Author: Frank V

To help small businesses deal with the impact of COVID-19, the City has launched the Employee Retention Grant Program to help retain employees as businesses face decreased revenue. This program is available to New York City businesses with one to four employees that can demonstrate at least a 25% decrease in revenue as a result of COVID-19. Eligible businesses will receive a grant covering up to 40% of their payroll for two months. Businesses can access up to $27,000.

Who Can Apply?

Businesses, including non-profits, must:

• Be located within the five boroughs of New York City
• Demonstrate that the COVID-19 outbreak caused at least a 25% decrease in revenue
• Employ 1-4 employees in total across all locations
• Have been in operation for at least 6 months
• Have no outstanding tax liens or legal judgements

Revenue Loss

To calculate the revenue impact of COVID-19, we will compare average revenue for two months in 2020 (after the COVID-19 impact) to both:

• average revenue for the same two month period in 2019, and
• average monthly revenue based on total 2019 revenue.

We will check to see if either calculation shows at least a 25% decrease in revenue

Supporting Documents

To verify the loss of revenue, you will need to upload:

• Financial documents for two months in 2020 demonstrating revenue decrease due to COVID-19
• Financial documents showing your revenue for the same two months in 2019 (unless you were not in business at that time)
• Financial documents showing your revenue for the full 2019 calendar year

Financial documents can include: point-of-sales reports, bank statements, quarterly sales tax filings, 2019 tax returns, or CPA-certified profit & loss statements.

To determine your grant amount, you will need to upload:

• Your most recent two months of payroll records

To process your grant, you will need to upload:

• A signed Participation Affidavit verifying that you are eligible for the program and that you are applying in order to retain your employees  
• Your bank account information

How to Apply

You can apply for the program by following the steps below:

1. Review our program guidelines and determine if your business is eligible.
2. Gather the appropriate documents.
3. Visit SBS Connect and log in to your account to begin your application.

What employers must do 

BEFORE YOU REOPEN 

Review ALL guidance specific 

☐Visit forward.ny.gov and read all of the New York State guidelines for your industry. 

to your industry on forward.ny.gov. 

_☐Fill out the affirmation form at 

forms.ny.gov/s3/ny-forward-affirmation 

The information in this document is not exhaustive – your _☐ 

Develop a safety plan (template available at forward.ny.gov) and post it at your worksite where workers can see it. 

business is subject to requirements that are not on this one-pager. 

What employers must do and workers should expect 

WHEN BUSINESS REOPENS 

Conduct an employee health screening every day. Workers should stay home if sick or go home if they become sick at work. 

Give workers free face coverings and provide replacements. Workers must stay at least 6 feet from others and wear a face covering or mask if they are less than 6 feet from others. 

Provide and maintain hand hygiene stations for personnel, including handwashing with 

EMPLOYERS soap, water, and paper towels, as well as an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing 60% or more alcohol for areas where handwashing is not feasible. 

Regularly clean shared equipment and 

WORKERS frequently touched surfaces. 

Post signs and put tape or other markers to show people where to stand. 

These requirements are to protect everyone — employers, workers, customers — from COVID-19. 

For the latest updates, visit nyc.gov/coronavirus. 

For more information, call 888-SBS4NYC (727-4692) or visit nyc.gov/business. 

For more information, call 311 and ask for the Worker Protection Hotline or visit nyc.gov/workers.