Lawmakers Look to Spur Safe and Healthy Workplaces

Yesterday, two lawmakers introduced bipartisan legislation aimed at helping businesses reopen safely by creating a critical new tax incentive that would offset the costs of implementing the strategies that help create safe and healthy workplaces.

“As businesses in Ohio and across America work to stay open and accommodate employees and consumers, we must ensure the safety and security of everyone involved by incentivizing steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace through a tax credit,” said U.S. Senator Rob Portman yesterday upon introducing, alongside Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ), the Healthy Workplaces Tax Credit Act. The legislation aims to assist businesses that are taking significant measures to prioritize the health and safety of employees and consumers as they reopen or remain open during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The bill creates a refundable tax credit against payroll taxes for 50 percent of the costs incurred by a business for testing, personal protective equipment (PPE), cleaning and sanitization, other equipment and technology supporting safe workplaces, and design and reconfiguration measures that can help prevent the spread of COVID-19. In addition, the bill supports training and education on the prevention of COVID-19 transmission.

The two lawmakers summarized the bill this way:

• Provides a refundable tax credit against payroll taxes for 50 percent of the costs incurred by the business for COVID-19 testing, PPE, disinfecting, extra cleaning, reconfiguring workspaces, and education and training until the end of the year;
• Encourages and enables businesses to take the recommended steps to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in their workplaces;
• Limits this benefit to a maximum of $1,000 per employee for a business’s first 500 employees, $750 per employee for the next 500 employees, $500 for the next 1500 employees, $250 for the next 2500 employees, and $50 for each employee thereafter recognizing the disproportionate impacts of COVID-19 on small- and medium-sized businesses.
• Provides an income tax credit for expenditures made to reconfigure work spaces last year (March 13, 2020- December 31, 2020). Thus, allowing businesses that have already adapted to public health guidelines to receive a benefit on their 2020 tax return. The credit provides 50 percent of costs incurred up to $3,000 per employee for a business’s first 500 employees.

“This type of federal support is exactly what is needed right now to provide businesses with the support they need to prioritize health and safety in their workplaces, said Rachel Hodgdon, President and CEO, IWBI. “This is such a critical first step for getting our economy back up and running.”

As part of its advocacy and policy efforts, IWBI has worked to support sound federal policy solutions that would provide financial incentives to help businesses reopen safely, especially as so many small businesses struggle in the face of mounting, unexpected costs to deploy strategies to navigate a post COVID-19 environment. In the last several weeks, IWBI offered technical expertise and feedback on the proposed legislation.

In the coming weeks, U.S. Representatives Tom Rice (R-SC) and Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) plan to introduce this legislation in the House of Representatives.