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by Gene Marks

Thanks to the CARES Act—and subsequent stimulus programs—there are still a few great opportunities for you to get the government’s help to find, pay and provide perks for both new and established employees.

Here’s the bonus: you can go for this funding even if you didn’t have such a bad year in 2020.

Help Employees Pay Down Student Loans

Prior to the pandemic, employers have been allowed to deduct as much as $5,250 per employee per year to pay for their education expenses, regardless of whether that education was training for your business. Not only that, but those same employees wouldn’t have to declare this benefit as income—so it is tax free to them and a tax deduction for you, the employer.

That has changed due to the recent stimulus legislation. Through 2025, you can use that same amount to help pay down your employees’ student loans.

Why is this a big deal? Because if there’s one thing many of these younger workers have in common, it is that they’re shouldering a massive amount of student debt from their college loans—as much as $1.6 trillion according to . Younger workers (the millennial generation is now the largest generation in our workforce) are desperately in need of help to pay down this debt. Including this kind of assistance as a benefit simply makes your company more competitive to job seekers.

Another Big Help: the Work Opportunity Tax Credit

This credit, which is an amount you take against the taxes you owe, has also been extended through 2025 and, if used the right way, will not only save you big money on hiring new workers but also help you provide a hiring bonus to entice that skilled person away from a competitor.

Before you hire that new worker, get together with your accountant, do the math, and fill out the to notify the federal government and your state. If that worker is a veteran, coming off welfare, coming out of prison or—most relevant today—returning to work after long-term unemployment (defined as six months or more), you can get a credit of up to $9,600 per hew hire. If you don’t use it, you can carry it forward.

This is a great hiring tool to help you pay for those new people. It takes a little planning, but if you’re on top of it, you’ll see a big benefit.

Potentially Huge Cash Payment: the Employee Retention Tax Credit

To take advantage of the ERTC, you need to show that you were affected by COVID in any quarter of 2020 or 2021. What does that mean? It means that if you were shut down, or even partially shut down (like sending your employees home) during that time because the government required it, you’re eligible. Or, if your revenue decreased more than 50 percent in any quarter of 2020 compared to 2019, or 20 percent in any quarter of 2021 compared to 2019, you’re also eligible.

If you’re eligible, you can claim up to $10,000 of wages per quarter (in 2021) per employee as a credit against the payroll taxes you owe or paid during that quarter. The credit is smaller for 2020, but you can still go back and apply for it.

Best yet: It’s refundable! That means that if the credit is more than the taxes you owe, the government will give you a check back. The credit is available through the end of the year.

I realize that many farm equipment manufacturers held their own through the pandemic, but even so, you may be in the running. If you are, this is potentially big money to help fund your business, or perhaps return the savings to your employees in the form of higher perks or compensation to retain them during this tight labor market.

A Giant Forgiveness Program from the SBA (No, It’s Not PPP)

Forget about the Paycheck Protection Program. Instead, ask your about Section 7A or 504 loans. Yes, you have to go through an approval process with your bank, but these loans can be up to $5 million and range in maturities up to 15 years. Interest rates are competitive.

And, there’s a big benefit, thanks to the CARES Act: If you get one of these loans, your first three months of principal and interest are forgiven—wiped away. 

You don’t have to prove that you were affected by COVID, either. You just need to get an approval from your banker, whom the federal government offered an incentive to encourage distribution of these loans.

Here’s the people tie-in: you can use the proceeds for working capital, like hiring, compensation and operations. One other thing: if you have an existing 7A or 504 loan, you’re also entitled to three months of forgiveness, so talk to your banker now.

The program expires in late September.

The Government Wants to Help You Set Up a Retirement Plan

Prior to the pandemic, a new law went into effect that got overshadowed, but it’s important you know it.

It’s called the SECURE Act, and it has four big things in it that will help you provide benefits for your employees.

The first is that the government will pay you in the form of tax credits (if you have fewer than 100 people) up to $5,000 to set up a new 401K retirement plan for your business. The second is that if you have an existing 401K, you’ll get another $500 per year back in tax credits from the government for three years, simply by making employees automatically enroll in it. (They can still opt out).

Employees are not forced to withdraw their retirement savings until the age of 72 (previously it was 70 1/2), which may give some of your senior people more time on the payroll. Finally, you can join with other companies to form a multi-employer retirement plan to cut costs.

These changes are big. Why? Because, according to many studies, retirement plans are among the top three most requested benefits, so you’ve got to offer something.

Plus, the country is in a retirement crisis. According to research from , households approaching retirement had average savings of just $144,000 in 2019, an amount that would provide a couple with only $570 per month in retirement.  The Center also found that about half of workers participate in either a defined benefit plan or 401(k) plan, a percentage that has remained constant for decades.

Offering a retirement plan not only makes you competitive, but it relieves a potential long-term financial issue by helping your employees when they reach retirement. It’s just good business.

Labor is tight this year, we all know that. There’s no silver bullet to finding and keeping good people. But my smartest clients are using a combination of benefits and compensation strategies to deal with this problem. And many of them are taking advantage of these government programs while they last. You should too.