like to transition at this time, they may do so. Details to make the request are in the link above.
• Read David Oxenford’s blog

Being A Leader In A COVID World: Inspiring article by Matt Harrington of Harrington Brands

If you have a question or want to suggest a topic or a resource not already covered, email vab@vab.org