More than 450 Members Share Concerns and Ideas in ACEC Coronavirus Online Roundtables

ACEC News / Coronavirus

March 24, 2020

More than 450 Members Share Concerns and Ideas in ACEC Coronavirus Online Roundtables

ACEC members shared a lot of questions in three online roundtables that ACEC hosted on Monday afternoon. More than 450 members participated in the roundtables, which were grouped by firm size: Small, medium, and large.

Most of the discussions dealt with how to handle employee and cash flow issues. For instance, members asked about the treatment of exempt vs. non-exempt employees, the possibility of making salaried employees hourly, and how long to maintain benefits for furloughed employees. Regarding cash flow, they talked about how best to cut expenses, whether to tap credit lines, and the possibility of asking clients for retainers to make payroll.

In these uncertain times, answers were not plentiful, but there were a few:

• Regarding what percentage of employees could take paid leave at the same time, a member recommended “about a third.”
• On continuing to work on job sites, a member reported that the construction manager at one site is taking the temperature of everyone coming onto the site and turning away those who have a fever.
• Firms are reaching out and doing work for their health-care clients to help them prepare their infrastructure for an expected patient surge.
• One firm recommends giving employees letters/proof from the company that they are an ‘essential service’ in case they are stopped while out working/on-site

ACEC plans to host additional roundtables in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

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