If you had to reduce your number of employees, but meet any of the criteria below, you do not need to account for those employees in your FTE reduction calculation:
- FTEs reduced, then restored: Borrowers are exempt from FTE reductions if both of the following are true:
- (a) the Borrower reduced its FTE employee levels in the period beginning February 15, 2020, and ending April 26, 2020; and
- (b) the Borrower then restored its FTE employee levels to its FTE employee levels in the Borrower’s pay period that included February 15, 2020 by not later than (i) December 31, 2020, for a PPP loan made before December 27, 2020, or (ii) the last day of the Covered Period, for a PPP loan made after December 27, 2020.
- Rehire attempted: (1) any positions for which the Borrower made a good-faith, written offer to rehire an individual who was an employee on February 15, 2020 and the Borrower was unable to hire similarly qualified employees for unfilled positions on or before (a) December 31, 2020, for a PPP loan made before December 27, 2020 or (b) the last day of the Covered Period, for a PPP loan made after December 27, 2020
- Restoration attempted: (2) any positions for which the Borrower made a good-faith, written offer to restore any reduction in hours, at the same salary or wages, during the Covered Period and the employee rejected the offer, and (3) any employees who during the Covered Period (a) were fired for cause, (b) voluntarily resigned, or (c) voluntarily requested and received a reduction of their hours.
Reminder: borrowers are also exempt from any loan forgiveness reduction based on a reduction in FTE employee levels if the Borrower, in good faith, is able to document that it was unable to operate between February 15, 2020, and the end of the Covered Period at the same level of business activity as before February 15, 2020, due to compliance with requirements established or guidance issued between March 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 (or, for a PPP loan made after December 27, 2020, requirements established or guidance issued between March 1, 2020 and the last day of the Covered Period), by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, related to the maintenance of standards for sanitation, social distancing, or any other worker or customer safety requirement related to COVID-19.
Note: borrowers with loans $50,000 and under do not need to incorporate FTE or salary/hourly wage reductions into their overall requested loan forgiveness amount, unless they - together with affiliates, if applicable - received First Draw PPP Loans of $2 million or more or Second Draw PPP Loans of $2 million or more.