Message to our BNHRA Members from the President

Dear BNHRA Members,

I hope you are doing well as we try to navigate day by day through these extremely challenging and difficult circumstances.  I wanted to take a moment to send positive thoughts and update you on the BNHRA future events while also providing some valuable resource tools to stay informed as we all try to get through this together.  

The coronavirus (COVID-19) situation remains a fluid and rapidly growing issue which is uncharted territory for many us.  Recently with Governor Cuomo issuing a mandatory closure of non-essential businesses I know this is causing many of us to ask questions for what does this mean moving forward.  I know this is a very challenging time for HR professionals with NYS and Federal legislation being implemented that impacts employers and employees.  Also, some companies with employees across multiple states will have different state responses.  In some cases, individual cities within a state may have additional policies. 

As SHRM said last week on its conference call, this is the worst time for HR and also the best time for HR to provide leadership to employers and employees.  As an HR Professional, you will not have all the answers and those may change over the next few weeks.  This is stressful because you need to keep "normal" HR moving and yet deal with questions regarding policies, procedures, new hires, benefits, and other day to day events.

In efforts to help with this I wanted to share some resources that have been provided by our Legal Strategic Partners Hodgson & Russ LLP and Phillips Lytle LLP, as well as reference links for SHRM National and New York State. 

Link for Governor Cuomo’s Essential Services: https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-issues-guidance-essential-services-under-new-york-state-pause-executive-order

Link for NYS Emergency COVID-19 Paid Sick Leave: https://www.governor.ny.gov/paid-sick-leave-covid-19-impacted-new-yorkers/emergency-covid-19-paid-sick-leave

Hodgson & Russ LLP Coronavirus Resource Center: https://www.hodgsonruss.com/newsroom-news-7153.html

US Department of Labor: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/flsa/pandemic

Phillips Lytle LLP Client Alerts: https://phillipslytle.com/publications/client-alert/labor-employment-client-alert-march-2020/

SHRM National Resources: https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/Pages/communicable-diseases.aspx

I also wanted to update our members on the status of upcoming BNHRA events.  The Board of Directors has been in talks to try and make our April event, “Being A Mindful Strategic Leader” a virtual event that still informs our members while maintaining the safe practices of social distancing.  Once this has been decided and finalized we will make sure we send an email to notify you.  If this proves beneficial we may continue this platform for future BNHRA events during this difficult time so we can still try to have some “normalcy” with our monthly meetings.

I know this is hard and everyday seems to rapidly bring new challenges but we will get through this.  I hope that you are able to still take some time from yourself, whether that is taking advantage of a new hobby, staying in touch with family and friends through social distancing or finally watching shows that have been in your Netflix queue for sometime now.

Please know that I speak for all of our BNHRA Board of Directors that we hope you are staying healthy and well as we continue to move forward with everything, knowing we will get through this.  If you want to share ideas, ask questions or just connect we can do all of that together.  

Thank you again, and be well!

Tiffany Dillon
BNHRA President