Workers have been under increasing stress during the COVID-19 pandemic due to a disruption of normal routines, anxiety over the economy, and other factors
Some companies are responding to worker fatigue by providing holidays for employees to recharge
Mandatory time off helps eliminate employee concerns that they will be stigmatized or penalized for taking mental health days
Guidance issued by the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department allows certain businesses to exceed a $10,000 cap on state and local deductions
The move effectively gives federal blessings to state-level workarounds that have allowed businesses to be taxed at an entity level
Businesses that pay corporate income tax are not affected
Dr. Michael Osterholm, a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 advisory board, suggests that a nationwide lockdown of four to six weeks could bring the coronavirus under control until a vaccine is ready
Proposal would include borrowing money to cover lost incomes for individuals, businesses, and governments
COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in the United States, exceeding 100,000 a day in the past week
Weekly unemployment claims fall to 709,000, continuing a gradual improvement in the labor market
However, some of the steady decline is credited to the migration of beneficiaries from state programs to federal ones set to expire at the end of the year
Record COVID-19 cases and slow progress on stimulus continue to concern economists
