Industries with large work forces, such as retail, are particularly well-suited to employee disaster and hardship relief funds. These employers typically have a high proportion of employees with incomes or otherwise earning wages that make them vulnerable to the financial impact of unexpected disasters or hardships. Knowledge […]
Emergency Assistance Foundation, Inc. Blog -
Prepare for Hurricane Season with Employee Emergency Fund
Employers who face regular disasters such as hurricanes should consider what steps they can take to mitigate the impact on employees. The 2012 Atlantic hurricane season, for example, got off to an early start, as the Associated Press reported. Although these tropical storms and hurricanes mainly effect the […]
Recent Hires Applying for a Grant: Employer Concerns
The concern often raised by employee relief fund-sponsoring employers relates to the high turnover rate in the first few months of employment. Employers worry this may result in a disproportionate number of grants made to applicants who will not remain as employees, and a corresponding negative cash […]
Waiting Periods Inappropriate for Employee Relief Funds
A common, but mistaken, idea for employee disaster and hardship relief funds is to have an eligibility waiting period. In practice, this requirement would work by limiting applicants for grants only to those who have worked for the fund-sponsor for a certain time period. Most often, the […]
Expanding Relief Fund Grant Eligibility Past Traditional Employees
Occasionally, an employer proposes including some group other than current employees in their disaster and hardship relief fund. On its face, this makes the charitable class broader than it would otherwise be. Remember that there is no requirement that an employer-sponsored relief fund cover employees alone. Grants […]
Employee Relief Funds Cannot Benefit Employers
The IRS scrutinizes whether employee disaster and hardship relief funds impermissibly serve the private interests of sponsoring employers. The prohibition on serving the sponsoring employer’s needs practically means that eligibility for the relief fund cannot be an employee benefit. Those benefits aid employers by making their workplaces […]