Many employers are recognizing the financial strain on their employees as they begin to plan for their businesses' future in these unprecedented times. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) contains a number of provisions that make it easier to receive unemployment insurance benefits and increases the amount of unemployment benefits which laid off and underemployed employees can receive. The CARES Act also allows self-employed individuals, independent contractors, and employees who are not otherwise eligible, to receive unemployment benefits. Employment attorneys Phyllis Karasov and Alex Beeby discuss these changes and provide insight into the support which the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development is giving laid-off employees, employees whose hours or wages are reduced, and self-employed individuals and independent contractors.