MN STAY AT HOME ORDER: Redpath and Company Remote Working Policies and Procedures

UPDATED: March 26, 2020

Dear Clients and Friends,

On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, Governor Walz issued an executive order directing Minnesotans to stay at home and limit movements outside of their homes—beyond essential needs—for two weeks. This is effective from Friday, March 27 at 11:59 p.m. to Friday, April 10.

Among the industries identified on the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development’s (DEED) website, accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services are listed as critical industries. That means those workers are allowed to travel to and from their office (and childcare, if needed). It’s important to note that virtual work is still mandated if the organization has the capability to do so--which we do.

While the executive order strengthens the position of the state regarding their efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, we have already put policies and procedures in place to ensure our employees are able to work remotely—and we that we can continue to serve you, our clients. We are committed to doing our part to reduce the number of employees at our offices to a bare minimum in order to 1) ensure continuity of the business, and 2) comply with the governor’s executive order.

Our team continues to closely monitoring the situation daily and follow recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO), U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and local authorities such as the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH).

As of March 12, 2020, Redpath and Company instituted a work-from-home policy for nonessential personnel. What this means for our clients:

• We are still open for business and are taking all the necessary steps to ensure your tax, audit, and accounting needs are properly met. We have had remote working technology and processes in place for years to help ensure there is no disruption to how we serve you.
• While our front desks in Saint Paul and White Bear Lake continue to be staffed, we would ask that you follow the protocols below to limit that amount of employee contact if you need to physically deliver documents. However, we encourage digital transmission of documents, if possible, through our secure Client Portal or FileShare.
  • White Bear Lake office drop-off protocol:
    • Use the provided drop box at any time.
  • St. Paul office drop-off protocol:
    • Bring documents to the 14^th floor between the hours of 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.
    • Call the front desk at 651-426-7000 and let the receptionist know you are dropping off documents.
    • The receptionist will meet you at the secured doors to pick them up.
    • Please DO NOT leave documents unattended until the receptionist has picked them up.
• Redpath staff will continue to conduct audits remotely for the foreseeable future.
• All client meetings will take place via video or conference call.
• While the tax filing and payment deadlines have been extended to July 15th for both Federal and Minnesota returns,  we will continue to work to meet the regular tax return filing deadline or what was agreed upon with you. This will help maintain current scheduling and avoid future backlogs from new and/or unforeseen challenges. Please note, however, that the Minnesota state 2020 estimated payments are still due April 15th. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to your Redpath client manager. We will work diligently to keep you updated with information that affects you and your business—and how we are able to continue to serve you.

We extend our well-wishes to all of you to be safe and take care of one another. We’ll get through this together and we appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time.

Best regards,

Mark Gibbs, Managing Partner