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Melissa Ostrower is Principal in the New York City office of Jackson Lewis P.C.

Ms. Ostrower advises companies on all aspects of employee benefits law, including compliance with ERISA and the Code as well as administrative matters and fiduciary issues relating to benefit plans.  Ms. Ostrower has extensive experience in executive compensation matters and counsels both public and private companies on executive compensation issues, including Section 409A and 162(m) of the Code.

Ms. Ostrower is also a member of the Jackson Lewis healthcare reform task force and is intimately involved in helping Jackson Lewis clients ensure compliance with recently enacted healthcare reform legislation.

Ms. Ostrower is a graduate of Brandeis University (B.A., M.A.), George Washington University Law School (J.D.) where she was a member of The Law Review, and New York University (LL.M.).

The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (Act) generally provides the annual funding for the federal government and contains several important rules giving further COVID-19 relief. These include, among other things, revisions to the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), expansion of the employee retention tax credit, and changes to other employer-related tax provisions.

The Act was passed by

The Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued guidance on the forgiveness provisions applicable to loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) created by the CARES Act.

The SBA was required to issue guidance on these provisions within 30 days of the enactment of the CARES Act, or no later than April 26, 2020.

Recent statements by Small Business Administration (SBA) and Treasury Department officials have confused many Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) borrowers and led many to return PPP funds or consider doing so. Finally, the SBA has issued FAQ 46, which should assuage many borrowers’ concerns.

Previously, the SBA notified borrowers through a number of pronouncements that they

In our post of April 4, we advised there was an ambiguity between the CARES Act and subsequent guidance issued by the Small Business Administration (SBA) on whether employees of foreign affiliates of applicants are considered when determining eligibility for Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

Applicants in the SBA’s Business Loan Programs (which includes

Guidance issued by the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA), the federal agency that administers the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), demonstrates that the PPP loans, as originally thought, were too good to be true.

PPP was established by section 1102 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), Public Law

Much has happened in the three-plus weeks since the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Securities (CARES) Act was enacted on March 27, 2020.  The $349 billion dollars appropriated to the newly created Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) has been exhausted.  The Small Business Administration (SBA), the Federal agency administering the PPP, reports they have made over

Applicants in the Small Business Administration’s (SBA) Business Loan Programs (which include the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)) are generally subject to the affiliation rule in 13 CFR Section 121.301, subject to certain statutory waivers.  These rules provide that in determining a concern’s size, the SBA counts the employees of both the concern whose size is